Darwinism at work.

Social-Darwinism - I'm a fan, generally. It'll probably get some folks fired up, but I honestly believe that it does more harm than good. Even so there are times when I question the rightness of progress at the expense of tradition. Reading this speech was one of these times.

 Chief Seattle saw the continued downfall of his people coming, knew that it was inevitable, and approached the problem pragmatically. “It matters little where we pass the remnant of our days. They will not be many.” He realized that his audience - much like I- would hold little sympathy for the plight of his people if presented in a light of self-pity, instead he appealed to the sense of awe associated with things beyond complete human comprehension – nature and deity. His use of imagery is beautiful – though to echo Spencer Muir, I’m not sure how much of that is his original work – and evokes the awe one feels in the presence of nature, as his final overture was directly tied to a sense of something greater.  

He appeals to deity, without falling into a begging stance – again attempting to evoke a contemplation of something greater – “Your God makes your people wax stronger every day.” Furthering this with references to those who have passed on “Your dead cease to love you and the land of their nativity.” Ultimately he collects all the threads in his final words, offering a request to the Whiteman, and a sort of consolation to his people. “There is no death, only a change of worlds.”

The speech was beautiful to read, and even though I was reading it for analysis I felt my emotions swell: respect for a man who saw what was coming and didn’t shy away from the reality, sorrow for the passing of a great people who knew and lived and were so much. He made even me, a staunch supporter of social-darwinism, question my views.