Dopita

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Marta Dopita
Professor Dawn Martindale
History 1700
April 4, 2016
Plight of the Natives
Since the arrival of white man in October 12 of 1492, the Natives that inhabited this
land that we now call our home, struggled through great perils that challenged their very
existence. Many of these perils included widespread disease that came with the men that
brought it; natives were put to slave labor and execution because white men were
convinced that natives were inferior to the white race. Later, as Natives and white men
struggled to coexist on the same land, a skilled speaker and Chief of the Nez Perce emerged
as a spokesman for the native peoples; Chief Joseph (Nez Perce Chief). Chief Joseph made
four prominent speeches in which we will explore his tone of desperation, his rights and
desires that express peace and equality and he suggests a solution for coexistence. Each of
these elements found in Chief Josephs speeches come from a history of terrible events.

Fear, grief, exhaustion from constant battle, anger, and a readiness for change all set

a tone of desperation throughout Chief Josephs speeches. Particularly in, 1877, when he
surrendered in the Bear Paw Mountains, I am tired of fighting. Hear me, my chiefs, my
heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more against the white
man, or in 1879, when the chief visited Washington, D.C., I cannot understand how the
Government sends a man out to fight us, as it did General Miles, and then breaks his

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words(Chief Joseph 1877, 1879, online). Along with the natives brutal history and Chief
Josephs unsuccessful attempts to petition successive presidents to let his people return
to Oregon, his desperate tone is evident (Foner 2014, 489). This evidence shows that our
nation was still very prejudice, selfish and cruel. There was still a considerable amount of
social growth that needed to take place. If our leaders listened to what Chief Joseph had to
say, they couldve easily noticed the similarities to what the colonists wanted Britain to
hear.
All men past and present yearn for the same rights and desires, yet, not all men
understand, that that is what all men yearn for; regardless of ethnicity, race, and/or social
class. Chief Joseph speaks of his rights and desires of peace and equality for all men through
his tone of desperation. He expresses these desires when he spoke in Washington, D.C, in
1879, Treat all men alike. Give them the same laws. Give them all an even chance to live
and grow(Chief Joseph 1879, online). White men fought for the same right of equality and
desire for peace. It is written in our Declaration of Independence, all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness(Declaration of Independence 1776,
para. 2) For Chief Joseph these speeches were his declaration of independence and the
hope of possible compromise.

The Nez Perce Chief proposes a solution through his hope for peace and belief that

equality is a right. He proposes that independence or compromise will bring what he longs
for; for him and his people. This solution of independence is distinct when he spoke in
Washington, D.C. in 1879, I only ask of the Government to be treated as all other men are

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treated. If I cannot go to my own home, let me have a home in a country where my people
will not die so fast. I would like to go to Bitter Root Valley, and of compromise, We shall
be all alikebrothers of one father and mother, with one sky above us and one country
around us and one government for all(Chief Joseph 1879, online)These solutions may have
avoided many tensions, wars, deaths and heartbreaks from the beginning, but because of
the failure to do so; tensions will never be put to rest between the white man and the native
people of the Americas.

Desperation in a prejudice nation, desire for peace and the right of equality

(common rights of todays world that are clearly stated in the Declaration of Independence),
and a solution of independence or compromise that may have eased tensions between the
white man and the natives long before they did were all expressed through Chief Josephs
speeches. Chief Joseph (Nez Perce Chief) spoke exquisitely and with no reservation, The
earth is the mother of all people, and all should have equal rights upon it(Chief Joseph
1879, online) Today, his speeches baffle the reader and leave him in awe, but in his time,
white man did not listen. Today, integration has taken root, but only small pieces of land
that the government granted the native peoples are comprised as reservations. Although,
all of his efforts were not successful, Chief Joseph or the Nez Perce Chief will always be
remembered for his determination.