1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,240 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio, 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:09,800 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:13,200 Speaker 1: show that honors the dead by sharing their stories with 4 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:18,119 Speaker 1: the living. I'm Gab Bluesier, and in this episode, we're 5 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:20,759 Speaker 1: exploring the life of the man who lent his name 6 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:32,839 Speaker 1: to the most populous city in the Pacific Northwest. The 7 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: day was June seventh, eighteen sixty six. Native American tribal 8 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:43,959 Speaker 1: leader Chief Seattle died at the Sequamish Reservation in Washington. 9 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: As you may have surmised, the city of Seattle in 10 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: Washington State is named in honor of the venerable Chief, 11 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: though the word Seattle is an anglicized version of his 12 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: traditional name, which in his native Lashutzi language is closer 13 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: to Siag. Born sometime in the seventeen eighties and his 14 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,400 Speaker 1: mother's village on the Black River, Seattle grew up to 15 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: lead the Duwamish and Sequamish tribes who lived along the 16 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,960 Speaker 1: banks of what we now call the Puget Sound. He 17 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: was linked to both tribes through his parents, with his 18 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:25,680 Speaker 1: mother belonging to the Duwamish and his father to the Sequamish. 19 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: Seattle is believed to have distinguished himself as a brave 20 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:33,319 Speaker 1: warrior and shrewd leader from an early age, and after 21 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 1: inheriting his position as Duwamish chief from his maternal uncle, 22 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 1: he was able to forge a strong alliance with the 23 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 1: Sequamish due to his father's heritage. Growing up along the 24 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: Pacific coast, Seattle witnessed the arrival of the first Europeans 25 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: to the region. He and his people observed these British 26 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: and euro American traders with curiosity, and although the relations 27 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:01,000 Speaker 1: between them remained friendly, the visitor's unw wwittingly brought new 28 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: diseases that nearly wiped out the Puget Sound's native population, 29 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:08,639 Speaker 1: one that had inhabited the area for more than four 30 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: thousand years. The resulting epidemics of smallpox, measles, and influenza 31 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: proved so deadly to the tribes that over thirty percent 32 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: of their members are thought to have died during the 33 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: first eighty years of contact with Europeans. The white traders 34 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: that Seattle encountered in his youth eventually went back where 35 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: they came from, but by the early eighteen fifties, small 36 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: groups of euro American settlers had established makeshift villages along 37 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: the Puget Sound. By that time, Seattle had been accepted 38 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: as chief of four more local tribes, and in this 39 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 1: role he carried on the friendly relations with immigrants that 40 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: his father began in the seventeen nineties. He provided them 41 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: with guides to help familiarize themselves with the area, and 42 00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 1: even assisted in clearing sections of the forest to provide 43 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:03,440 Speaker 1: them with lumber for canoes and shelters and fields for 44 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:08,680 Speaker 1: growing crops. The newcomers responded to Seattle's kindness with peaceful 45 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: gestures of their own. In the fall of eighteen fifty two, 46 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:16,079 Speaker 1: Catholic missionaries invited him to be baptized into their faith, 47 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 1: and when Seattle accepted, he was given the Christian name Noah. 48 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 1: Then the following year, some of the settlers moved to 49 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:27,360 Speaker 1: a site on Elliot Bay to establish a permanent town, 50 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:30,919 Speaker 1: and in recognition of all Chief Seattle had done for them, 51 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: they named the settlement after him. Being the namesake of 52 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: a major city isn't the only legacy of Chief Seattle. 53 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: He's also remembered as a great orator, largely due to 54 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: the written account of a pioneer named doctor Henry A. 55 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: Smith in an eighteen eighty seven edition of the Seattle 56 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: Sunday Star. Smith reconstructed and translated a speech that the 57 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: chief was said to have given some thirty three years earlier. 58 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: Ark's concerned relations between Native Americans and Europeans and were 59 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: believed to have been addressed to the newly appointed territorial 60 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: Governor Isaac Stevens. According to Smith's translation and later versions 61 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: based on it, the chief delivered an eloquent plea for 62 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:19,919 Speaker 1: the settlers to show respect for the land rights of 63 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:23,720 Speaker 1: his people and to be responsible stewards of the natural world. 64 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:28,839 Speaker 1: The earth does not belong to man, he said. Man 65 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:33,799 Speaker 1: belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected, 66 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:38,839 Speaker 1: Like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected. 67 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: Chief Seattle is said to have struck an amicable tone 68 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: and spoke while resting his hand on Governor Stephens's shoulder, 69 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:51,599 Speaker 1: But he also cautioned that transgressions against his people would 70 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: not pass unnoticed, saying, quote, let him the white man 71 00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:59,559 Speaker 1: be just and kindly with my people, for the dead 72 00:04:59,839 --> 00:05:05,800 Speaker 1: are not altogether powerless. Less than one year later, Governor 73 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:09,719 Speaker 1: Stevens called for a conference of tribal leaders at Point Elliott, 74 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 1: which is now known as the City of muckle Teo. 75 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:18,040 Speaker 1: He proposed a treaty wherein the tribal chiefs would relinquish 76 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:20,919 Speaker 1: their claims to most of the area in return for 77 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: access to education and health care, as well as monetary 78 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 1: payments and the continued ownership of some lands aka reservations. 79 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:33,479 Speaker 1: Chief Seattle was the first to make his mark on 80 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:37,920 Speaker 1: the document, and other tribal leaders quickly followed suit. They 81 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: all knew that the white settlers posed a long term 82 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:43,480 Speaker 1: threat to their way of life, but they believed that 83 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaker 1: any attempts to dislodge them would only hasten the process 84 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: and potentially lead to their full extinction. Chief Seattle was 85 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 1: therefore counted as a firm friend of the Whites, as 86 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:59,080 Speaker 1: the inscription on his tombstone would later put it. But 87 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:02,240 Speaker 1: not all the nameatives of the Puget Sound agreed that 88 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 1: maintaining peace was in their best interests. Many regarded the 89 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 1: settler's encroachment as the death knell of their people, and 90 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty five, a tribe from the White River 91 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:17,360 Speaker 1: Valley decided not to go quietly. They mounted an attack 92 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: on the village of Seattle, and the fighting would continue 93 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: for more than a year. During that time, the peace 94 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,839 Speaker 1: treaties signed by tribal leaders failed to fully deliver on 95 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 1: the promises they had made. Still, Chief Seattle kept his 96 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 1: word regardless, and did not take part in the fighting. Instead, 97 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:40,320 Speaker 1: he stayed across the sound at Port Madison and convinced 98 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:42,440 Speaker 1: as many of his people as he could to join 99 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:46,520 Speaker 1: him there. In a powerful showing of integrity and empathy, 100 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: he even warned white settlers of impending attacks from other tribes. 101 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: In the spring of eighteen fifty six, the brief war 102 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: came to a close, and the European Americans stood triumphant. 103 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,880 Speaker 1: In the use years ahead, tens of thousands of newcomers 104 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:06,360 Speaker 1: would swell their ranks, with many unaware that the tribal 105 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:09,400 Speaker 1: chief for whom their city was named was living just 106 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 1: across the sound in a nearby village. The chief was 107 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 1: said to visit Seattle from time to time, but for 108 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: the most part he stayed on the Sequamish reservation at 109 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: Port Madison, helping his people navigate new problems such as 110 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 1: overcrowding and disease. He remained there until eighteen sixty six, 111 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: when he contracted a severe fever and passed away on 112 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: June seventh. At the approximate age of eighty. Chief Seattle 113 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:40,440 Speaker 1: may have been a firm friend of the whites, but 114 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: the majority were anything but in return. Still, their failure 115 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:49,280 Speaker 1: to repay his kindness and justify his trust doesn't mean 116 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: he was wrong to give it in the first place. 117 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: He was right that the dead are not altogether powerless, 118 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:58,960 Speaker 1: and that's why, more than a century and a half 119 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:03,720 Speaker 1: after his death, Chief Seattle's vision of peaceful coexistence is 120 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: still worth striving for. I'm gay, Blues Gay, and hopefully 121 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 1: you now know a little more about history today than 122 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. If you'd like to keep up with 123 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and 124 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:24,560 Speaker 1: Instagram at TDI HC Show, and if you have any 125 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 1: comments or suggestions, feel free to send them my way 126 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: by writing to this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks 127 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 1: to Kasby Bias for producing the show, and thanks to 128 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow 129 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:51,839 Speaker 1: for another day in History Class.