Monday, January 26, 2015

In "An Indian's View of Indian Affairs," how did Chief Joseph use tone in this speech to persuade his audience?

In "An Indian's View of Indian Affairs," Chief Joseph uses
a tone of heart-felt sincerity to convey his deep desire to come to an understanding
with "the white man."


On the first page, Chief Joseph
speaks about speaking from the heart to find a way to a way for all people to live
harmoniously in America at that time. He says:


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I believe much trouble and blood would be saved
if we opened our hearts
more.



Chief Joseph also sets
the tone by sharing the values of the Nez Percés people. Things they believed to be
important included honesty, integrity, the fair treatment of others, and a belief that a
man received in the next life what he had earned in this
life.



These
laws were good. They told us to treat all men as they treated us; that we should never
be the first to break a bargain; that it was a disgrace to tell a lie; that we should
speak only the truth; that it was a shame for one man to take from another his wife, or
his property without paying for it. We were taught to believe that the Great Spirit sees
and hears everything, and that he never forgets; that hereafter he will give every man a
spirit-home according to his deserts: if he has been a good man, he will have a good
home; if he has been a bad man, he will have a bad
home.



Chief Joseph is a man
of peace who has asked that he and his people be left in peace, to
live on the land of their ancestors. He urges his people to follow a path of peace as
well. This accord continues even after white men steal their horses and cattle, and even
move onto their land—but no one stands up for the rights of the people. When the
government sends the military, led by General Howard, there is no respect shown to Chief
Joseph and his people. White men have killed some of the members of their tribe. Howard
is unmoved and demands that the Nez Percés move or suffer the consequences. He will not
even allow the people to remain to harvest their crops so they can survive the winter.
Eventually, some of the younger members of the tribe, with anger in their hearts, attack
and kill four white men.


Chief Joseph is greatly saddened
by what his men have done, but once again he speaks from his heart to explain why they
were driven to violence, even though that is not the path he has chosen for himself or
his people.



I
know that my young men did a great wrong, but I ask, Who was first to blame? They had
been insulted a thousand times; their fathers and brothers had been killed; their
mothers and wives had been disgraced; they had been driven to madness by whisky sold to
them by white men; they had been told by General Howard that all their horses and cattle
which they had been unable to drive out of Wallowa were to fall into the hands of white
men; and, added to all this, they were homeless and
desperate.



In speaking with
honesty and integrity, Chief Joseph sets a tone in this piece of heart-felt sincerity
that does not waver, even in the face of the disgraceful treatment he and his people
experience at the hands of the white government, its military and its people. Chief
Joseph does not rage, make demands or scream for justice: his message continues to show
a desire for peace.

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