Jessica Crabtree

January 30, 1830: Death of Seneca chief and orator Red Jacket (Sagoyewatha)

Read more: Red Jacket’s 1805 Speech – complete text and bio

Above: Charles Bird King’s beautiful portrait of Red Jacket, c. 1828. He is shown wearing a silver peace medal George Washington presented to him in 1792, which was passed down to his descendant Ely Parker.

Wikipedia: Red Jacket

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Red Jacket (1750-1830), or Sagoyewatha, was a chief of the Seneca Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy who is famous for his role as diplomat between his people and British and American authorities during the period of the Revolutionary War.

The majority of the Iroquois had allied with the British during the war in order to avert the increasing expansion of the American colonies. After the American victory, however, the Iroquois faced a double threat, both as defeated opponents in the previous war and as targets of the quickly expanding new country already eager to absorb their land. In the years following the establishment of the new republic, whites continued to use alternative methods of warfare in order to to minimize Native culture. Societies already under pressure from the aftermath of warfare struggled to remain intact with these renewed assaults of colonialism. The close-knit social structure of the Iroquois splintered as traditional ways of life were challenged, conventional livelihoods were no longer possible, and disease and alcoholism devastated families. Under these conditions, white missionaries proselytized relentlessly where distraught populations were most vulnerable to assimilation.

It was to a missionary delegation at an Iroquois council in 1805 that Chief Red Jacket delivered this brilliant apologetic speech. Oratory was a much-cultivated skill throughout Native America, but nowhere more than among the nations of the Iroquois, where clear and considerate communication is a fundamental building-block of their traditional culture. While Red Jacket related to the problems endemic in his society on a very personal level, his compelling speech, delivered according to traditional Iroquois model, expresses his firm belief in the sovereignty and relevance of the Native American spiritual perspective with an eloquence that still resonates today.

Click continue to read the speech > (continue reading…)