Talk:Chief Seattle

Many quotes are falsely attributed to Chief Seattle. http://www.snopes.com/quotes/seattle.htm By the way, that Lakota wisdom about planning for a seven generations is probably myth too. Lokotan history starts around 1720. They barely existed seven generations before the white Americans drove them off. The wise, living in harmony with nature, "noble savage" image of Native American's, invented by hippies in the 1960's and 70's, is as much a fantasy as the bloodthirsty savage image that preceded it.

To clarify, my mention of the Lakota is relevant because the guy who faked the Chief Seattle quotes was basing it on a mythology invented by hippies about the plains indians. In the fabricated quotes, Chief Seattle talks about the transcontinental railroad and the slaughter of bison, neither of which happened until decades later, and both of which happened about 2000 miles away.

I added some valid quotes, but also restored the fake quotes (under a heading of misattributed, with a note about the hoax), so that people wouldn't be confused when looking for the quotes they think are real. Rather than just deleting them, it's better to point out that they are not genuine. ~ UDScott 12:54, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

That makes sense, thanks for the fixup. However, even the "sourced" quotes are questionable. The source is an English speaker's reconstruction based on his notes of a Chinook translation of what Chief Seattle said in Lushootseed, done 32 years after. The author was primarily a poet, not a historian or a reporter. It's disputed if they even capture the gist of what Chief Seattle said. Would it be appropriate to add a disclaimer? 70.107.56.100 20:11, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Another attributed quote

I have come across another quote attributed to him, evidently popular with German undertakers and their clients: “Unsere Toten leben fort in den süssen Flüssen der Erde, kehren wieder mit des Frühlings leisem Schritt, und es ist ihre Seele im Wind, der die Oberfläche der Teiche kräuselt”, i.e. “Our dead live on in the sweet rivers of the earth and return with the soft tread of Spring, and it is their souls on the wind that ripple the waters”. Googling “Seattle” plus my translation (from German, from English?, from Chinook?, from Lushootseed?) yields no illumination — I wonder if anyone has more information. PJTraill (talk) 21:44, 12 January 2013 (UTC)