Red Jacket (1750–1830)
Author of The wisdom of the great chiefs : the classic speeches of Chief Red Jacket, Chief Joseph, and Chief Seattle
About the Author
Image credit: Painting by Charles Bird King: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Popular Graphic Arts Collection
(REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-DIG-ppmsca-05086)
Works by Red Jacket
The wisdom of the great chiefs : the classic speeches of Chief Red Jacket, Chief Joseph, and Chief Seattle (1994) 18 copies
The Collected Speeches of Sagoyewatha, or Red Jacket (The Iroquois and Their Neighbors) (2006) 10 copies
Address to Jacob Cram 3 copies
Sagoyewatha: Address to Jacob Cram 2 copies
Associated Works
The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume 1 (1990) — Contributor, some editions — 252 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Red Jacket
- Other names
- Otetiani (in his youth)
Sagoyewatha (1780)
Sa-go-ye-wa-tha - Birthdate
- 1750
- Date of death
- 1830-01-20
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- chief of the Wolf clan
orator - Short biography
- Red Jacket (known as Otetiani in his youth and Sagoyewatha [Keeper Awake] Sa-go-ye-wa-tha as an adult because of his oratorical skills) (c. 1750–January 20, 1830) was a Seneca orator and chief of the Wolf clan, based in Western New York.
- Nationality
- Seneca
- Associated Place (for map)
- Seneca
Members
Reviews
"We gave them corn and meat; they gave us poison in return.
This was a powerful speech from a powerful speaker.
"But an evil day came upon us; your forefathers crossed the great waters, and landed on this island. Their numbers were small; they found friends, and not enemies; they told us they had fled from their own country for fear of wicked men, and come here to enjoy their religion...we believed them...At length, their numbers had greatly increased; they wanted more land; they wanted our show more country. Our eyes were opened, and our minds became uneasy. Wars took place; Indians were hired to fight against Indians, and many of our people were destroyed. They also brought strong liquor among us; it was strong and powerful, and has slain thousands."
I don't actually agree with Red Jacket's arguments, but his rhetorical skills are most certainly worth noting: how he addresses the missionary as "friend and brother" while also declining his request, how he accuses the missionary's "forefathers" but then excludes the missionary from those accusations, how he finally gives the missionary a chance to prove himself to show that he is reasonable...
"Brother, the Great Spirit has made us all; but he has made a great difference between his white and red children; he has given us a different complexion, and different customs...Since he has made so great a difference between us in other things, why may we not conclude that he has given us a different religion according to our understanding. The Great Spirit does right; he knows what is best for his children; we are satisfied."
Unfortunately, Red Jacket was removed from the Senecas by the tribe's leaders, some of whom had converted to Christianity. His anti-Christian stance had become too fervent and he'd also developed a problem with alcohol, which he highly resented. Then his wife and children converted to Christianity and Red Jacket died only months later. show less
This was a powerful speech from a powerful speaker.
"But an evil day came upon us; your forefathers crossed the great waters, and landed on this island. Their numbers were small; they found friends, and not enemies; they told us they had fled from their own country for fear of wicked men, and come here to enjoy their religion...we believed them...At length, their numbers had greatly increased; they wanted more land; they wanted our show more country. Our eyes were opened, and our minds became uneasy. Wars took place; Indians were hired to fight against Indians, and many of our people were destroyed. They also brought strong liquor among us; it was strong and powerful, and has slain thousands."
I don't actually agree with Red Jacket's arguments, but his rhetorical skills are most certainly worth noting: how he addresses the missionary as "friend and brother" while also declining his request, how he accuses the missionary's "forefathers" but then excludes the missionary from those accusations, how he finally gives the missionary a chance to prove himself to show that he is reasonable...
"Brother, the Great Spirit has made us all; but he has made a great difference between his white and red children; he has given us a different complexion, and different customs...Since he has made so great a difference between us in other things, why may we not conclude that he has given us a different religion according to our understanding. The Great Spirit does right; he knows what is best for his children; we are satisfied."
Unfortunately, Red Jacket was removed from the Senecas by the tribe's leaders, some of whom had converted to Christianity. His anti-Christian stance had become too fervent and he'd also developed a problem with alcohol, which he highly resented. Then his wife and children converted to Christianity and Red Jacket died only months later. show less
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 10
- Also by
- 1
- Members
- 39
- Popularity
- #376,656
- Rating
- 4.1
- Reviews
- 2
- ISBNs
- 4
- Languages
- 2