Sealth - Chief Seattle and His Speech

The book Brother Eagle, Sister Sky: A Message from Chief Seattle is very popular in our schools. The speech on which the book was based is a 1972 fraud, and one that follows a century-long tradition of fabrication. But if the classic pattern holds true -- desire over reality -- the myth will live on.

Did Chief Seattle Really Say, 'The Earth Does Not Belong To Man; Man Belongs To The Earth'?
From Wild West magazine, a well written article by Peter Stekel that best summarizes the history of the speech.

Thus Spoke Chief Seattle: The Story of an Undocumented Speech, by Jerry L. Clark
From Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives and Records Administration, Spring 1985 -- Clark wrote this piece before the author of the film version was revealed. He examines the purported "authentic" speech published in a Seattle newspaper in 1887 and the man who reported it. He concludes that the evidence that this speech - or anything like it - was ever given is weak or non-existant.

Smith's 1887 account of Seattle's speech
This is the account Jerry Clark refers to in his article "Thus Spoke Chief Seattle...."

To: Requestors of Chief Seattle's "Ecology" Speech,
From: Washington State Library, Olympia, Washington (1993) -- Nancy Zussy, State Librarian. Brief discussion of 4 versions of the speech and links to other material.

The AFU [alt.folklore.urban] and Urban Legend Archive: Chief Seattle's Environment Speech
Ah, the Urban Legend web site. Bless them and their archives. This piece features the text of a brief 1992 Omni Magazine article on the history of the speech.