Chief Joseph Speech in Washington D.C. (1879)
Following his surrender, Joseph and his people were moved from fort to fort, ending up at Ft. Leavenworth where many
Nez Perce immediately contracted illnesses that proved fatal. In 1878, Joseph began his 26 year effort to get better
treatment for his people. In 1879, the Indian “Napoleon” as he was known, was invited to speak before cabinet members,
congressmen and diplomats in Washington D.C.
“I cannot understand how the Government sends a man out to fight us, as it did General Miles, and then
breaks his word. I do not understand why nothing is done for my people. I have heard talk and talk, but nothing is
done. Words do not pay for my country, now overrun by white men. They do not protect my father’s grave…
Good words will not give me back my children. Good words will not give my people good health and stop
them from dying. Good words will not get my people a home where they can live in peace and take care of
themselves. I am tired of talk that comes to nothing. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and
all the broken promises…
If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace. Treat all men alike. Give them
all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow. All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief.
They are all brothers. The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it. You
might as well expect the rivers to run backward as that any man who was born free should be contented penned up
and denied liberty to go where he pleases.
We asked to be recognized as men. We ask that the same law shall work alike on all men. Let me be a free
man—free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to
follow the religion of my fathers, free to think and talk and act for myself—and I will obey every law, or submit to
the penalty…
Whenever the white man treats the Indian as they treat each other then we shall have no more wars. We shall
be all alike -- brothers of one father and mother, with one sky above us and one country around us and one
government for all. Then the Great Spirit Chief who rules above will smile upon this land and send rain to wash out
the bloody spots made by brothers' hands upon the face of the earth. For this time the Indian race is waiting and
praying. I hope no more groans of wounded men and women will ever go to the ear of the Great Spirit Chief above,
and that all people may be one people.
Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekht has spoken for his people.”
Questions for study and discussion
1. What is the occasion of, or situation of the speech?
2. Who is Chief Joseph’s audience?
3. What rhetorical device does Chief Joseph use at the beginning of the second paragraph?
4. What rhetorical device does Joseph use in paragraph four to list his requests?
5. What is the overall tone of the speech?
6. What is the purpose of Joseph’s speech?
7. How does Chief Joseph establish strong ethos in the final line of paragraph four?
8. Identify the polysyndeton used in the second sentence of paragraph five. What is the effect of using polysyndeton here
instead of asyndeton?
9. Do you think Chief Joseph is referring to the Whites or his Indian people in referring to the “groans of wounded men
and women?” Explain your answer.
10. How does the format of the speech resemble the Declaration of Independence?
11. How does the content of the speech (specifically the final three paragraphs) echo the sentiments expressed in the
Declaration of Independence? Identify specific passages and ideas.
12. Where in the speech does Joseph use pathos, or emotional appeal to argue his point? Identify specific words or
images.