Tired of Fighting

Native Americans have been put through a war, a genocide, and enslavement. They attempted to keep their lands and keep their culture, but the whites always had the upper hand with their evolving technology. The Natives were being killed off at rapid rates because of the corrupt Europeans who only wanted to exploit the lands and the Natives themselves. This drew Chief Joseph to make this surrender speech. 

Chief Joseph was tired of fighting. His people were being killed, the most important or wisest people (the elders) in the tribes were dead, and the young ones were being put through wars. He said, “It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led on the young men is dead.” The ones who guided the young to make choices were dead. In his eyes the young were making choices without the proper knowledge of how these choices of war and battle would affect their people. He also stated, “I am tired; my heart is sick and sad.” This was the second to last sentence in Chief Joseph’s surrender speech, before this he spoke of the people who had run away into the mountains to escape the Europeans wrath. He was unfeigned during this speech because he was tired of fighting, he no longer wanted to put his people through the pain of having to fight a war that was never asked for. 

He spoke in a very serious and unfeigned tone throughout the passage. He and his people were tired of fighting because his people just seemed to have no hope. Chief Joseph also used imagery in this passage, “...little children are freezing to death.” He uses imagery to show that even the children are dying because of this war and lack of resources, like blankets and food. Chief Jospeh also used repetition of words to emphasize that his people were dying such as “dead”. 

Overall, Chief Joseph was exhausted. He and his people no longer had the power and strength to keep the war going. The Natives had to surrender, they were being killed off in the thousands, if they continued they’d have been extinct. Chief Joseph was an honorable man, because despite the surrender, the idea behind it was wholehearted. The Europeans eventually got what they had came to the Americas’ for, they got the lands and the slaves they wanted because of the Chiefs’ surrenders.