It's hard to say why this collection of simple-minded platitudes is so popular. Is it partly because people believe it is old? Actually the attribution to a document found in 1691 in Old St. Paul's Church in Baltimore cannot be correct. The church was constructed in 1692. Most documents published by the church, i.e., weekly church-bulletin inserts, bear that date. But this fact turns out to be irrelevant, for this piece was actually written by an Indiana poet named Max Ehrman, in about 1926, and registered with the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress early in 1927. Copyright was renewed after the author's death by his widow, which would extend the copyright another 30 years, to 1987. If someone else renewed the copyright again, it may still be protected under U.S. Copyright Laws.
Some web sites attribute this correctly to Max Ehrman, and some give additional information about him.
Internal evidence brands it as a 20th century creation, putting modern references into the mouth of a 19th century Indian. Chief Seattle lived in the area of the Puget Sound. His people lived on the land and ate salmon, but probably had never seen a buffalo. Yet the fake speech has him denouncing the slaughter of the buffalo well before the near-extermination of the plains buffalo herds began. The speech has mention of railroads which didn't extend to the Pacific Northwest for another twenty years. Furthermore, this version is often claimed to be a written letter of Chief Seattle. He and his people had no written language.
The author of the fraudulent version was Ted Perry, who wrote a screenplay around 1970 for a film about ecology titled Home, made by the Southern Baptist Convention. The completed film didn't credit Perry, and it perpetrated historical fraud by attributing Perry's words to Chief Seattle and falsely stating that they were from a written letter to President Franklin Pierce. Christian evangelical films are not noted for a commitment to fact or truth. Their producers seem to feel that lies told in a good cause are permissible. To his credit, Perry has tried to set the record straight, but it is too late. The myth has taken over reality, fueled by those who spread comfortable myths without checking sources.
But this incident has a true historical origin. Chief Seattle did give a speech of this sort in 1854. A text version was published in the Seattle Sunday Star, Oct 29, 1887, and reprinted there in 1934. The text was prepared by a "Dr." Smith, from notes taken as Chief Seattle spoke in the Suquamish dialect. Smith admitted that his version "contained none of the grace and elegance of the original." Even this published version has flaws. The last two sentences were not in the original, but were added in the early 20th century by A. C. Baillard, an historian and ethnographic writer.
One web site has what may be a more authentic version of Chief Seattle's Letter. But other research reveals there's no good documentation that Chief Seattle ever made such a speech in any form! For the whole sordid story of extensive research to find any credible version of the speech, see the National Archives and Records Administration home page. This site has a section of web links on this subject and an extensive bibliography. See also:
Just some links for now. More commentary will be added after I evaluate each of these and locate others.
View the map at this link. Compare it with a modern map. Disappointing, isn't it?
I hope to expand this section to include more examples of fake history,
especially ones which are widely publicized and believed to be true.
Input and suggestions are welcome at
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