North America

Here sis an excerpt from JC's paper.  What are its strengths?  How can he empower it?

"To begin with, in 'Message to Franklin Pierce,' two distinct perspectives can be seen.  Firstly, there is Chief Seattle's perspective, that of the misunderstood and the oppressed.  As Chief Seattle views it, the 'white' and 'red' man are two extremely different cultures.  The 'red' man is a culture that is very much intertwined with nature.  For him, the land is something akin to family, and something never to be desecrated.  For Chief Seattle, nature is the soft sound they need over the loud noises of the 'white' man's cities.  Chief Seattle sees the animals of the world as equal to himself, writing that '... for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to man.'  Chief Seattle also sees quite ironically how his own people are viewed.  In this letter he continually uses the word 'savages' speaking to the ;white' man's distorted view of the Indians and their culture.  Chief Seattle though understands the 'white' man's perspective.  He understands that the 'white' man looks only forward, he takes and leaves, forgetting his past along with him, as Chief Seattle wrote in 'Message to Franklin Pierce' 'for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs.  The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on.  He leaves the father's graves, and his children's birthright forgotten ... But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand.'  Chief Seattle stands on the perspective of the misunderstood and the oppressed but also understands the position of the 'white' man quite well, as seen within the previous quote.  They simply view the Indians as savages who could not possibly fathom how the 'white' man lives.  In reality, the Indians are just a different culture with different values as Chief Seattle writes in 'Message to Franklin Pierce' 'the Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of the pond, the smell of the wind itself cleansed by a mid-day rain, or scented with the pinion pine.  The air is precious to the red man.'  Chief Seattle, being the author of this piece, reveals much about perspective.  As Chief Seattle was able to understand both of the perspectives between differing peoples and then make an argument for his perspective.  By understanding perspective, Chief Seattle gave a powerful argument for his people."