Case file · Folklore / legend
Chief Seattle's speech and the 'invisible dead'
In 1854 Si'ahl (Chief Seattle) gave a speech; in a version printed in 1887, he said the land would 'throng with the returning hosts' of his people, for 'the dead are not powerless'.
1854 CE · 47.60, -122.33 · status: disputed
The account
Dr. Henry A. Smith published his version 33 years after hearing it. Its lines about the dead have become famous; much more widely quoted ecological versions were written by a screenwriter in 1971.
The sceptical view
Historians agree a speech was given, but its wording is uncertain and Smith's text shows his own Victorian style.