From Drumhop:

This volume of Great American Indian Speeches is not only a tribute to those illustrious 

Indian leaders whose words and lives were an inspiration and guidance to their people during

a troubled period in the history of America. Nor is it solely a celebration of the special 

and enduring value of the American Indian way of life. It is, most importantly, a recognition

of what American Indians have contributed to our national life, and so, it is a gift returned

to itself–a testimony to a strong and noble influence on the growth of America.

To be sure, great oratory has had a profound and fundamental impact on the formation of our country. 

Many an orator has significantly influenced the course of events through his genius for arousing the 

curiosity and passions of his audience. While the immediate purpose is to convey a message, the lasting 

value of an oration lies in the total expression of the innermost thoughts and feelings of the speaker,

which leaves a powerful impression on his audience. This unique interplay of expression and impression 

derives from an ingenious combination of the orator's skill, his creativity, and his power and manifest 

itself in his presentation of himself to his audience. By skillful use of words and imaginative technique, 

the orator adapts the tools of communication to his message. The artist in him deftly conjures up mental images,

gently revealing the subtleties so as to strike a chord of recognition in the experiences and emotions of his listeners.

He evokes in them a realization of common opinions, shared attitudes and similar feelings. Thus, he effects a mutuality of

communication which leads to a deep intellectual understanding and an emotional awareness. Ultimately, his skill and artistry

transforms his message into a statement of himself–a revelation of personal essence and ultimate concern. Hi performance is his power. It is this presentation of himself, delivered with dignity and spoken from the depth of his being, which stirs the minds and hearts of his audience and leaves a lasting impression.

The orator, then, buy virtue of his personal power and stature, must become a spokesman; he commands

attention and so he especially must speak for those who have no voice and who are never heard. His 

conceptual and perceptive powers enable him to grasp the totality of a situation and thus to translate

his understanding to his listeners. Adept as he is at revealing the essence of a matter, often when it

is obscure or not fully understood, it is he who must give voice to those more subtle and elusive phenomena

and become a mouthpiece for those inaudible utterances. It is only through him and his sensitivity to their

essence and their nature that those imperceptible voices can be heard.

Indian oratory offers a special dimension to the notion of "great speeches." While much oratory deals in

symbolic representation, a unique feature of Indian oratory is that the symbol is the reality and the mode

of expression is filled with natural images. It offers an insight into the rhythm of life and invokes a

special awareness of our own very immediate relationship to it. It sensitizes us to sensual impressions,

unencumbered by an order imposed from the outside. What we experience then is a revelation of the natural 

order of things, beautifully communicated by a speaker who sees into the heart of the matter and deftly exposes it to our view.

Historically, the cultural and philosophical perspective of the American Indian is quite different from 

that of the Western world. Our conceptional structures and mental machinery give the illusion of a static,

uni-dimensional world–a perspective conspicuously lacking depth or dynamics. To a great extend our reactions

to life are regulated by this viewpoint such that we tend to fit reality to a predetermined order. Our constructs

become our boundaries and so restrict our ability to broaden the territory of our understanding.

Indian oratory presents an opportunity to experience a deeper realm. These Indian speakers vividly

and poignantly portray the values and ideals at play in tribal–and human–survival, and eloquently

communicate the nobility and emotion inherent in that struggle. Whatever the occasion–tribal councils, 

treaty negations, government conferences, battle scenes–they adeptly transform our knowledge of the 

situation into a deeper understanding of its impact on the lives of their people. Whether traditional

or progressive, they express a keen awareness of the confrontation between cultures and a deep concern

for the survival of their people. They speak with hope and desperation, with gentility and bitterness,

with fortitude and abandon. And always they seek to be understood and respected for their own customs, beliefs, and way of life.

However these Indian leaders are not only representatives for their own tribe at a specific time, 

they are also spokesmen for things of a spiritual nature. They speak of values which represent the

cycle of life and the performance of nature, and they realize their own part within the whole life process.

They know from when we they came and where they will return. They speak with respect and appreciation 

because theirs is an awareness of mutuality and dependence, not of dominatrices and ownership. After all, 

how can we own that which sustains and gives us life?

An early visitor to Indian country, making his observations in the late 18th century, 

has said about Indian oratory: ". . . when they mean to persuade as well as convince, 

they take the shortest way to reach the heart." This collection of Indian orations regenerates

this spirit of our Indian forefathers. Their words are as significant and emotive today as 

they were one or two hundreds years ago. In a very real substantial way the fabric of America 

reflects the influence of the leaders and their legacy. They have awakened us to those dimensions

of our experience long hidden by callousness and insensitivity. They have offered us insights

into our relationship with life, nature, and the family of man, which have become tragically 

obscured over the years. They have moved us to begin to respect others' differences, to be cognizant

of our own, and to foster a true acceptance of the wonderful diversity intrinsic in life. Finally,

they have encouraged us to understand America in a different way, a revelation tantamount to 

revitalizing a body with a renewed appreciation of its soul.

MARIA L. FACCHINA