Indian speech. The speech of Sagona Ha, which signifies the Keeper Awake, a chief of the Seneca Nation of Indians, known by the white people by the name of Red Jacket, in answer to a speech of the Rev. Mr. Alexander, a missionary, from the Missionary Society in New York to that nation, delivered at a council, held at Buffaloe-Creek, in May, 1811

This very direct response to a missionary from New York in 1811 is similar to Red Jacket’s speech to the Boston missionaries in 1805 (see Indian Speech). He states that Indian nations in the east fell under their spell, and are now “a divided people” who argue about religion and have the virtues of neither the Indians nor the whites. Interestingly, three white men were also present at the meeting: a federal agent, an interpreter, and a Quaker agent. Red Jacket points out that they were actually helping the Indians, unlike the missionaries who were only seeking Indian conversions. He particularly appreciated the Quaker approach, which, while it was also missionary, did not require conversion (B. Thatcher 2:278-84). This speech also appeared in Native Eloquence (12-14) with the following noted in the editor’s introduction:

The speech of Red Jacket, I think, discovers the same beauties of imagery, united with shrudeness of remark and an extent of information, far, far beyond what we should have expected to find in the wandering tribes of Indians. I confess that, in perusing this speech, I felt humbled in the view of myself, considering the superior advantages I had enjoyed from childhood, to those granted to this man of the woods.

You may rely on the correctness of the speeches, as delivered by the Chiefs mentioned. I received Red Jacket’s from a gentleman who was present when it was delivered, and wrote it sentence by sentence, as translated at the time by the interpreter. (2)