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You Do - A formative assessment
An excerpt from It Happened in Washington by James Crutchfield
Prior Knowledge: Chief Seatlhl signed a treaty in 1855 because the old chief was eager to demonstrate his respect for the white man and he recognized the inevitability of white domination in the area. The treaty stated that Seathl and his tribe were to be relocated to the Port Madison Reservation in
today’s Kitsap County.
There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities. No place to hear the leaves of spring to the rustle of insect’s wings. But perhaps because I am a savage and do not understand, the clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lovely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night? The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of the pond and the smell of the wind itself cleansed by a midday rain, or scented with a pinon pine. The air is so precious to the redman. For all things share the same breath-the beasts, the trees, the man. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench….
What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beast also happens to man. All things connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.
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