Throughout our study of the Dawes Act, the Native Americans have been pretty voiceless, don't you think? That's not by our design, but by history's; as they say, it's usually the winners who write history.

Our history has been written by the white men who "conquered" the Native Americans. While in retrospect we've been able to analyze all of the places where we went wrong, many Native American voices were permanently silenced. Luckily, though, some of their greatest voices were preserved, and we're able to see exactly how some of the tribes felt about the whole situation.

In 1811 a famous Shawnee leader named Tecumseh spoke to a gathering of Choctaws and Chickasaws in order to try to persuade them to unite with his tribe to fight the invading settlers. His speech is not only eloquent and impassioned, but it's emotionally hard to read 300 years later, knowing what we know now. He wrote:

But what need is there to speak of the past? It speaks for itself and asks, "where today is the Pequot? where the Narragansetts, the Mohawk, Pocanokets, and many other once powerful tribes of our race?" They have vanished before the avarice and oppression of the white men, as snow before a summer sun. In the vain hope of alone defending their ancient possessions, they have fallen in the wars with the white men. Look abroad aver their once beautiful country, and what you see now? Naught but ravages of the pale-face destroyers meet your eyes. So it will be with you Choctaws and Chickasawa! Soon your mighty forest trees, under the shade of whose wide spreading branches you have played in infancy, sported in boyhood, and now rest your wearied limbs after the fatigue of the chase, will be cut down to fence in the land which the white intruders dare to call it their own. Soon their broad roads will pass over the graves of your fathers, and the place of their rest will be blotted out forever. The annihilation of our race is at hand unless we unite in common cause against one common foe (source).

It's like he could actually see the future. Eerie, isn't it? Eerie, and really, really depressing.