Chief Tyee Si'ah

[Jd755]

This is claimed to be a photograph of Chief Seattle or more accurately Chief Tyee Si'ahl. It is said to be the only known photograph of this man who has a key role in the Seattle story.
1892 Pioneer Building in Seattle: how and when was it built?

He certainly bears little resemblance in stature and dress to the Chief in this drawing.
Drawing by Emily Inez Denny entitled, "Chief Seattle shaking hands with D.T. Denny at site of West Seattle, Sept. 25, '51"

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Looking at the photograph the eyes being closed is a result of the Chief having died so he was propped up with a hidden armature for his posthumous photo shot. According to some people on the linked thread.

Well he seems to be holding a coolie type of hat. Coolie hats are worn by various peoples in the warm climes of Asia. It seems a most odd form of headgear to be used by a native Chief living the shores of an island on the Pacific west coast of the Americas.
His posture is such that it is highly reminiscent of Chinese ancestor paintings as they are called. This posture definitely was used in the era of the photograph.

Through the Lens of C.D. Hoy

Well my question is could we be looking at a Chinese man of some age dressed up to create an image of a Chief of a tribe in his later years and that is the reason his eyes are closed?
Almond shaped eyes would give the game away.

Please feel free to add any thoughts you may have on this.

 

[trismegistus]

It should be pointed out that the hat is for some reason propped up on a cane or wooden dowel of some sort. Why isn’t he holding it?

If he were dead and getting posed, it would probably be difficult to get the corpse to grasp a hat.

And I agree this man is indistinguishable from someone you’d find in china (tartary, et al) which certainly spins my mind in quite a few different directions.

 

[Jd755]

Look closely. He has his hands resting on the brim of the hat. I would argue he is in fact holding it with the outside edge of his right hand. Following the stick upwards in the minds eye its probable the handle of the stick meets the hat brim at the same point, if it has a handle. No way to know. It doesn't look thick enough to be a walking stick.
I had a look on start page for other copies of this image and found these here and here

The black and white one here is I suspect a scan of the original for a few reasons, the clarity compared to the one in the op, the weave in the hat is clearly visible. The stick is missing.
That said his head looks too big for his body and his eyes are open though they look like they have been enhanced/modified or possibly drawn in in the dark room.

Whover he is in reality he appears to be younger in that image.

The date of the photo is given as1864.

Its also worth noting that he has the overall appearance of someone who is diminutive on the human scale. He has a short torso and his legs are not long.

This is said to be his daughter, a princess. That face looks more Asian than the Chiefs.

Do go to the linked site, if you are so inclined, and put Chief Seattle into the search fields.
Its full of stories told and recorded long afterr the events in them and made up fantasy.

In that vein here is a full colour drawing of the photograph. No idea when it was done but it reinforces the official line that the man featured was an Indian native of America.

To be quite honest I doubt there ever was a Chief Tyee Si'ah. It is beyond bizarre that no Seattle newspaper covered his funeral in 1866. The entire tale of white people arriving in Puget Sound reads like a boys own novel.

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[Artemisian]

The princess appears to be wearing tartan check material. I read a book about 25 years ago (title forgotten) explaining how Scottish tartan was an invention of a couple of English aristocrats, who promoted the fantasy with much energy.
At the time, I didn’t connect the name, but tartan certainly sounds like something from Tartary!

 

[ProfessorHotStuff]

Well, it's entirely subjective of course, but I live in "Indian Country," (eastern Oklahoma) and the Chief here looks pretty stock-standard American Indian.

I will say, though, that his legendary speech is possibly fictional. I can see propping up the corpse of a fallen enemy and manufacturing a handoff of the terrotory for use as a founding myth. All land claims involve founding myths.

 

[ViniB]

All land claims involve founding myths.

This is true for são Paulo state, where i live. It's said that in 1554 some 12 jesuits built a church and a guy named Paulo was converted to their religion.

It can't get anymore ridiculous than that

 

[JimDuyer]

Look closely. He has his hands resting on the brim of the hat. I would argue he is in fact holding it with the outside edge of his right hand. Following the stick upwards in the minds eye its probable the handle of the stick meets the hat brim at the same point, if it has a handle. No way to know. It doesn't look thick enough to be a walking stick.
I had a look on start page for other copies of this image and found these here and here

View attachment 27147​

View attachment 27146​

The black and white one here is I suspect a scan of the original for a few reasons, the clarity compared to the one in the op, the weave in the hat is clearly visible. The stick is missing.
That said his head looks too big for his body and his eyes are open though they look like they have been enhanced/modified or possibly drawn in in the dark room.

Whover he is in reality he appears to be younger in that image.

The date of the photo is given as1864.

Its also worth noting that he has the overall appearance of someone who is diminutive on the human scale. He has a short torso and his legs are not long.

This is said to be his daughter, a princess. That face looks more Asian than the Chiefs.

View attachment 27149​

Do go to the linked site, if you are so inclined, and put Chief Seattle into the search fields.
Its full of stories told and recorded long afterr the events in them and made up fantasy.

In that vein here is a full colour drawing of the photograph. No idea when it was done but it reinforces the official line that the man featured was an Indian native of America.

View attachment 27148​

To be quite honest I doubt there ever was a Chief Tyee Si'ah. It is beyond bizarre that no Seattle newspaper covered his funeral in 1866. The entire tale of white people arriving in Puget Sound reads like a boys own novel.

​

Nice - Masonic symbols. Eyes of Osiris, Fish of Christ, X is the mark of Cain and the mark put on the doorposts of the Hebrews in Egypt. The pole is a cane, Freemason esoteric meaning for Tubal Cain, son of Satan, who they venerate. Later this X is twisted upwards in the Phoenician and Hebrew alphabets, to make it less obvious and less of a direct link to the Mark of Cain. Greek's called it the Tau, and it is on eof the most important symbols for Royal Arch Masonry. I'm not one - just doing some research on them lately for a project.

 

[wommak]

I have a book that is a collection of statements and speeches of north American Indians. There is a short one by Chief Seattle.



There is many more similarly sounding speeches in that book.

 

[Jd755]

I have a book that is a collection of statements and speeches of north American Indians. There is a short one by Chief Seattle.


View attachment 27206View attachment 27207View attachment 27208
There is many more similarly sounding speeches in that book.

Thanks. Photo is too low res to read. Is there a pdf or article containing the text of the speech anywhere?

 

[Breizh]

...collection of statements and speeches of north American Indians.

Are we differentiating between the various indigenous peoples in the Americas? Broadly speaking there seems to be 2 types although pictures of the other variations do exist. The South American indigenous peoples are perhaps the 3rd major variation.

 

[Jd755]

Thanks. Photo is too low res to read. Is there a pdf or article containing the text of the speech anywhere?

Scratch that. Twas the setting of the device I was on. How embarrassing.
Found out it may not be what we are told it is, surprise surprise.
The Alternate "Chief Seattle Statement" - with Editorial Commentary