My first reaction to the "Speech on the Signing of the Treaty of Port Elliot" was not one of great enthusiasm. The word choice, diction, style, and references all reminded me of the quintessential Indian chief. Picked up through popular culture (movies such as Pocahontas, books, people's general conceptions), I thought that Indians really spoke a certain way, such as "Yonder sky that has wept tears of compassion..." This sort of language (many metaphors, analogies, literary devices connected to nature) is basically the embodiment of this speech. Thus, I felt that it was just and Indian Chief who was particularly effective with this speech and maybe this is the speech that historians have used to attribute this type of talk and language to Indians. When asked to look in this essay to find any problems with the translation, I was utterly confused. I automatically bought into the fact...