text: Great Speeches by Native Americans is the model of simplicity. Though edited by Bob Blaisdell, who presumably provides the single-paragraph introductions, the bulk of the book is simply the spoken words of Native Americans from the time of first contact in North America to the present day. Their messages speak for themselves.
  
  A number of themes and characteristics run through these selections. One is their brevity. The speakers get to the point and make it clearly. Few inclusions run longer than five pages. There is also a level of genuine (and often sad) honesty. Many selections concern the loss of tribal lands and the American Indians' efforts to hold onto them or gain just compensation, if such a thing was possible at the time. The tone is often one of resignation, but also of appeal to the better nature of their listeners. It is not possible to say if these speeches were carefully selected for this editorial theme or not, but it appears that for several centuries the native peoples viewed, rightly or wrongly, the European and later American entry into the continent as something that words and argument and demonstrated moral behavior could combat. Even among the surrender speeches of various tribal chiefs we see the notion that no speaker could really understand what their people could have done differently to avoid such conflicts.
  
  The style could almost be considered anti-oratorical, though the simple approach is here elevated to a style of its own. One should probably consider that many of these speeches are translated into English. Nonetheless, the organization of thought and prioritization of points shows a group of people, separated by years, language, and geography who retain a clear-headed means of addressing their listeners
  