The earliest white men of your kind to come onto this land were Lewis and Clark, two honorable chiefs that introduced multiple concepts to our people and presented us with gifts, which we were willing to accept and offer gifts ourselves. These two white men pledged to never declare war on the Indians, and we agreed in turn. However, we have reached a crucial point in which we cannot bear the hardships that you have brought onto us. Thus, I, Chief Powhatan of the esteemed Tonkawas, speak to you as a fellow man to a man, rather than a foe, in hopes of causing you to reconsider your harsh treatment towards us.

Although you might consider that we are barbaric and serious foes meant to be dealt with immediately, I consider that it is still rather unjust of you to seize the land that we have dwelled on for thousands upon thousands years and grew to love and know, beginning from the tiniest flower and expanding to the greatest mountain. Our blood runs through the veins of the rivers, pumping precious life into my people every day as we wake to the call of Mother Earth. However, I am simply a ravenous savage, foolish in thought. Even so, I strongly believe that it is not right to capture a man’s land, even though I may be a barbarian. Now, as my tribe’s wailing infants and weak elders travel the strenuous journey to confined reservations, perhaps you will be satisfied to view us wither and perish.

Furthermore you may consider that we attack your people constantly, thieving your houses and killing the white men mercilessly. Yet, this doesn’t prove to the case. Our foes, such as the hostile Comanches and Apaches, are responsible for these vicious deeds. Since you have no regard for the various divisions within the Indian people, it is a common error for you to make regarding over who was responsible for a certain Indian raid. Often, we are the innocent victims of an attack of white men due to such inabilities to correctly identify the responsible tribe. This miscomprehending serves as a major reason for the increasing tension between us.

Lastly, the rapid expansion of white settlement in Texas greatly disturbs our complex and spirited lifestyles that have become very vital to us. You may regard us as mere simpletons, red men unfit to share the glory of the white men, yet I cannot bear to silently witness the injustice performed to my tribe and quietly weep the tears of pain and sorrow endured by us all. Your actions have killed the buffalo that have roamed the vast plains so numerously before, starving the young and the elderly of my tribe. Additionally, you have brutally forced us out of our lands, settling it without regard to the suffering that we confront, weeping for the land that we so love and treasure. My tribe remains stranded in a world ruled by white authorities that turn a deaf ear to my tribe’s mournful pleas.

As you self-evidently view, our lives are filled with the terrors of white domination and constant loss. You stripped us from all that we have, leaving us bare and exposed to new types of adversity, unknown and foreign to my tribe. Yet, recall that all things are connected, and so you must suffer the fate that has befallen the land and its inhabitants. However, what do I acknowledge? I, a mere Indian chief, am of no recognition to the superior white men. I thus wish you satisfaction in your deeds and the outcome that would inevitably follow.