Rhetorical Devices In Native American

Literary efforts in early American writing were mostly penned by Protestant English transplants who’d left England in search of religious freedom. These works were either written account of the rigorous toil that went into starting the settlements or the interactions that the settlers had with the Native Americans. This restrictive canon was expanded with inclusion of essays and speeches that gave voice to the Native Americans, like John Dunn Hunter’s account of a speech given by Tecumseh from the Shawnee tribe. Tecumseh speaks to a group of rival Indians hoping to get them to join him in fighting off settlers that have become a scourge on the land. Hunter’s account shows a Native American employing rhetoric to connect with old enemies in the hope of eliminating a greater opponent that threatens their existence of their entire race, asking that old vendettas be ended and acknowledging the egregious acts committed by the whites. Tecumseh starts his speech by attempting to establish common ground between his Shawnee tribe and long-time rival Osage tribe, “Brothers- We all belong to one family; we are all children of the Great Spirit; we walk in the same path...” (453). This passage shows Tecumseh trying to assuage past tensions an establish a new order among the Native Americans. The year that the Osages received the …show more content…
“Brothers” is used each time Tecumseh addresses the Osage tribe. The Osages are addressed as brothers by Tecumseh 16 times throughout the text. This friendly address is used not only to solidify a bond between tribes but as an oratory tool to separate Native Americans from the English settlers. The second paragraph of the piece is a perfect example of the speaker employing, telling his “brothers” that that the Englishmen wouldn’t be satisfied until they’d carried out “the destruction of all the red men”