Chief Joseph conveyed three main points in his speech. His first point he wanted to show and persuade Americans that his people were not savages and that they practiced exceptional human values and morals. Furthermore, Chief Joseph spoke about his people and how they believed you get the energy you put out into the world. The Nez Percé people, Chief Joseph's people, want to conserve their culture and traditions, while simultaneously changing to make peace with the Americans. To change their relationship with the Americans, he altered their view on American Indians from savages to civilized people. He explained that just because there were groups of Indians that were savages does not mean that the whole culture is. Chief Joseph made exceptional
