You have taken me prisoner with all my warriors. I am much grieved, for I expected, if I did not defeat you, to hold out much longer, and give you more trouble before I surrendered. I tried hard to bring you into ambush, but your last general understands Indian fighting. The first one was not so wise. When I saw that I could not beat you by Indian fighting, I determined to rush on you, and fight you face to face. I fought hard. But your guns were well aimed. The bullets flew like birds in the air, and whizzed by our ears like the wind through the trees in the winter. My warriors fell around me; it began to look dismal. I saw my evil day at hand. The sun rose dim on us in the morning, and at night it sunk in a dark cloud, and looked like a ball of fire. That was the last sun that shone on Black Hawk. His heart is dead, and no longer beats quick in his bosom. He is now a prisoner to the white men; they will do with him as they wish. But he can stand torture, and is not afraid of death. He is no coward. Black Hawk is an Indian.
He has done nothing for which an Indian ought to be ashamed. He has fought for his countrymen, the squaws and papooses, against white men, who came, year after year, to cheat them and take away their lands. You know the cause of our making war. It is known to all white men. They ought to be ashamed of it. The white men despise the Indians, and drive them from their homes. But the Indians are not deceitful. The white men speak bad of the Indian, and took at him spitefully. But the Indian does not tell lies; Indians do not steal.
An Indian who is as bad as the white men, could not live in our nation; he would be put to death, and eat [sic] up by the wolves. The white men are bad school-masters; they carry false looks, and deal in false actions; they smile in the face of the poor Indian to cheat him; they shake them by the hand to gain their confidence, to make them drunk, to deceive them, and ruin our wives. We told them to let us alone; but they followed on and beset our paths, and they coiled themselves among us like the snake. They poisoned us by their touch. We were not safe. We lived in danger. We were becoming like them, hypocrites and liars, adulterers, lazy drones, all talkers, and no workers.
We looked up to the Great Spirit. We went to our great father. We were encouraged. His great council gave us fair words and big promises, but we got no satisfaction. Things were growing worse. There were no deer in the forest. The oppossum and beaver were fled; the springs were drying up, and our squaws and papooses without victuals to keep them from starving; we called a great council and built a large fire. The spirit of our fathers arose and spoke to us to avenge our wrongs or die.... We set up the war-whoop, and dug up the tomahawk; our knives were ready, and the heart of Black Hawk swelled high in his bosom when he led his warriors to battle. He is satisfied. He will go to the world of spirits contented. He has done his duty. His father will meet him there, and commend him.
Black Hawk is a true Indian, and disdains to cry like a woman. He feels for his wife, his children and friends. But he does not care for himself. He cares for his nation and the Indians. They will suffer. He laments their fate. The white men do not scalp the head; but they do worse-they poison the heart, it is not pure with them. His countrymen will not be scalped, but they will, in a few years, become like the white men, so that you can't trust them, and there must be, as in the white settlements, nearly as many officers as men, to take care of them and keep them in order.
Farewell, my nation. Black Hawk tried to save you, and avenge your wrongs. He drank the blood of some of the whites. He has been taken prisoner, and his plans are stopped. He can do no more. He is near his end. His sun is setting, and he will rise no more. Farewell to Black Hawk.
Which phrase best describes the speaker of this passage?
A)a historian presenting information about a defeated Indian chief
B)a defiant and unrepentant Indian chief who has not given up his fight yet
C)a powerful Indian chief who has suffered defeat at the hands of the white men
D)a white man writing a sympathetic history of the oppression of Native Americans
c
Which sentence best describes the narrator of this passage?
A)The narrator longs to return to his home.
B)The narrator is convinced that Black Hawk was a traitor.
C)The narrator is willing to continue battling the white men.
D)The narrator is convinced that hardship will come to Indians who follow the white man.
D
I agree with your answers.
To determine the correct answers, we need to analyze the passage and look for clues about the speaker and narrator. The passage is written in the first person, so we can assume that the speaker is Black Hawk himself, based on the opening statement: "You have taken me prisoner with all my warriors."
From this opening statement, we can gather that Black Hawk and his warriors have been defeated and are now prisoners of the white men. Black Hawk expresses his grief and disappointment, as he had hoped to hold out longer and cause more trouble before surrendering. This aligns with option C, which describes Black Hawk as a powerful Indian chief who has suffered defeat at the hands of the white men.
The narrator, on the other hand, provides a description and interpretation of Black Hawk's words and actions. The narration reflects on the struggles faced by Native Americans, their mistreatment by white men, and the degradation of their culture and way of life. We can infer that the narrator sympathizes with Black Hawk and condemns the actions of the white men. This aligns with option D, which states that the narrator is convinced that hardship will come to Indians who follow the white man.