I Will Fight No More Forever

“I am tired of fighting.”

The verb “tired” conveys the weary, heartsick tone Joseph uses in recounting the dire situation that has led him to surrender. He is both literally tired as one might expect of a leader who has traveled over 1000 miles from his homeland with the threat of war all around, and weary in his soul, as one who has tried to remain true to his sense of justice and the responsibilities put on him by his elders in the face of great adversity and injustice.

“Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead, Ta-hool-hool-shute is dead. The old men all are dead.”

Chief Joseph’s use of repetition and parallelism in these lines underscores the importance of elders as leaders and council givers. He also alludes, by the mention of Looking Glass, to an absence of war leadership, and in mentioning Toohulhulzote, to the absence of wise counsel. He here implies that this loss of wisdom and military knowledge means he cannot effectively push onward because he needs the counsel of others to make the best decisions. He is surrendering because the burden on his shoulders is too much.

“It is the young men who say yes and no.”

After alluding to the loss of elders and military leaders, Chief Joseph reveals that only the young are left. Here he alludes both to himself, who at 37 was still considered young, and to the remaining young warriors such as White Bird who thought it best to try and run through the lines to escape. In mentioning the young, he implies that the choices made now will be rash and perhaps wrong, as they are made without guidance from those wiser and more experienced.

“He who led the young men is dead.”

Chief Joseph alludes to his brother, Ollokat, who was a war leader but also was skilled in diplomacy, speech, and persuasion. Though Ollokat had gone with Chief Joseph to Fort Lapwai before the start of the war, General Howard suspected him of stirring up the other youth to resist. Here Chief Joseph is assuring Howard that those people he might consider to be troublemakers are gone and that a truce made with him can be trusted.

“It is cold and we have no blankets; the little children are freezing to death.”

Chief Joseph builds on a motif of nature and natural forces, citing the elemental cold, which is as deadly as the waiting army. The image of children without blankets in the winter’s cold creates sympathy and appeals to the waiting general’s sense of morality, as it serves to remind them that they are not just shelling warriors but also firing at noncombatants already beaten and suffering the cold.

“My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and they have no food, no blankets. No one knows where they are-perhaps freezing to death.”

Chief Joseph’s repeated mention of a lack of blankets highlights the power of the cold and illustrates how unprepared the band is to weather the winter ahead. It also demonstrates the extreme injustice of the original eviction notice and their lack of faith in the army to treat them fairly. Some of the Wallowa chose the hostile wilderness rather than surrendering.

“I want to have time to look for my children and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead.”

Chief Joseph, in this line, reveals the great cost of the choices he has made thus far. Not only has he, as a leader, had to contend with the loss of leaders and peers, but here he alludes to his role as a father, and to his daughter who he could not find at camp. Though he is missing his own, his voice remains candid and controlled, inviting respect and revealing him to be a person of great strength.

“I am tired; my heart is sick and sad.”

Mentioning the symbolic center of the conscience, Chief Joseph lays out his reason and justification for surrendering. After suffering the injustice of the eviction and witnessing the loss of so many in the flight to Canada, he no longer feels resistance is the best policy. The choice to surrender is not easy because it means breaking a promise to his father to stay on the land, and it means giving up control of his people’s fate and relinquishing it to the army. The burdens on his conscience are too much to carry and he cannot justify any other alternative to himself.