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Crazy Horse, Sept. 23, 1875
"One does not sell the land people walk on."
Luther Standing Bear - Oglala Sioux
1868-1937
The American Indian is of the soil, whether
it be the region of forests, plains, pueblos, or mesas. He fits into
the landscape, for the hand that fashioned the continent also fashioned
the man for his surroundings. He once grew as naturally as the wild
sunflowers, he belongs just as the buffalo belonged....
Out of the Indian approach to life there came a great freedom, an intense
and absorbing respect for life, enriching faith in a Supreme Power,
and principles of truth, honesty, generosity, equity, and brotherhood
as a guide to mundane relations.
Black Elk - Oglala Sioux Holy Man
1863-1975
You have noticed that everything as Indian
does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always
works in circles, and everything tries to be round..... The Sky is round,
and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all
the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their
nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours ... Even the
seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back
again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood
to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves.
Crowfoot - Blackfoot warrior and
orator
"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly
in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is
the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the
sunset."
Eagle Chief (Letakos-Lesa) - Pawnee
In the beginning of all things, wisdom and
knowledge were with the animals, for Tirawa, the One Above, did not
speak directly to man. He sent certain animals to tell men that he showed
himself through the beast, and that from them, and from the stars and
the sun and moon should man learn ... all things tell of Tirawa.
All things in the world are two. In our minds
we are two, good and evil. With our eyes we see two things, things that
are fair and things that are ugly.... We have the right hand that strikes
and makes for evil, and we have the left hand full of kindness, near
the heart. One foot may lead us to an evil way, the other foot may lead
us to a good. So are all things two, all two.
Mourning Dove - Salish 1888-1936
...... everything on the earth has a purpose, every disease an herb
to cure it, and every person a mission. This is the Indian theory of
existence.
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Children were encouraged to develop strict discipline and a high regard
for sharing. When a girl picked her first berries and dug her first
roots, they were given away to an elder so she would share her future
success. When a child carried water for the home, an elder would give
compliments, pretending to taste meat in water carried by a boy or berries
in that of a girl. The child was encouraged not to be lazy and to grow
straight like a sapling.
Flat-Iron Maza Blaska - Oglala
Sioux Chief
From Wakan-Tanka, the Great Mystery, comes all power. It is from Wakan-Tanka
that the holy man has wisdom and the power to heal and make holy charms.
Man knows that all healing plants are given by Wakan-Tanka, therefore
they are holy. So too is the buffalo holy, because it is the gift of
Wakan-Tanka.
Sarah Winnemucca Paiute 1844-1891
The traditions of our people are handed down
from father to son. The Chief is considered to be the most learned,
and the leader of the tribe. The Doctor, however, is thought to have
more inspiration. He is supposed to be in communion with spirits...
He cures the sick by the laying of hands, and prayers and incantations
and heavenly songs. He infuses new life into the patient, and performs
most wonderful feats of skill in his practice.... He clothes himself
in the skins of young innocent animals, such as the fawn, and decorated
himself with the plumage of harmless birds, such as the dove and hummingbird
...
Big Thunder (Bedagi) - Wabanaki
Algonquin
The Great Spirit is in all things, he is in
the air we breathe. The Great Spirit is our Father, but the Earth is
our Mother. She nourishes us, that which we put into the ground she
returns to us....
Lone
Man (Isna-la-wica) - Teton Sioux
... I have seen that in any great undertaking
it is not enough for a man to depend simply upon himself.
Shooter - Teton Sioux
All birds, even those of the same species,
are not alike, and it is the same with animals and with human beings.
The reason WakanTanka does not make two birds, or animals, or human
beings exactly alike is because each is placed here by WakanTanka to
be an independent individuality and to rely upon itself.
George Copway (Kah-ge-ga-bowh)
- Ojibwa Chief 1818-1863
Among the Indians there have been no written
laws. Customs handed down from generation to generation have been the
only laws to guide them. Every one might act different from what was
considered right did he choose to do so, but such acts would bring upon
him the censure of the Nation.... This fear of the Nation's censure
acted as a mighty band, binding all in one social, honorable compact.
Tecumseh - Shawnee
Where today are the Pequot? Where are the
Narragansett, the Mohican, the Pokanoket, and many other once powerful
tribes of our people?They have vanished before the avarice and the oppression
of the White Man, as snow before a summer sun.
"Will we let ourselves be destroyed in our
turn without a struggle,give up our homes, our country bequeathed to
us by the Great Spirit, the graves of our dead and everything that is
dear and sacred to us? I know you will cry with me, 'Never! Never!'"
From the 1927 Grand Council of
American Indians
"The white people, who are trying to make
us over into their image, they want us to be what they call "assimilated,"
bringing the Indians into the mainstream and destroying our own way
of life and our own patterns. They believe we should be contented like
those whose concept of happiness is materialistic and greedy, which
is very different from our way. We want freedom from the white man rather
than to be integrated. We don't want any part of the establishment,
we want to be free to raise our children in our religion, in our ways,
to be able to hunt and fish and live in peace. We don't want power,
we don't want to be congressmen, or bankers ... we want to be ourselves.
We want to have our heritage, because we are the owners of this land
and because we belong here.
The white man says, there is freedom and
justice for all. We have had "freedom and justice," and that is why
we have been almost exterminated. We shall not forget this."
From Chief Plenty Coups - Crow
"The ground on which we stand is sacred ground.
It is the blood of our ancestors."
From Black Hawk - Sauk
"How smooth must be the language of the whites,
when they can make right look like wrong, and wrong like right."
Shinguaconse ("Little Pine")
"My father, you have made promises to me and
to my children. If the promises had been made by a person of no standing,
I should not be surprised to see his promises fail. But you, who are
so great in riches and power; I am astonished that I do not see your
promises fulfilled! "I would have been better pleased if you had never
made such promises than that you should have made them and not performed
them. . ."
Resolution of the Fifth Annual
Meetings of the Traditional Elders Circle, 1980
"There are many things to be shared with the
Four Colors of humanity in our common destiny as one with our Mother
the Earth. It is this sharing that must be considered with great care
by the Elders and the medicine people who carry the Sacred Trusts, so
that no harm may come to people through ignorance and misuse of these
powerful forces."
Canassatego
"We know our lands have now become more valuable.
The white people think we do not know their value; but we know that
the land is everlasting, and the few goods we receive for it are soon
worn out and gone."
Tom Brown, Jr., The Tracker
"If today I had a young mind to direct, to
start on the journey of life, and I was faced with the duty of choosing
between the natural way of my forefathers and that of the... present
way of civilization, I would, for its welfare, unhesitatingly set that
child's feet in the path of my forefathers. I would raise him to be
an Indian!"
"We learned to be patient observers like
the owl. We learned cleverness from the crow, and courage from the jay,
who will attack an owl ten times its size to drive it off its territory.
But above all of them ranked the chickadee because of its indomitable
spirit."
Wintu Woman, 19th Century
"When we Indians kill meat, we eat it all
up. When we dig roots, we make little holes. When we build houses, we
make little holes. When we burn grass for grasshoppers, we don't ruin
things. We shake down acorns and pine nuts. We don't chop down the trees.
We only use dead wood. But the white people plow up the ground, pull
down the trees, kill everything. ... the White people pay no attention
... How can the spirit of the earth like the White man? ... everywhere
the White man has touched it, it is sore."
William Commanda - Mamiwinini,
Canada, 1991
"Traditional people of Indian nations have
interpreted the two roads that face the light-skinned race as the road
to technology and the road to spirituality. We feel that the road to
technology.... has led modern society to a damaged and seared earth.
Could it be that the road to technology represents a rush to destruction,
and that the road to spirituality represents the slower path that the
traditional native people have traveled and are now seeking again? The
earth is not scorched on this trail. The grass is still growing there."
Chief Aupumut - Mohican. 1725
"When it comes time to die, be not like those
whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so when their time comes
they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again
in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going
home."
Qwatsinas (Hereditary Chief Edward
Moody) - Nuxalk Nation
"We must protect the forests for our children,
grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests
for those who can't speak for themselves such as the birds, animals,
fish and trees."
Zitkala-Sa
"A wee child toddling in a wonder world, I
prefer to their dogma my excursions into the natural gardens where the
voice of the Great Spirit is heard in the twittering of birds, the rippling
of mighty waters, and the sweet breathing of flowers. If this is Paganism,
then at present, at least, I am a Pagan."
From Chief Joseph - Nez Perces'
"If the white man wants to live in peace
with the Indian, he can live in peace ... Treat all men alike. Give
them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow.
All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers.
The Earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal
rights upon it ... Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop,
free to work, free to trade ... where I choose my own teachers, free
to follow the religion of my fathers, free to think and talk and act
for myself, and I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty."
Chief Seattle
"When the Earth is sick, the animals will
begin to disappear, when that happens, The Warriors of the Rainbow will
come to save them."
Unknown Speaker addressing the
National Congress of American Indians in the mid 1960's
"In early days we were close to nature. We
judged time, weather conditions, and many things by the elements --
the good earth, the blue sky, the flying of geese, and the changing
winds. We looked to these for guidance and answers. Our prayers and
thanksgiving were said to the four winds -- to the East, from whence
the new day was born; to the South, which sent the warm breeze which
gave a feeling of comfort; to the West, which ended the day and brought
rest; and to the North, the Mother of winter whose sharp air awakened
a time of preparation for the long days ahead. We lived by God's hand
through nature and evaluated the changing winds to tell us or warn us
of what was ahead.
Today we are again evaluating the changing
winds. May we be strong in spirit and equal to our Fathers of another
day in reading the signs accurately and interpreting them wisely. May
Wah-Kon Tah, the Great Spirit, look down upon us, guide us, inspire
us, and give us courage and wisdom. Above all, may He look down upon
us and be pleased."
Crazy Horse - Sioux
"I was hostile to the white man ... We preferred
hunting to a life of idleness on our reservations. At times we did not
get enough to eat and we were not allowed to hunt. All we wanted was
peace and to be let alone. Soldiers came ... in the winter ... and destroyed
our villages. Then Long Hair (Custer)came ... They said we massacred
him, but he would have done the same to us. Our first impulse was to
escape ... but we were so hemmed in we had to fight. After that I lived
in peace, but the government would not let me alone. I was not allowed
to remain quiet. I was tired of fighting ... They tried to confine me
... and a soldier ran his bayonet into me. I have spoken.
Sitting Bull - Hunkpapa Sioux
"I am a red man. If the Great Spirit had
desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place.
He put in your heart certain wishes and plans, in my heart he put other
and different desires. Each man is good in his sight. It is not necessary
for Eagles to be Crows. We are poor ... but we are free. No white man
controls our footsteps. If we must die ... we die defending our rights."
Red Cloud (Makhpiya-luta), April,
1870
"In 1868, men came out and brought papers.
We could not read them and they did not tell us truly what was in them.
We thought the treaty was to remove the forts and for us to cease from
fighting. But they wanted to send us traders on the Missouri, but we
wanted traders where we were. When I reached Washington, the Great Father
explained to me that the interpreters had deceived me. All I want is
right and just."
... I am poor and naked, but I am the chief
of the nation. We do not riches but we do want to train our children
right. Riches would do us no good. We could not take them with us to
the other world. We do not want riches. We want peace and love.
Sogoyewapha, "Red Jacket" - Senaca
Brother, you say there is but one way to
worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, why
do you white people differ so much about it? Why not all agreed, as
you can all read the Book?
Spotted Tail
"This war did not spring up on our land, this
war was brought upon us by the children of the Great Father who came
to take our land without a price, and who, in our land, do a great many
evil things... This war has come from robbery - from the stealing of
our land."
John Wooden Legs - Cheyenne
"Our land is everything to us ... I will
tell you one of the things we remember on our land. We remember that
our grandfathers paid for it — with their lives."
Wovoka - Paiute
"You ask me to plow the ground. Shall I take
a knife and tear my mother's bosom? Then when I die she will not take
me to her bosom to rest.
"You ask me to dig for stones! Shall I dig
under her skin for bones? Then when I die I cannot enter her body to
be born again.
"You ask me to cut grass and make hay and
sell it and be rich like white men, but how dare I cut my mother's hair?
"I want my people to stay with me here. All
the dead men will come to life again. Their spirits will come to their
bodies again. We must wait here in the homes of our fathers and be ready
to meet them in the bosom of our mother."
Chief Maquinna - Nootka
"Once I was in Victoria, and I saw a very
large house. They told me it was a bank and that the white men place
their money there to be taken care of, and that by and by they got it
back with interest. "We are Indians and we have no such bank; but when
we have plenty of money or blankets, we give them away to other chiefs
and people, and by and by they return them with interest, and our hearts
feel good. Our way of giving is our bank."
Many Horses
"I will follow the white man's trail. I will
make him my friend, but I will not bend my back to his burdens. I will
be cunning as a coyote. I will ask him to help me understand his ways,
then I will prepare the way for my children, and their children. The
Great Spirit has shown me - a day will come when they will outrun the
white man in his own shoes."
Metea - a Potowatami chief of
the Illinois Nation
"My Father: a long time has passed since
first we came upon our lands; and our people have all sunk into their
graves. They had sense. We are all young and foolish,and do not wish
to do anything that they would not approve, were they living. We are
fearful we shall offend their spirits if we sell our lands; and we are
fearful we shall offend you if we do not sell them. This has caused
us great perplexity of thought, because we have counseled among ourselves,
and do not know how we can part with our lands. My Father, we have sold
you a great tract of land already; but it is not enough! We sold it
to you for the benefit of your children, to farm and to live upon. We
have now but a little left. We shall want it all for ourselves. We know
not how long we shall live, and we wish to leave some lands for our
children to hunt upon. You are gradually taking away our hunting grounds.
Your children are driving us before them. We are growing uneasy. What
lands you have you may retain. But we shall sell no more.
Santana - Kiowa Chief
"I love this land and the buffalo
and will not part with it. I want you to understand well what I say.
Write it on paper ... I hear a great deal of good talk from the gentlemen
the Great Father sends us, but they never do what they say. I don't
want any of the medicine lodges (schools and churches) within the country.
I want the children raised as I was. I have heard you intend to settle
us on a reservation near the mountains. I don't want to settle. I love
to roam over the prairies. There I feel free and happy, but when we
settle down we grow pale and die.
A long time ago this land belonged
to our fathers, but when I go up To the river I see camps of soldiers
on its banks. These soldiers cut down my timber, they kill my buffalo
and when I see that, my heart feels like bursting."
These words from our past, tell us
of the pain and loss we, the children of the Earth, feel in our hearts
and express our concern for, not only our future but the future of the
world as we watch the land being raped in the name of progress. I welcome
your thoughts and if you have a quote you’d like to share, then
send them in and I’ll post them here. Thanks for your input.
©1996 StoneE Producktions
http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/quotes.html
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