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"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." - Crowfoot,
Blackfoot
warrior and orator
“I was born
upon the prairie, where the wind blew free, and there was nothing to
break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures,
and where everything drew a free breath...I know every stream and
every wood between the Rio Grande and the Arkansas. I have hunted over
that country. I lived like my fathers before me, and like them, I
lived happily.” - Ten Bears [Parra-wa-samem] (late 19th century)
Yamparethka
Comanche Chief
"I do not see a
delegation for the Four Footed. I see no seat for the Eagles. We forget
and we consider ourselves superior. But we are after all a mere part of
Creation. And we must consider to understand where we are. And we stand
somewhere between the mountain and the Ant. Somewhere and only there
as part and parcel of the Creation." - Chief Oren Lyons, Oneida in an
address to the Non-Governmental Organizations of the United Nations,
Geneva, Switzerland, 1977
“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." - Satanta,
Kiowa Chief
"Conversation was never
begun at once, nor in a hurried manner. No one was quick with a question,
no matter how important, and no one was pressed for an answer. A pause
giving time for thought was the truly courteous way of beginning and
conducting a conversation. Silence was meaningful with the Lakota, and his
granting a space of silence to the speech-maker and his own moment of
silence before talking was done in the practice of true politeness and
regard for the rule that, "thought comes before speech." - Luther Standing
Bear, Oglala Sioux
Chief
"For an important
marriage the chief precided, aided by his wife. He passed a pipe around
the room so each could share a smoke in common. In this way families were
publicly united to banish any past or future disagreements and thus stood
as "one united." The chief then gave the couple an oration of his advice,
pointing out the good characteristics of each, and then offered his
congratulations to them for a happy future." - Mourning Dove [Christine
Quintasket], Salish
"Of all the animals the
horse is the best friend of the
Indian,
for without it he could not go on long journeys. A horse is the
Indian's
most valuable piece of property. If an
Indian
wishes to gain something, he promises that if the horse will help him he
will paint it with native dye, that all may see that help has come to him
through the aid of his horse." -Brave Buffalo (late 19th century) Teton
Sioux medicine
man
"It's our stuff. We made
it and we know best how to use it and care for it. And now we're going to
get it back." - John Pretty on Top, Crow
“The old
Indian
teaching was that is is wrong to tear loose from its place on the earth
anything that may be growing there. It may be cut off, but it should not
be uprooted. The trees and the grass have spirits. Whatever one of such
growth may be destroyed by some good
Indian,
his act is done in sadness and with a prayer for forgiveness because of
his necessities...” - Wooden Leg (late 19th century)
Cheyenne
"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." -Mourning
Dove [Christine Quintasket] (1888-1936) Salish
 "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." - Luther Standing Bear, Oglala
Sioux Chief
"The life of an
Indian
is like the wings of the air. That is why you notice the hawk knows how to
get his prey. The
Indian
is like that. The hawk swoops down on its prey; so does the
Indian.
In his lament he is like an animal. For instance, the coyote is sly; so is
the
Indian. The eagle is the same. That is why the
Indian
is always feathered up; he is a relative to the wings of the air." -
Black Elk, Oglala Sioux
Holy Man
"One does not sell the
land people walk on." -
Crazy Horse,
September 23, 1875
“The Earth is the
Mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it. You
might as well expect the river to run backward as that any man who was
born a free man should be contented when penned up and denied liberty to
go where he pleases.” -
Chief Joseph,
Nez Perce
"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. - Satanta,
Kiowa Chief
“I was warmed by
the sun, rocked by the winds and sheltered by the trees as other
Indian
babes. I can go everywhere with a good feeling.” -
Geronimo [Goyathlay], Chiracahua
Apache
"Grown men can learn from
very little children for the hearts of the little children are pure.
Therefore, the Great Spirit may show to them many things which older
people miss." -
Black Elk, Oglala
Sioux Holy Man
“When a child my
mother taught me the legends of our people; taught me of the sun and sky,
the moon and stars, the clouds and storms. She also taught me to kneel and
pray to Usen for strength, health, wisdom, and protection. We never prayed
against any person, but if we had aught against any individual we
ourselves took vengeance. We were taught that Usen does not care for the
petty quarrels of men." -
Geronimo [Goyathlay], Chiracahua
Apache
"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." - Wovoka, Paiute
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