Quotes by Chief Joseph - Page 2

Lawyer acted without authority from our band. He had no right to sell the Wallowa country.
Chief Joseph /
Authority
Band
Country
Lawyer
Acted
Sell
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I would have given my own life if I could have undone the killing of white men by my people.
Chief Joseph /
Men
If I Could
People
Undone
White
Life Men People
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Our fathers gave us many laws which they had learned from their fathers. These laws were good.
Chief Joseph /
Father
Law
Native American
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I would give up everything rather than have the blood of white men upon the hands of my people.
Chief Joseph /
Blood
White
Rather
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You might as well expect rivers to run backwards as any man born free to be contented penned up.
Chief Joseph /
Running
Men
Backwards
Born
Might
Rivers
Free
Man
Any
Run
Contented
Expect
Well
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Our people could not talk with these white-faced men, but they used signs which all people understand.
Chief Joseph /
Men
People
White
All People
Our People
Signs
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The earth and myself are of one mind. The measure of the land and the neasure of our bodies are the same
Chief Joseph /
Body
Land
Mind
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I saw clearly that war was upon us when I learned that my young men had been secretly buying ammunition.
Chief Joseph /
Men
War
Ammunition
Buying
War Men Young
Secretly
Young Men
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It required a strong heart to stand up against such talk, but I urged my people to be quiet and not to begin a war.
Chief Joseph /
War
Heart
Quiet
Strong
Begin
Stand
Required
Stand Up
Urged
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Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.
Chief Joseph /
Sad
Chiefs
Forever
Heart
Native American
Sick
Sun
Tired
Will
Now
More
Me
Am
Fight
Hear
Stands
Where
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I do not believe that the Great Spirit Chief gave one kind of men the right to tell another kind of men what they must do.
Chief Joseph /
Men
Believe
Spirit
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The earth is our mother. She should not be disturbed by hoe or plough. We want only to subsist on what she freely gives us.
Chief Joseph /
Giving
Hoe
Mother
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We had a great many horses, of which we gave Lewis and Clark what they needed, and they gave us guns and tobacco in return.
Chief Joseph /
Gun
Horse
Lewis And Clark
Return
Tobacco
Clark
Guns
Horses
Lewis
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The Great Spirit Chief who rules above all will smile upon this land... and this time the Indian race is waiting and praying.
Chief Joseph /
Land
Native American
Race
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A chief called Lawyer, because he was a great talker, took the lead in the council, and sold nearly all the Nez Perce country.
Chief Joseph /
Chiefs
Council
Country
Lawyer
Nearly
Chief
Talker
Sold
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I pressed my father's hand and told him I would protect his grave with my life. My father smiled and passed away to the spirit land.
Chief Joseph /
Dad
Father
Hands
Protect
Life Father My Life
Life Dad Father
Grave
Hand
Passed
Pressed
Smiled
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For a short time we lived quietly. But this could not last. White men had found gold in the mountains around the land of winding water.
Chief Joseph /
Men
Gold
Land
Short Time
Water
White
White Man
Time Men Water
Mountains
Short
Quietly
Winding
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The white men told lies for each other. They drove off a great many of our cattle. Some branded our young cattle so they could claim them.
Chief Joseph /
Men
Branded
Cattle
Lying
White Man
Claim
Drove
Lies
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We had good white friends who advised us against taking the war path. My friend and brother, Mr. Chapman, told us just how the war would end.
Chief Joseph /
War
Brother
Path
White
Advised
Mr
My Friend
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We gave up some of our country to the white men, thinking that then we could have peace. We were mistaken. The white man would not let us alone.
Chief Joseph /
Men
Country
Mistaken
Thinking
Let Us
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I hope that no more groans of wounded men and women will ever go to the ear of the Great Spirit Chief above, and that all people may be one people.
Chief Joseph /
Men
Ears
Great Spirit
Men And Women
People
Wounded
Hope Men Women
Above
All People
Chief
Ear
Hope Women Men
Groans
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We did not know there were other people besides the Indian until about one hundred winters ago, when some men with white faces came to our country.
Chief Joseph /
Men
Country
Faces
Indian
Winter
Besides
Some Men
Winters
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When I think of our condition, my heart is heavy. I see men of my own race treated as outlaws and driven from country to country, or shot down like animals.
Chief Joseph /
Animal
Country
Heart
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General Howard informed me, in a haughty spirit, that he would give my people 30 days to go back home, collect all their stock, and move onto the reservation.
Chief Joseph /
Home
Haughty
Moving
People
Home Me People
Collect
Informed
Onto
Reservation
Stock
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We were contented to let things remain as the Great Spirit Chief made them. They were not; and would change the rivers and mountains if they did not suit them.
Chief Joseph /
Mountain
Rivers
Suits
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We gathered all the stock we could find, and made an attempt to move. We left many of our horses and cattle in Wallowa. We lost several hundred in crossing the river.
Chief Joseph /
Cattle
Horse
Moving
Rivers
Attempt
Crossing
Gathered
Horses
River
Several
Stock
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I only ask of the Government to be treated as all other men are treated. If I cannot go to my own home, let me have a home in a country where my people will not die so fast.
Chief Joseph /
Home
Men
Country
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The earth was created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as it was. The country was made without lines of demarcation, and it is no man's business to divide it.
Chief Joseph /
Men
Country
Native American
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Our chiefs are killed. . . . The little children are freezing to death. . . . My people have no blankets, no food. . . . My heart is sick and sad. . . . I will fight no more forever.
Chief Joseph /
Death
Children
Heart
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The first white men of your people who came to our country were named Lewis and Clark. They brought many things that our people had never seen. They talked straight. These men were very kind.
Chief Joseph /
Lewis And Clark
Named
Brought
Clark
Straight
Lewis
Our People
Talked
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I have asked some of the great white chiefs where they get their authority to say to the Indian that he shall stay in one place, while he sees white men going where they please. They cannot tell me.
Chief Joseph /
Men
Authority
White Man
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If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace. There need be no trouble. Treat all men alike. give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow.
Chief Joseph /
Men
Native American
White
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When the last deer disappears into the morning mist, When the last elk vanishes from the hills, When the last buffalo falls on the plains, I will hunt mice for I am a hunter and I must have my freedom.
Chief Joseph /
Morning
Fall
Hunting
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Governor Isaac Stevens of the Washington Territory said there were a great many white people in our country, and many more would come; that he wanted the land marked out so that the Indians and the white man could be separated.
Chief Joseph /
Men
Country
Isaac
Land
Territory
White
Washington
Governor
Indians
Marked
Separated
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Whenever the white man treats the Indian as they treat each other, then we will have no more wars. We shall all be alike-brothers of one father and one another, with one sky above us and one country around us, and one government for all.
Chief Joseph /
Brother
Country
Father
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We do not want churches because they will teach us to quarrel about God. We do not want to learn that. We may quarrel with men sometimes about things on this earth, but we never quarrel about the Great Spirit. We do not want to learn that.
Chief Joseph /
Men
Diversity
Justice
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I am tired of talk that comes to nothing It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and all the broken promises. There has been too much talking by men who had no right to talk. It does not require many words to speak the truth.
Chief Joseph /
Heart
Native American
Tired
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I believe much trouble and blood would be saved if we opened our hearts more. I will tell you in my way how the Indian sees things. The white man has more words to tell you how they look to him, but it does not require many words to speak the truth.
Chief Joseph /
Truth
Believe
Heart
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Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think and act for myself — and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty.
Chief Joseph /
Life
Strength
Freedom
Teacher
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We live, we die, and like the grass and trees, renew ourselves from the soft earth of the grave. Stones crumble and decay, faiths grow old and they are forgotten, but new beliefs are born. The faith of the villages is dust now... but it will grow again... like the trees.
Chief Joseph /
Dust
Native American
Tree
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All men were made brothers. The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it. You might as well expect the rivers to run backward as that any man who was born free should be content when penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases.
Chief Joseph /
Running
Brother
Mother
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Good words will not give my people good health and stop them from dying. Good words will not get my people a home where they can live in peace and take care of themselves. I am tired of talk that comes to nothing. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and broken promises.
Chief Joseph /
Home
Heart
Tired
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I know that my race must change. We cannot hold our own with the white men as we are. We only ask an even chance to live as other men live. We ask to be recognized as men. We ask that the same law shall work alike on all men. If an Indian breaks the law, punish him by the law. If a white man breaks the law, punish him also.
Chief Joseph /
Men
Race
White Man
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We were taught to believe that the Great Spirit sees and hears everything, and that he never forgets; that hereafter he will give every man a spirit-home according to his deserts: if he has been a good man, he will have a good home; if he has been a bad man, he will have a bad home. This I believe, and all my people believe the same.
Chief Joseph /
Home
Believe
Native American
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The country was made without lines of demarcation, and it is no man's business to divide it... Do not misunderstand me, but understand me fully with reference to my affection for the land. I never said the land was mine to do with it as I chose. The one who has the right to dispose of it is the one who created it. I claim a right to live on my land and accord you the privilege to live on yours.
Chief Joseph /
Men
Country
Land
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Suppose a white man should come to me and say, "Joseph, I like your horses. I want to buy them." I say to him, "No, my horses suit me; I will not sell them." Then he goes to my neighbor and says to him, "Joseph has some good horses. I want to buy them, but he refuses to sell." My neighbor answers, "Pay me the money and I will sell you Joseph's horses." The white man returns to me and says, "Joseph, I have bought your horses and you must let me have them." If we sold our lands to the government, this is the way they bought them.
Chief Joseph /
Horse
I Like You
Native American
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I am ready to talk today. I have been in a great many councils, but I am no wiser. We are all sprung from a woman, although we are unlike in many things. We can not be made over again. You are as you were made, and as you were made you can remain. We are just as we were made by the Great Spirit, and you can not change us ; then why should children of one mother and one father quarrel ? — why should one try to cheat the other ? I do not believe that the Great Spirit Chief gave one kind of men the right to tell another kind of men what they must do.
Chief Joseph /
Children
Father
Mother
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Whenever the white man treats the Indian as they treat each other then we shall have no more wars. We shall be all alike - brothers of one father and mother, with one sky above us and one country around us and one government for all. Then the Great Spirit Chief who rules above will smile upon this land and send rain to wash out the bloody spots made by brothers' hands upon the face of the earth. For this time the Indian race is waiting and praying. I hope no more groans of wounded men and women will ever go to the ear of the Great Spirit Chief above, and that all people may be one people.
Chief Joseph /
Brother
Country
Mother
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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, free to 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 Joseph /
Teacher
Brother
Mother
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Chief Joseph Quotes - Page 2

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