"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned
to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we
borrow it from our Children."
Ancient Indian Proverb
"A Mile in His Moccasins" by Lisa Danielle
"One does not sell the land people walk on." ...
Crazy Horse, Sept. 23, 1875
Luther Standing Bear Oglala Sioux
http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/quotes.html
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
1863-1950
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.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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 payers 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 cultural 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 intergrated. 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 want 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 counselled 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 youd like to share, then send them in and Ill post
them here. Thanks for your input.
©1996 StoneE Producktions _____________________ Sponsorship Welcome
"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children."
"A Mile in His Moccasins" by Lisa Danielle
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....
+++++++++++++++
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