Chief Joseph Native Quotations

I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty.

If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indianwe 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.

Our fathers gave us many laws which they had learned from their fathers. These laws were good.

The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.

From where the sun now stands I will fight no more.

Let me be a free man - free to travel, free to stop, free to work.

We are going by you without fighting if you will let us, but we are going by you anyhow!

We were like deer. They were like grizzly bear.

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.

All men were made by the Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers.

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.

The Great Spirit Chief who rules above all will smile upon this land... and this time the Indian race is waiting and praying.

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.

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.

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.

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.

It does not require many words to speak the truth.