Chief Joseph Men Quotations

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.

You might as well expect rivers to run backwards as any man born free to be contented penned up.

An Indian respects a brave man, but he despises a coward.

Treat all men alike. Give them the same law. Give them an even chance to live and grow.

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

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.

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.

I only ask of the government to be treated as all other men are treated.

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.

We soon found that the white men were growing rich very fast, and were greedy.

I saw clearly that war was upon us when I learned that my young men had been secretly buying ammunition.

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.

My father was the first to see through the schemes of the white man.

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.

I would have given my own life if I could have undone the killing of white men by my people.

Our people could not talk with these white-faced men, but they used signs which all people understand.

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.

A man who would not love his father's grave is worse than a wild animal.

I would give up everything rather than have the blood of white men upon the hands of my people.

When my young men began the killing, my heart was hurt.

We ask to be recognized as men.

We ask only that the law shall work alike on all men.

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.

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.

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.

I am not a child, I think for myself. No man can think for me.

Look twice at a two-faced man.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 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.