~*~ Native American Indain Quotes ~*~
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."
Many Horses
"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"
Metea, a Potowatami chief of the Illinois Nation
"One does not sell the land people walk on."
Crazy Horse, Sept. 23, 1875
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.
Luther Standing Bear Oglala Sioux 1868-1937
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