"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." "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. "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."
"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 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 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!" "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. "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." "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.Crazy Horse
Chief Red Cloud
April, 1870
Sioux
"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".
John Wooden Legs
"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
"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 bosom of our mother and be ready to meet them in the other world."
"We do not want riches. We want peace and love."
Many Horses
Metea
Potowatami Chief of the Illinois Nation
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
addressing the National Congress of American Indians in the mid 1960's
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."
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