Chief Joseph Quotes

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

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

Cursed be he that scalps the reputation of the dead.

Good words do not last long unless they amount to something.

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.

Words do not pay for my dead people.

Big name often stands on small legs.

All people should be treated the same way on earth.

Whenever the white man treats the Indian as they treat each other then we shall have no more wars. We shall be all alike - brothers of one father and mother, with one sky above us and one country around us and one government for all. Then the Great Spirit Chief who rules above will smile upon this land and send rain to wash out the bloody spots made by brothers' hands upon the face of the earth. For this time the Indian race is waiting and praying. I hope 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.

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

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

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

We do not want churches. They will teach us to quarrel about God.

All men were made brothers. The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it. You might as well expect the rivers to run backward as that any man who was born free should be content when penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases.

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, free to 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.

The Indian race is waiting and praying.

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

Good words will not give my people good health and stop them from dying. Good words will not get my people a home where they can live in peace and take care of themselves. I am tired of talk that comes to nothing. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and broken promises.

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.

We damaged all the big guns we could, and carried away the powder and the lead.

We were contented to let things remain as the Great Spirit Chief made them. They were not; and would change the rivers and mountains if they did not suit them.

We ask to be recognized as men.

I have heard talk and talk, but nothing is done.

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

Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think and act for myself — and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty.

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.

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

Whenever the white man treats the Indian as they treat each other, then we will have no more wars. We shall all be alike-brothers of one father and one another, with one sky above us and one country around us, and one government for all.

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 labored hard to avoid trouble and bloodshed.

It takes few words to tell the truth.

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

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.

I believe much trouble would be saved if we opened our hearts more.

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 am tired of talk that comes to nothing.

Our chiefs are killed. . . . The little children are freezing to death. . . . My people have no blankets, no food. . . . My heart is sick and sad. . . . I will fight no more forever.

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

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.

I will speak with a straight tongue.

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.

We had a great many horses, of which we gave Lewis and Clark what they needed, and they gave us guns and tobacco in return.

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.

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

If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian he can live in peace.

Look twice at a two-faced man.