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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.

Chief Joseph

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Chief Joseph
Age: 64 †
Born: 1840
Born: March 3
Died: 1904
Died: September 21
Tribal Chief
Wallowa Valley
Joseph Buruzagia
Hin-mut-too-uah-lat-kekht
Thunder Rolling in the Mountains
Heinmot Tooyalaket
Joseph the Younger
Winter
Hundred
Came
Faces
White
Country
Winters
Men
Besides
People
Indian

More quotes by Chief Joseph

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It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and the broken promises.
Chief Joseph
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All people should be treated the same way on earth.
Chief Joseph
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Big name often stands on small legs.
Chief Joseph
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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.
Chief Joseph
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Look twice at a two-faced man.
Chief Joseph
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We damaged all the big guns we could, and carried away the powder and the lead.
Chief Joseph
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I know that my race must change.
Chief Joseph
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I pressed my father's hand and told him I would protect his grave with my life. My father smiled and passed away to the spirit land.
Chief Joseph
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We were like deer. They were like grizzly bear.
Chief Joseph
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I believe much trouble would be saved if we opened our hearts more.
Chief Joseph
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When my young men began the killing, my heart was hurt.
Chief Joseph
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If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian he can live in peace.
Chief Joseph
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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.
Chief Joseph
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I labored hard to avoid trouble and bloodshed.
Chief Joseph
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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.
Chief Joseph
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My father... had sharper eyes than the rest of our people.
Chief Joseph
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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.
Chief Joseph
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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.
Chief Joseph
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The Indian race is waiting and praying.
Chief Joseph
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When the last deer disappears into the morning mist, When the last elk vanishes from the hills, When the last buffalo falls on the plains, I will hunt mice for I am a hunter and I must have my freedom.
Chief Joseph