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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
Men
Besides
People
Indian
Winter
Hundred
Came
Faces
White
Country
Winters

More quotes by 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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Lawyer acted without authority from our band. He had no right to sell the Wallowa country.
Chief Joseph
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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.
Chief Joseph
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I saw clearly that war was upon us when I learned that my young men had been secretly buying ammunition.
Chief Joseph
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Finest fur may cover toughest meat.
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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Look twice at a two-faced man.
Chief Joseph
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The Indian race is waiting and praying.
Chief Joseph
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I am tired of talk that comes to nothing It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and all the broken promises. There has been too much talking by men who had no right to talk. It does not require many words to speak the truth.
Chief Joseph
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It takes few words to tell the truth.
Chief Joseph
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General Howard informed me, in a haughty spirit, that he would give my people 30 days to go back home, collect all their stock, and move onto the reservation.
Chief Joseph
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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.
Chief Joseph
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Treat all men alike. Give them the same law. Give them an even chance to live and grow.
Chief Joseph
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Let me be a free man - free to travel, free to stop, free to work.
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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We were like deer. They were like grizzly bear.
Chief Joseph
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We gathered all the stock we could find, and made an attempt to move. We left many of our horses and cattle in Wallowa. We lost several hundred in crossing the river.
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
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Our fathers gave us many laws which they had learned from their fathers. These laws were good.
Chief Joseph