Quote

Good words will not give me back my children.

Chief Joseph

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

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
Give
Back
Giving
Children
Good
Words

More quotes by Chief Joseph

Image
It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and the broken promises.
Chief Joseph
Image
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
Image
I would have given my own life if I could have undone the killing of white men by my people.
Chief Joseph
Image
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
Image
Lawyer acted without authority from our band. He had no right to sell the Wallowa country.
Chief Joseph
Image
Treat all men alike. Give them the same law. Give them an even chance to live and grow.
Chief Joseph
Image
Governor Isaac Stevens of the Washington Territory said there were a great many white people in our country, and many more would come that he wanted the land marked out so that the Indians and the white man could be separated.
Chief Joseph
Image
I know that my race must change.
Chief Joseph
Image
From where the sun now stands I will fight no more.
Chief Joseph
Image
My people were divided about surrendering.
Chief Joseph
Image
Our fathers gave us many laws which they had learned from their fathers. These laws were good.
Chief Joseph
Image
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
Image
I am tired of talk that comes to nothing.
Chief Joseph
Image
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
Image
If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian he can live in peace.
Chief Joseph
Image
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.
Chief Joseph
Image
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.
Chief Joseph
Image
I saw clearly that war was upon us when I learned that my young men had been secretly buying ammunition.
Chief Joseph
Image
An Indian respects a brave man, but he despises a coward.
Chief Joseph
Image
It takes few words to tell the truth.
Chief Joseph