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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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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
Secretly
Buying
Clearly
Saws
Learned
Upon
War
Young
Ammunition

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I labored hard to avoid trouble and bloodshed.
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All people should be treated the same way on earth.
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The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.
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It takes few words to tell the truth.
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We were like deer. They were like grizzly bear.
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If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace. There need be no trouble. Treat all men alike. give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Big name often stands on small legs.
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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.
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I would have given my own life if I could have undone the killing of white men by my people.
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Our fathers gave us many laws which they had learned from their fathers. These laws were good.
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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.
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My father... had sharper eyes than the rest of our people.
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We damaged all the big guns we could, and carried away the powder and the lead.
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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.
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An Indian respects a brave man, but he despises a coward.
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