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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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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
Native
Indian
Wants
Peace
White
Live
Men

More quotes by Chief Joseph

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It takes few words to tell the truth.
Chief Joseph
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I will speak with a straight tongue.
Chief Joseph
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I did not want my people killed. I did not want bloodshed.
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 only ask of the Government to be treated as all other men are treated. If I cannot go to my own home, let me have a home in a country where my people will not die so fast.
Chief Joseph
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Some of you think an Indian is like a wild animal. This is a great mistake.
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 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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An Indian respects a brave man, but he despises a coward.
Chief Joseph
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My father... had sharper eyes than the rest of our people.
Chief Joseph
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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.
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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Finest fur may cover toughest meat.
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 were like deer. They were like grizzly bear.
Chief Joseph
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You might as well expect rivers to run backwards as any man born free to be contented penned up.
Chief Joseph
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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
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All people should be treated the same way on earth.
Chief Joseph
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It does not require many words to speak the truth.
Chief Joseph