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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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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
Giving
General
Reservation
Would
Move
Haughty
People
Days
Reservations
Moving
Howard
Spirit
Collect
Give
Informed
Home
Stock
Back
Onto

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Big name often stands on small legs.
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We were like deer. They were like grizzly bear.
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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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Our fathers gave us many laws which they had learned from their fathers. These laws were good.
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Some of you think an Indian is like a wild animal. This is a great mistake.
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All people should be treated the same way on earth.
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I did not want my people killed. I did not want bloodshed.
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Let me be a free man - free to travel, free to stop, free to work.
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I saw clearly that war was upon us when I learned that my young men had been secretly buying ammunition.
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We do not want churches because they will teach us to quarrel about God. We do not want to learn that. We may quarrel with men sometimes about things on this earth, but we never quarrel about the Great Spirit. We do not want to learn that.
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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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I believe much trouble would be saved if we opened our hearts more.
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We damaged all the big guns we could, and carried away the powder and the lead.
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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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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 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.
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Lawyer acted without authority from our band. He had no right to sell the Wallowa country.
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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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