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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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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
Mountain
Contented
Spirit
Suit
Change
Chief
Great
Chiefs
Made
Mountains
Things
Suits
Would
Rivers
Remain

More quotes by Chief Joseph

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We were like deer. They were like grizzly bear.
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It takes few words to tell the truth.
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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.
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Cursed be he that scalps the reputation of the dead.
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You might as well expect rivers to run backwards as any man born free to be contented penned up.
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I would have given my own life if I could have undone the killing of white men by my people.
Chief Joseph
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I saw that the war could not be prevented. The time had passed.
Chief Joseph
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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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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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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.
Chief Joseph
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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.
Chief Joseph
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The first white men of your people who came to our country were named Lewis and Clark.
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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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.
Chief Joseph
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A man who would not love his father's grave is worse than a wild animal.
Chief Joseph
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It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and the broken promises.
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 am tired of talk that comes to nothing.
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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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