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We ask only that the law shall work alike on all men.

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
Alike
Shall
Asks
Law
Work

More quotes by 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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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 damaged all the big guns we could, and carried away the powder and the lead.
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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My people were divided about surrendering.
Chief Joseph
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Big name often stands on small legs.
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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It takes few words to tell the truth.
Chief Joseph
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Good words will not give me back my children.
Chief Joseph
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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.
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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I did not want my people killed. I did not want bloodshed.
Chief Joseph
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I pressed my father's hand and told him I would protect his grave with my life. My father smiled and passed away to the spirit land.
Chief Joseph
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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.
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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I know that my race must change.
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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I believe much trouble would be saved if we opened our hearts more.
Chief Joseph
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I labored hard to avoid trouble and bloodshed.
Chief Joseph
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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