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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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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
Tell
Indian
Place
Sees
Cannot
Authority
Great
Asked
Going
Please
Men
Stay
Shall
White
Chiefs

More quotes by Chief Joseph

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Big name often stands on small legs.
Chief Joseph
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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.
Chief Joseph
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The earth is our mother. She should not be disturbed by hoe or plough. We want only to subsist on what she freely gives us.
Chief Joseph
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My people were divided about surrendering.
Chief Joseph
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I labored hard to avoid trouble and bloodshed.
Chief Joseph
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Cursed be he that scalps the reputation of the dead.
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
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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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Our fathers gave us many laws which they had learned from their fathers. These laws were good.
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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My father... had sharper eyes than the rest of our people.
Chief Joseph
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We ask only that the law shall work alike on all men.
Chief Joseph
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Good words will not give me back my children.
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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From where the sun now stands I will fight no more.
Chief Joseph
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Let me be a free man - free to travel, free to stop, free to work.
Chief Joseph
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The Indian race is waiting and praying.
Chief Joseph
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I hope that no more groans of wounded men and women will ever go to the ear of the Great Spirit Chief above, and that all people may be one people.
Chief Joseph