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

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Big name often stands on small legs.
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My people were divided about surrendering.
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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.
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It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and the broken promises.
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A man who would not love his father's grave is worse than a wild animal.
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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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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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The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.
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.
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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.
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Look twice at a two-faced man.
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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.
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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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Let me be a free man - free to travel, free to stop, free to work.
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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We ask only that the law shall work alike on all men.
Chief Joseph
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It does not require many words to speak the truth.
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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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