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Finest fur may cover toughest meat.

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
Meat
May
Toughest
Fur
Finest
Cover

More quotes by 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 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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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
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I labored hard to avoid trouble and bloodshed.
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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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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Some of you think an Indian is like a wild animal. This is a great mistake.
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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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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The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.
Chief Joseph
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Cursed be he that scalps the reputation of the dead.
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 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
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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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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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We damaged all the big guns we could, and carried away the powder and the lead.
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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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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We ask only that the law shall work alike on all men.
Chief Joseph