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When the last deer disappears into the morning mist, When the last elk vanishes from the hills, When the last buffalo falls on the plains, I will hunt mice for I am a hunter and I must have my freedom.

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
Lasts
Mist
Plains
Last
Hunters
Vanishes
Freedom
Mice
Buffalo
Fall
Hunting
Hunter
Must
Falls
Disappears
Hills
Hunt
Disappear
Deer
Morning
Hunts
Elk

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I saw clearly that war was upon us when I learned that my young men had been secretly buying ammunition.
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It does not require many words to speak the truth.
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I am tired of talk that comes to nothing.
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From where the sun now stands I will fight no more.
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An Indian respects a brave man, but he despises a coward.
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The first white men of your people who came to our country were named Lewis and Clark.
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We did not know there were other people besides the Indian until about one hundred winters ago, when some men with white faces came to our country.
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The Indian race is waiting and praying.
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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.
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The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.
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I would have given my own life if I could have undone the killing of white men by my people.
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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.
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If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian he can live in peace.
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I saw that the war could not be prevented. The time had passed.
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My father... had sharper eyes than the rest of our people.
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I will speak with a straight tongue.
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When my young men began the killing, my heart was hurt.
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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.
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Cursed be he that scalps the reputation of the dead.
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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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