Will you ever begin to understand the very meaning of the soil beneath your feet?

 _Peter Blue Cloud, Mohawk_ 

When the Frenchman arrived at these falls, they came and kissed us...

_Chippewa Chief_

This is our country. We have always lived in it.

 _Santanta, Kiowa_

The white men have crowded the Indians back year by year until we are forced to live in a small country north of the Platte, and now our last hunting grounds, the home of the people.

Your forefathers crossed the great water and landed on this island.

In the old days our people had no education,

Tell them at Washington if they have one man who speaks the truth to send him to me,

Hear me, four quarters of the world, A relative I am !

_Black Elk, Lakota_

"All things share the same breath... the beast, the tree, the man... the air shares it's spirit with all the life it supports."

Take a stroll through the forest. Noticing natures kingdom first hand

All we wanted was peace and to be let alone! Soldiers came... in the winter... and destroyed our villages. Then long hair, (Custer) came... They said we massacred him. but he would have done the same to us. Our first impulse was to escape... but we were so hemmed in we had to fight. After that I lived in peace, but the government would not let me alone. I was not allowed to remain quiet. I was tired of fighting... They tried to confine me... and a soldier ran his bayonet into me. I have spoken.

Brothers, we must be as one as the English are, or we shall all be destroyed. You know our fathers had plenty of deer and skins and our plains were full for game and turkeys, and our coves and rivers were full of fish. But Brothers, since these Englishmen have seized our country, they have cut down the grass with scythes, and the trees with axes. Their cows and horses eat up the grass, and their hogs spoil our bed of clams; and finally we shall starve to death; therefore, I ask you, resolve to act like men.

When a white army battles Indians and wins, it is called a great victory, but if the lose it is called a massacre.

When a man does a piece of work which is admired by all we say that it is wonderful; but when we see the changes of day and night, the sun, the moon and the stars in the sky, and the changing seasons upon the earth, with their ripening fruits, anyone must realize that it is the work of someone more powerful than man.

Children were encouraged to develop strict discipline and high regard for sharing. When a girl picked her first berries and dug her first roots, they were given away to an elder so she would share her future success. When a child carried water for the home, an elder would give compliments, pretending to taste meat in the water carried by a boy or berries in that of a girl. The child was encouraged not be lazy and to grow straight like a sapling.

We are exceedingly tired. We have just heard of the ratification of the Choctaw Treaty. Our doom is sealed. There is no other course for us but to turn our faces to our new homes toward the setting sun.

You have noticed that everything that an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles, and everything tries to be round... The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball. and so are the stars. The wind in it's greatest power whirls. Birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours... Even the seasons form a circle in their changing. and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood and so it is in everything where power moves.

If we possessed such large canoes, we would follow you to your land and conquer it, for we too are men.

Conversation was never begun at once, nor in a hurried manner. No one was quick with a question, no matter how important, and no one was pressed for an answer. A pause giving time for thought was the truly courteous way of beginning and conducting a conversation. Silence was meaningful with the Lakota, and his granting space of silence to the speech-maker and his own moment of silence before talking was done in practice of true politeness and regard for the rule that, "thought comes before speech."

"Today, what is important for us to realize that the old sacred ways are correct, and that if we do not follow them we will be lost and without a guide."

Great Spirit, Great Spirit, my Grandfather, all over the earth the faces of living things are all alike... Look upon these faces of children without number and with children in their arms, that they may face the winds and walk the good road to the day of the quiet.

"The death of fear is in dong what you fear to do."

"In all the earth there is no place dedicated to solitude. At night, when the streets of your cities and villages are silent, and you think them deserted, they will thong with the returning hosts that once filled them and still love this beautiful land. The white man will never be alone. Let him be just and deal kindly with my people. For the dead are not powerless.

The Great Spirit is displeased with you for accepting the ways of the white people. You can see for yourselves, your hunting is gone and you are planting the corn of the white men...You yourselves can see that the white people are entirely different beings from us; we are made from Red Clay.

I am in your power. Do with me what you please. I have done the white people all the harm I could; I have fought them, and fought them bravely: If I had an army, I would yet fight... but I have none; my people are all gone. I can now do no more than weep over the misfortunes of my nation.

_Lumhe Chati, Creek Chief_

The earth was created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as it was... The country was made without lines of demarcation, and it is no man's business to divide it..."

It is strictly believed and understood by the Sioux that a child is the greatest gift from Wakan Tanka, in response to many devote prayers, sacrifices, and promises. Therefore the child is considered "sent by Wakan Tanka," through some element... namely the element of human nature.

"The earth is mother to all people. and all people should have equal rights upon it."

The trees are the elders of the Earth. Go to the forest or the mountains and find a young tree. Then find and old tree. Spend time with each. Sit by the young tree and listen to your thoughts. Then move to an old tree and listen to your thoughts again. Just being in the presence of an old tree, you will feel more calm. Your thoughts will contain wisdom and your answers will be deeper. Why is this so? These trees know more, have heard more and are Elders of the Earth. We must ensure these trees live so we can learn from them.

My Creator, help me to protect the trees and to listen to them.

Englishmen, although you have conquered the French, you have not yet conquered us. We are not your slaves. These lakes, woods and mountains were left us by our ancestors. We will part with them to no one.

Every part of all this soil is sacred to my people. Every hillside, every valley...has been hallowed by some sad or happy event in days long vanished.

Everything on earth has a purpose, every disease and herb to cure it, and every person a mission. This is the Indian theory of existence.

"It is in the darkness of men's eyes that they get lost.

There is a relationship between thought and reality. Every thought is alive, and as soon as you think it a result occurs immediately.

"When the Indian has forgotten the music of his forefathers, when the sound of the

"If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace... Treat all men alike. give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow. All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief.

"The white people who are trying to makes us over into their image, they want us to be what they call assimilated, bringing the Indians into the mainstream and destroying our own way of life and our own cultural patterns. They believe we should be contented like those whose concept of happiness is materialistic and greedy, which is very different from our way. We want freedom from the white man rather than to be integrated, in our ways, to be able to hunt, fish, and live in peace. We don't want power, we don't want to be congressmen, or bankers, we want to be ourselves. We want to have our heritage, because we are the owners of this land and because we belong here. The white man says there is freedom and justice for all. We have had 'freedom and justice,' and that is why we have been almost exterminated. We shall not forget this."

The idea of full dress for preparation for a battle comes not from a belief that it will add to the fighting ability. The preparation is for death, in case that should be the result of conflict. Every Indian wants to look his best when he goes to meet the Great Spirit, so the dressing up is done whether imminent danger is an oncoming battle, or a sickness or injury at times of peace.

It is the general belief of the Indians that after a man dies his spirit is somewhere on the earth or in the sky, we do not know exactly where, but we are sure that his spirit still lives... So with Wakana Takna. We believe that he is everywhere, yet he is to us as the spirits of our friends, whose voices we can not hear.

"We are going by you without fighting if you will let us, but we are going by you anyhow!"
_Chief Joseph A Warning To The defenders Of Fort Fizzle In Montana_

"Good words do not last long unless they amount to something."

"A great vision is needed and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky."

You always work as group, not somebody just singled out... There is no such thing as that with the Apache. We say, "I walk with you," not "I walk before you," or "I walk behind you"... You are not a leader, you are a part.

_Phillip Cassadore, Apache_

I hope the Great Heavenly Father, who will look down upon us, will give all the tribes. His blessing, that we may go forth in peace, and live in peace all our days, and that He will look down upon our children and finally lift us far above the earth; and that our Heavenly Father will look upon our children as His children, that all tribes may be His children, and as we shake hands today upon this broad plain, we may forever live in peace.

"I have carried a heavy load on my back ever since I was a boy.

I realized then that we could not hold our own with the white men.

Of all the animals the horse is the best friend of the Indian, for without it he could not go on long journeys. A horse is the Indians' most valuable piece of property. If an Indian wishes to gain something, he promises that if the horse will help him he will paint it with native dye, that all may see that help has come to him through the aid of his horse.

I have a little boy...If he is not dead, tell him the last words of his father were that he must never go beyond the Father of Waters, but die in the land of his birth. It is sweet to die in one's native land and be buried by the margins of one's native stream.

I was born on the prairie, where the wind blew free, and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures, where everything drew a free breath... I know every stream and every wood between the Rio Grand and the Arkansas. I have hunted over that country. I live like my fathers before me, and like them, I lived happily.

"We are what we imagine. Our very existence consists in our imagination of ourselves... The greatest tragedy that can befall us is to go un-imagined."

If only the human beings could understand the power of proper relationships, the need for power and control could be abandoned. It's not what is going on that matters, but how we look at what is going on. it's our relationship to it that counts.Nothing in the world has any meaning except the meaning we give it. To be more effective at this, we need to consider our relationship with the Creator. Our relationship to the Great Spirit determines how we will perceive the meanings we put to places, people, institutions and things. We need to let the Creator tell us and guide our thoughts about these relationships. Any relationship that we have that are causing problems means we need to pray for a new point of view.

"I have Indian Blood in me. I have enough white blood for you to question my honesty!"

An American Indian elder describe his own inner struggles this way: "Inside of me there are two dogs,

One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time."
When asked which dog wins, he reflected a moment and replied, "The one I feed the most."

"The White man says, there is freedom and justice for all. We have had 'freedom and justice', and that is why we have been almost exterminated. We shall not forget this."

When I am too old and feeble to follow my sheep or cultivate my corn, I plan to sit in the house, carve Katicina dolls, and tell my nephews and nieces the story of my life... Then I want to be buried in the Hopi way. Perhaps my boy will dress me in the costume of a Special Officer, place a few beads around my neck, put paho and some sacred corn meal in my hand, and fasten inlaid turquoise to my ears. If he wishes to put me in a coffin, he may do even that, but he must leave the lid unlocked, place food near by, and set up a grave ladder so that I can climb out. I shall hasten to my dear ones, but I will return with good rains and dance as a Katicina in the plaza with my ancestors...

They made us many promises, more than I can remember. but they kept one; they promised to take our land, and they did.

"knowledge was inherent in all things. The world was a library and it's books were the stones, leaves, grass, brooks, and the birds and animals that shared, alike with us. the storms and blessings of the earth. We learn to do what only a student of nature ever learns, and that is to feel beauty. We never rail at the storms, the furious winds, the biting frosts and the snows. To do so intensifies human futility, so whatever comes we should adjust ourselves by more effort and energy if necessary. but without complaint. Bright days and dark days are both expressions of the great Mystery, and the Indian reveled in being the great Holiness,"

"Grown men can learn from very small children for the hearts of little children are pure. Therefore, the Great Spirit may show to them many things which older people miss."

The life of an Indian is like the wings of the air. That is why you notice the hawk knows how to get his prey. The Indian is like that. The hawks swoops down on it's prey; so does the Indian. In his lament he is like an animal. For instance, the coyote is sly; so is the Indian. The eagle is the same. That is why the Indian is always feathered up; he is a relative to the wings of the air.

Lightning is good. When lightning strikes a tree, people sat the tree has been blessed and go to gather that wood for special purposes.

Listen or your tongue will make you deaf.

When the first white man came over the wide waters, he was but a little man... very little. His legs were cramped by sitting long in his big boat, and he begged for a little land. But when the white man had warmed himself at the Indian's fire, and had filled himself with the Indian's hominy, he became very large.

It was supposed that lost spirits were roving about everywhere in the invisible air,waiting for children to find them if they searched long and patiently enough... (The spirit) sang it's spiritual song for the child to memorize and use when calling upon the spirit guardian as an adult.

"I love this land and the buffalo and will not part with it.

For an important marriage the chief preceded, aided by his wife. He passed a pipe around the room so each could share a smoke in common. In this way families were publicly united to banish any past or future disagreements and thus stood as "one united." The chief then gave the couple an oration of his advice, pointing out good characteristics of each, and then offered his congratulations to them for a happy future.

These are the words that were given to my great grandfather by the Master Of Life:

My reason tells me that land cannot be sold, nothing can be sold but such things as can be carried away.

"If you live on the land, and you have ancestors sleeping in this land, I believe that makes you a native to this land. It has nothing to do with the color of your skin. I was not raised to look at people racially. What I was taught is that we're flowers in the Great Spirits' garden. We share a common root, and the root is Mother Earth."

We never had a thought of exchanging our land for any other... fearing the consequences may be similar to transplanting an old tree, which would wither

We Had no churches, no religious organization, no sabbath days, no holidays, and yet we worshiped. Sometimes the whole tribe assembled and sang and prayed; sometimes a smaller number, perhaps only two or three. The songs had few words but were not formal. The singer would occasionally put in such words, as he wished instead of the usual tone sound. Sometimes we prayed for all of us. At other times one would rise and speak to us of our duties to each other and to Usen . Our services were short.

"No one ever loses from giving."

"Not for the money, not for the money. But so our people can once again find out who they are. And that it's something to be proud of, and we will have our identity back; our children will know who they are."

Our religion is not one of paint and feathers; it is a thing of the heart.

_Seneca_

A warrior who had more than he needed would make a feast. He went around and invited the old and the needy... The man who would thank the food--some worthy old medicine man or warrior--said:.."look to the old, they are worthy of old age; they have seen their days and proven themselves. With the help of the Great Spirit, they have attained a ripe old age. At this age the old predict or give knowledge or wisdom, whatever it is; it is so. At the end is a cane. You and your family shall get to where the cane is."

A long time ago the Creator gave to the people all knowledge on how we should live and conduct ourselves. The Native people have been influenced by outside "tribes" who don't know about the Sacred Way. Our elders still know about the old sacred ways. We need to consult and talk to them before it's too late.

Every family needs to seriously evaluate whether they are living according to the old knowledge.

The old teaching was that it is wrong to tear loose from it's place on earth anything that maybe growing there. It may be cut off, but it should not be uprooted. The trees and the grass have spirits. Whenever one of such growth may be destroyed by some good Indian, his act is done in sadness and with a prayer for forgiveness because of his necessities...

One does not sell the land upon which people walk.

The Great Spirit is in all things; he is in the air we breath. The Great Spirit is our Father, but the earth is our mother. She nourishes us; that which we put into the ground she returns to us.

"We know our lands have become more valuable. The white people think we do not know their value; but we know that the land is everlasting, and the few goods we receive for it are soon worn out and gone."

"A wee child toddling in a wonder world, I prefer to their dogma my excursions into the natural garden where the voice of the Great Spirit is heard in the twittering of birds, the rippling of mighty waters, and the sweet breathing of flowers. If this is Paganism, then at present, at least, I am a Pagan."

Each People or nation, was given Original Instructions for the path they're supposed to follow in this life. "Unless they find that Path and folow it, their life will be empty and meaningless."

_Matthew King, Chief Noble Red Man, Lakota Sioux_

"Peace and happiness are available in every moment. Peace is every step. We shall walk hand in hand. There are no political solutions to spiritual problems. Remember: If the Creator put it there, it is in the right place. The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.

"My Father, you have made promises to me and my children. If the promises had been made by a person of no standing, I should not be surprised to see his promises fail. But you, who are so great in riches and power; I am astonished that I do not see your promises fulfilled! I would have been better pleased if you had never made such promises than that you should have made them and not performed them..."

"We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can't speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees."

_Qwatsinas (Hereditary Chief Edward Moody), Nuxalk Nation_

"When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced.

_Cherokee Expression_

The Great Spirit does right. he knows what is best for his children. We are satisfied. Brother, we do not wish to destroy your religion, or take it from you. we only want to enjoy our own."

"An Indian respects a brave man, but he despises a coward. He loves a straight tongue, but hates a forked tongue."

"Respect means listening until everyone has been heard and understood, only then is there a possibility of 'Balance and harmony' the goal of Indian Spirituality"
_Dave Chief, Grandfather of Red Dog_

Man has responsibility, not power.

"Traditional people of Indian nations have interpreted the two roads that face the light-skinned race as the road to technology and the road to spirituality. We feel that the road to technology represents a rush to destruction, and that the road to spirituality represents the slower path that the traditional native people have traveled and are now seeking again? The earth is not scorched on this trail. The grass is still growing there."

Do you know or can you believe that sometimes the idea obtrudes... whether it has been well that I have sought civilization with it's bothersome concomitants and whether it would not be better even now... to return to the darkness and most sacred wilds (if any such can be found) of our country and there to vegetate and expire silently, happily and forgotten as do the birds of the air and the beast of the field. The thought is a happy one but perhaps impracticable.

"When the earth is sick, the animals will begin to disappear, when that happens, The Warriors Of The Rainbow will come to save them."

You have guns, and so have we. You have powder and lead, and so have we. You have men, and so have we. Your men will fight and so will ours, till the last drop of the Seminole blood has moistened the dust of his hunting ground.

"There are many things to be shared with the Four Colors of humanity in our common destiny as one with our Mother the earth. It is this sharing that must be considered with great care by the Elders and our medicine people who carry the Sacred Trusts, so that no harm may come to the people through ignorance and misuse of these powerful forces."
_Resolution of the Fifth Annual Meetings of the Traditional Elders Circle, 1980_

"When sickness and misfortunes beset your path, try to sing."
_Cree Expression_

If the Great Spirit sent the smallpox into our country to destroy us, it was to punish us for listening to the false promises of white men. It is a white man's disease, and no doubt it was sent amongst white people to punish them for their sins.

"The Great Spirit Chief who rules above all will smile upon this land. and this time the Indian will be waiting and praying."

Soon there will come from the rising sun a different kind of man from any you have yet see.

"When we Indians kill meat, we eat it all up. When we dig roots, we make little holes. When we build houses, we make little holes. When we burn grass for grasshoppers, we don't ruin things. We shake down acorns and pine nuts. We don't chop down the trees. We only use dead wood. But the white people plow up the ground, pull down the trees, kill everything... the white people pay no attention... How can the spirit of the earth like the White man?... everywhere the White man has touched it, it is sore."

These stories were the libraries of our people. In each story, there was recorded some event of interest or importance...A people enrich their minds who keep their history on the leaves of memory.

_Luther Standing Bear, Lakota_

Often in summer I rise at daybreak and steal out to the cornfields; and as I hoe the corn I sing to it, as we did when I was young. Sometimes at evening I sit, looking out on the big Missouri. In the shadows I seem again to see our Indian village, with smoke curling upward from the lodges.

"If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them you will not know them and what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one destroys."
_Chief Dan George_

When a child my mother taught me the legends of our people; taught me of the sun and sky, the moon and stars, the clouds and storms. She also taught me to kneel and pray to Usen for strength, health, wisdom, and protection. We never prayed against any person, but if we had aught against any individual we ourselves too vengeance. We were taught that Usen does not care for the petty quarrels of men."
_Geronimo, Chiracahua Apache Chief_

Why not teach school children more wholesome proverbs and legends of our people? That we killed game only for food, not for fun... Tell your children of the friendly acts of the Indians to the white people who first settled here. Tell them of our leaders and heros and their deeds... Put in your history books the Indian's part in the World War.

Now we will speak again about him, Our Creator. He decided, "Above the world I have created...I will continue to look intently and to listen intently to the earth, when people direct their voices at me." Let there be gratitude day and night for the happiness he has given us. He loves us, he who in the sky dwells. He gave us the means to set right that which divides us.

In the beginning of all things, wisdom and knowledge were with the animals. for Tirawa, the One Above did not speak directly to man. he sent certain animals to tell men that he showed himself through the beast and that from them and the stars and the sun and the moon should man learn... all things tell of Tirawa.

_Eagle Chief, Pawnee_

"(The Circle) will not be mended as long as the people war among themselves. it will not be mended as long as we try to mend the Sacred Circle with broken Circles. We all need to pray on this..."

The Earth was created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as it was... The country was made without lines of demarcation and it is no mans' business to divide it... I see the white all over the country gaining wealth and see their desire to give us lands which are worthless. The earth and myself are of one mind. The measure of the land and the measure of our bodies are the same. Say it to us if you can say it. that you were sent by Creative Power to talk to us. Perhaps you think the creator sent you here to destroy us as you see fit. If I thought you were sent by the creator I might be induced to think you had the right to dispose of me. Do not misunderstand me, but understand me fully with reference to my affection to the land. I never said the land was mine to do with as I chose. The one who has a right to dispose of it is the one who has created it. I claim a right to live on my land, and accord you privilege to live on yours.

"The Great Spirit raised both the white man and Indian. I think he raised the Indian first. He raised me in this land, it belongs to me. The white man was raised over the great waters, and his land is over there. Since they crossed the sea, I have given them room. There are now white people all about me. I have but a small spot of land left. The Great Spirit told me to keep it."

The Sacred Hoop...

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it.

_Chief Seattle_

"We did not ask you white men to come here. The Great Spirit gave us this country as a home. You had yours. We did not interfere with you. The Great Spirit gave us plenty of land to live on, and buffalo, deer, antelope and other game. But you have come here, you are taking my land from me. you are killing off our game, so it is hard for us to live. Now you tell us to work for a living, but The Great Spirit did not make us to work. but to live by hunting. You white men can work if you want to. We do not interfere with you, and again you say why do you not become civilized? We do not want your civilization! We would live as our father did, and their fathers before them"

"There is a road in the hearts of all of us, hidden and seldom traveled, which leads to an unknown secret place. The old people came literally to love the soil, and they sat or reclined on the ground with a feeling of being close to a mothering power. Their tepees were built upon the earth and their alters made of earth. The soil was soothing, strengthening, cleansing and healing. That is why the old Indian still sits upon the earth instead of propping himself up and away from it's life giving forces. For him to sit or lie upon the ground is to be able to think more deeply and to feel more keenly. he can see more clearly into the mysteries of life and come closer in kinship to other lives about him."

There was a time when our forefathers owned this great island. The Great Spirit had made it for the use of Indians. He had created the buffalo, the deer, and other animals for food. He had made the bear and the beaver. Their skins served us for clothing. He had scattered them over the country , and taught us how to take them., he had caused the earth to produce corn for bread.

"We are 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... This I believe, and all my people believe the same.

"When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home."

I am tired of fighting, our chiefs are all killed, the old men are all dead, the little children are freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children see how many of them I can find, maybe I shall find them among the dead. 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.

When your army entered the country of the Six Nations, we called you Caunotaucarius, the Town Destroyer; and to this day when that name is heard, our women look behind them and turn pale, and our children cling to the knees of their mothers. Our councillors and warriors are men and cannot be afraid; but their hearts are grieved with the fears of their women and children, and desire that it may be buried so deep as to be heard no more. When you gave us peace, we called you father, because you promised to secure us in possession of our lands. Do this, and so long as the lands shall remain, the beloved name will remain in the heart of every Seneca.

Whenever the white man treats the Indian as they treat each other, then we will have no more wars. We shall all be alike... brothers of one father and one another, with one sky above us and one country around us, and one government for all.

Trouble no more about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours.

"All things in the world are two. In our mind we are two.. good and evil.

With our eyes we see two things... things that are fair and things that are ugly... we have the right hand that strikes and makes for evil, and the left hand full of kindness near the heart. One foot may lead us to an evil way, the other foot may lead us to a good. So are all things in two, all two."

"Sometimes dreams are wiser than waking."

_Black Elk_

We belong to the Earth, this we know. The Earth does not belong to us; we belong to the Earth. This we know.

We want no white person or persons here. The Black Hills belong to me. If the whites try to take them, I will fight.

I did not know then how much was ended. When I look back now from this high hill of my old age. I can still see the butchered women and children lying scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw them with eyes still young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud and was buried in the blizzard. A peoples dream died there. It was a beautiful dream... the nations hoop is broken and scattered. There is no center any longer and the sacred tree is dead.

"When we walk upon Mother earth, we always plant out feet carefully because we know the faces of our future generations are looking up at us from beneath the ground. We never forget them."

Where no one intrudes, many can live in harmony.

Whiskey is a great and monstrous evil and has reared a high mound of bones. So now all must say "I will use it nevermore."

They could not capture me except for a white flag. They cannot hold me except with a chain.

The Whites are already nearly a match for us all united, and too strong for any one tribe alone to resist. Unless we support one another with our collective forces, they will soon conquer us, and we will be driven away from our native country and scattered as leaves before the wind.

Whose voice was first sounded on this land? The voice of the red people who had but bows and arrows... What has been done in my country I did not want, did not ask for it; white people going through my country... When the white man comes in my country he leaves a trail of blood behind him... I have two mountains in that country... The Black Hills and The Big Horn Mountain. I want great father to make roads through them. I have told these things three times; now I have come here to tell them the fourth time.

With a prayer in my mouth I dashed unarmed through a line of soldiers my clothes were cut to pieces my horse was wounded but I was not hurt, as I reached the door of my lodge my wife handed me my rifle saying "here's your gun... fight."

"Your emperor may be a great prince; I do not doubt it, seeing that he has sent his subjects so far across the waters; and I am willing to treat him as a brother. As for your pope of whom you speak, he must be mad to speak of giving away countries that do not belong to him, As for my faith, I will not change it. Your God, as you tell me, was put to death by the very men He created. But my God still looks down on His children."