Native American Quotations

 

“Walk on a rainbow trail, walk on a trail of song, and all about you will be beauty. 

There is a way out of every dark mist, over a rainbow trail." -Navajo Song

 

Hold on to what is good even if it is a handful of earth.

Hold on to what you believe even if it is a tree which stands by itself.

Hold on to what you must do even if it is a long way from here.

Hold on to life even when it is easier letting go.

Hold on to my hand even when I have gone away from you. -Pueblo Blessing

 

I am the woman who holds up the sky.

My feet are planted in all generations.

My feet are deep in melted rock.

I walk through darkest night

wearing starlight in my hair.

I am the woman that holds up the sky.

The rainbow runs through my eyes.

The sun makes a path to my womb.

My thoughts are in the shape of clouds,

but my words are yet to come. -Ute

 

“Brother, you say there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Why not all agreed, as you can all read the Book?”    -Sogoyewapha "Red Jacket", Senaca

 

"A wee child toddling in a wonder world, I prefer to their dogma my excursions into the natural gardens 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."  -Zitkala-Sa

 

"I am a red man. If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place. He put in your heart certain wishes and plans, in my heart he put other and different desires. Each man is good in his sight. It is not necessary for Eagles to be Crows. We are poor..but we are free. No white man controls our footsteps. If we must die...we die defending our rights."  

-Sitting Bull Hunkpapa, Lakota

 

"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset." -Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator

 

“Marriage among my people was like traveling in a canoe. The man sat in front and paddled the canoe. The woman sat in the stern but she steered.” -Anonymous

 

"A Nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground. Then it is done, no matter how brave its warriors nor how strong its weapons.” -Cheyenne

 

“Kinship with all creatures of the earth, sky and water was a real and active principle. And so close did some of the Lakotas come to their feathered and furred friends that in true brotherhood they spoke a common tongue.

The animals had rights...

the right of man's protection,

the right to live,

the right to multiply,

the right to freedom, and

the right to man's indebtedness.” -Luther Standing Bear, Teton Sioux

 

"Being Indian is mainly in your heart. It's a way of walking with the earth instead of upon it. A lot of the history books talk about us Indians in the past tense, but we don't plan on going anywhere... We have lost so much, but the thing that holds us together is that we all belong to and are protectors of the earth; that's the reason for us being here. Mother Earth is not a resource, she is an heirloom."  

-David Ipinia, Yurok Artist, Sacramento, CA

 

"I think the Spirit, is the one thing we have to rely on. It has been handed to us as a live and precious coal. And each generation has to make that decision whether they want to blow on that coal to keep it alive or throw it away... Our language, our histories and culture are like a big ceremonial fire that's been kicked and stomped and scattered...Out in the darkness we can see those coals glowing. But our generation, whether in tribal government or wherever we find ourselves--Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole--are coal gatherers. We bring the coals back, assemble them and breathe on them again, so we can spark a flame around which we might warm ourselves." -Gary White Deer, Chickasaw 1994

 

“With all things and in all things, we are relatives.” -Sioux

 

"They had an ancient lost reverence for the earth and its web of life. They had what the world has lost. The world must have it back lest it die." -John Collier, Former Commissioner of Indian Affairs

 

"In 1868, men came out and brought papers. We could not read them and they did not tell us truly what was in them. We thought the treaty was to remove the forts and for us to cease from fighting. But they wanted to send us traders on the Missouri, but we wanted traders where we were. When I reached Washington, the Great Father explained to me that the interpreters had deceived me. All I want is right and just. I am poor and naked, but I am the chief of the nation. We do not want riches but we do want to train our children right. Riches would do us no good. We could not take them with us to the other world. We do not want riches. We want peace and love.” -Red Cloud

 

“Our fathers gave us many laws which they had learned from their fathers. They told us to treat all men as they treated us. That we should never be the first to break a bargain. That it was a disgrace to tell a lie. That we should speak only the truth. We were taught to believe that the Great Spirit sees and hears everything and that he never forgets. This I believe and all my people believe the same.” 

-Thunder Rolling in the Mountains Chief Joseph, Nez Perce

 

"Wars are fought to see who owns the land, but in the end it possesses man. Who dares say he owns it - is he not buried beneath it?"  -Cochise, Chiricahua Apache