Chief Joseph Quotes

I will fight no more forever.

Treat all men alike. Give them all the same laws. Give them all an even chance to live and grow.

The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.

When I think of our condition, my heart is heavy. I see men of my own race treated as outlaws and driven from their homes, hunted and driven like wild animals.

Good words will not give me back my children.

It does not require many words to speak the truth.

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.

I want to have time to look for my children and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead.

The earth is the mother of all people, and we all came from her.

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 took vengeance.

Take the white man’s book of law and recite to our chiefs, but do not make them too hard.

We gave them forest-clad mountains and valleys full of game, and in return what did they give our warriors and our women? Rum, trinkets, and a grave.

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.

I buried a number of my people there, and it is sacred ground. The white man will never turn me back from this land. I am cooped up here, but I want to escape, and I will.

I am tired of talk that comes to nothing. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and broken promises.

The Indian race is waiting and praying.

The earth and myself are of one mind.

Children, I have been a chief for many winters, but this white-faced chief [General O. O. Howard] is the cleverest chief I have ever met.

The white people made us many promises, but they kept but one. They promised to take our land, and they took it.

Our fathers gave us many laws, which they had learned from their fathers. These laws were good.

Tomorrow is the day when idlers work, and fools reform.

What treaty that the whites have kept has the red man broken? Not one.

Every animal knows more than you do.

The red man has ever fled from the approach of the white man, as the morning mist flees before the morning sun.

My father… he was chief over all this country… He had other medicine besides his own, and it was strong.

The Great Spirit Chief who rules above all will smile upon this land, and this land will blossom forth and become the pride of a nation.

Believe that the elder brothers of the white race, the first born, only differ from them in color.

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.

All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers.

We took an oath not to do these things when the sun went down. I have never broken the oath.

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.

The Indian race never had any farming tools until the white people introduced them.

In my early days, I was eager to learn and to do things, and therefore I learned quickly.

I love my country. I love the land of the winding sky-blue water, and its banks that spread away on either hand.

The earth is our mother.

From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.

Civilization has been thrust upon me… and it has not added one whit to my love for truth, honesty, and generosity.

Suppose a white man should come to me and say, ‘Joseph, I like your horses. I want to buy them.’ I say to him, ‘No, my horses suit me; I will not sell them.’ Then he goes to my neighbor and says to him, ‘Joseph has some good horses. I want to buy them, but he refuses to sell.’ My neighbor answers, ‘Pay me the money and I will sell you Joseph’s horses.’ The white man returns to me and says, ‘Joseph, I have bought your horses and you must let me have them.’ If we sold our lands to the government, this is the way they were bought.

I have tried to teach my people that education is the key to unlocking the door to their future.

I am tired of talk that comes to nothing. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and broken promises.

The white people, who are trying to make 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.

What have I done that you should judge me so harshly?

We believe that the Great Spirit has put it in our hearts that land should be shared by all, and that it was wrong for someone to have too much.

If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace.

After the war I fought for the red man’s rights, and to protect him.

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.

The first white men of your people who came to our country were named Lewis and Clark. They brought many things that our people had never seen. They talked straight and our people gave them a great feast, as proof that their hearts were friendly.

Good words will not give me back my children.

Children, I have been a chief of this land. I want to be a chief for all the tribes.

Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told me before, I have it in my heart. I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed; Looking Glass is dead, Too-hul-hul-sote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led on the young men is dead. It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are–perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children and 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.