Native American Wisdom Quotes - Page 4

• Each man is good in the sight of the Great Spirit. It is not necessary for eagles to be crows. Now we are poor but we are free. No white man controls our footsteps. If we must die, we die defending our rights.

  Sitting Bull

  Native American, Men, White

  60 Copy quote

• We do not want churches. They will teach us to quarrel about God.

  Chief Joseph

  Religion, Church, Want

  25 Copy quote

• Everything the Power of the World does is done in a circle.

  Black Elk

  Native American, Circles, Doe

  "The Sacred Pipe : Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux" recorded and edited by Joseph Epes Brown, (Ch. 17), 1961.

  26 Copy quote

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• Where no one intrudes, many can live in harmony.

  Chief Dan George

  Native American, Harmony, American Indian

  149 Copy quote

• Grown men may learn from very little children, for the hearts of little children are pure, and, therefore, the Great Spirit may show to them many things which older people miss.

  Black Elk

  Children, Native American, Heart

  "The Sacred Pipe : Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux" recorded and edited by Joseph Epes Brown, 1953.

  183 Copy quote

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• All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man... the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.

  Chief Seattle

  Native American, Men, Air

  Seattle (Chief) (1976). “Chief Seattle's Testimony”

  97 Copy quote

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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

  Tired, Native American, Heart

  Speech in surrendering to General Nelson Appleton Miles, October 05, 1877.

  95 Copy quote

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• The time will soon be here when my grandchild will long for the cry of a loon, the flash of a salmon, the whisper of spruce needles, or the screech of an eagle. But he will not make friends with any of these creatures and when his heart aches with longing, he will curse me. Have I done all to keep the air fresh? Have I cared enough about the water? Have I left the eagle to soar in freedom? Have I done everything I could to earn my grandchild's fondness?

  Chief Dan George

  Native American, Heart, Grandchildren

  496 Copy quote

• All things are bound together. All things connect.

  Chief Seattle

  Native American, Web Of Life, Earth Day

  Seattle (Chief) (1980). “How can one sell the air?: the manifesto of an Indian chief”, Book Publishing Company (TN)

  44 Copy quote

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• The power of the world always works in circles.

  Black Elk

  Native American, Circles, World

  Black Elk (2000). “Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux”, Bison Books

  17 Copy quote

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• 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 bought them.

  Chief Joseph

  I Like You, Horse, Native American

  Arguing against the right of the US Government to force his people to leave their lands, 1876.

  190 Copy quote

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• When the Earth is sick, the animals will begin to disappear, when that happens, The Warriors of the Rainbow will come to save them.

  Chief Seattle

  Inspirational, Life, Native American

  65 Copy quote

• Old age is not as honorable as death, but most people seek it.

  David Gemmell

  Native American, People, Age

  57 Copy quote

• Our religion is the traditions of our ancestors - the dreams of our old men, given them in solemn hours of the night by the Great Spirit; and the visions of our sachems, and is written in the hearts of our people.

  Chief Seattle

  Dream, Native American, Heart

  12 Copy quote

• You ask me to plow the ground. Shall I take a knife and tear my mother's bosom? Then when I die she will not take me to her bosom to rest.

  Wovoka

  Mother, Native American, Cutting

  62 Copy quote

• We do not want churches because they will teach us to quarrel about God. We do not want to learn that. We may quarrel with men sometimes about things on this earth, but we never quarrel about the Great Spirit. We do not want to learn that.

  Chief Joseph

  Men, Justice, Diversity

  213 Copy quote

• The earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.

  Chief Seattle

  Mother, Son, Men

  Seattle (Chief) (1976). “Chief Seattle's Testimony”

  9 Copy quote

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