Chief Joseph Quotes

All people should be treated the same way on earth.

I pressed my father's hand and told him I would protect his grave with my life. My father smiled and passed away to the spirit land.

Cursed be he that scalps the reputation of the dead.

We had a great many horses, of which we gave Lewis and Clark what they needed, and they gave us guns and tobacco in return.

I did not want my people killed. I did not want bloodshed.

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.

The eye tells what the tongue would hide.

We ask only that the law shall work alike on all men.

We had good white friends who advised us against taking the war path. My friend and brother, Mr. Chapman, told us just how the war would end.

I will speak with a straight tongue.

It takes few words to tell the truth.

We live, we die, and like the grass and trees, renew ourselves from the soft earth of the grave. Stones crumble and decay, faiths grow old and they are forgotten, but new beliefs are born. The faith of the villages is dust now ... but it will grow again ... like the trees.

Good words will not give my people good health and stop them from dying. Good words will not get my people a home where they can live in peace and take care of themselves. I am tired of talk that comes to nothing. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and broken promises.

We were like deer. They were like grizzly bear.

I labored hard to avoid trouble and bloodshed.

My father was the first to see through the schemes of the white man.

A chief called Lawyer, because he was a great talker, took the lead in the council, and sold nearly all the Nez Perce country.

You might as well expect rivers to run backwards as any man born free to be contented penned up.

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.

It does not require many words to speak the truth.

We are going by you without fighting if you will let us, but we are going by you anyhow!

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.

I have heard talk and talk, but nothing is done.

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

Good words will not give me back my children.

I would have given my own life if I could have undone the killing of white men by my people.

Lawyer acted without authority from our band. He had no right to sell the Wallowa country.

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. This I believe, and all my people believe the same.

My people were divided about surrendering.

A man who would not love his father's grave is worse than a wild animal.

We damaged all the big guns we could, and carried away the powder and the lead.

We ask to be recognized as men.

The earth is our mother. She should not be disturbed by hoe or plough. We want only to subsist on what she freely gives us.

When I think of our condition, my heart is heavy. I see men of my own race treated as outlaws and driven from country to country, or shot down like animals.

I will fight no more forever

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.

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

General Howard informed me, in a haughty spirit, that he would give my people 30 days to go back home, collect all their stock, and move onto the reservation.

We were contented to let things remain as the Great Spirit Chief made them. They were not; and would change the rivers and mountains if they did not suit them.

I would give up everything rather than have the blood of white men upon the hands of my people.

I am ready to talk today. I have been in a great many councils, but I am no wiser. We are all sprung from a woman, although we are unlike in many things. We can not be made over again. You are as you were made, and as you were made you can remain. We are just as we were made by the Great Spirit, and you can not change us ; then why should children of one mother and one father quarrel ? - why should one try to cheat the other ? I do not believe that the Great Spirit Chief gave one kind of men the right to tell another kind of men what they must do.

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.

I saw clearly that war was upon us when I learned that my young men had been secretly buying ammunition.

The Indian race are waiting and praying.

It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and the broken promises.

War can be avoided, and it ought to be avoided. I want no war.

When my young men began the killing, my heart was hurt.

An Indian respects a brave man, but he despises a coward.

When an Indian fights, he only shoots to kill.

I only ask of the government to be treated as all other men are treated.

I believe much trouble and blood would be saved if we opened our hearts more.

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

I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty.

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.

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.

For a short time we lived quietly. But this could not last. White men had found gold in the mountains around the land of winding water.

Our people could not talk with these white-faced men, but they used signs which all people understand.

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 cannot tell how much my heart suffered for my people while at Leavenworth.

It required a strong heart to stand up against such talk, but I urged my people to be quiet and not to begin a war.