Israel Morrow Quotes

I firmly believe that American society would not endure ten years if subjected to half the trials and tortures we've put Natives through. And yet Native peoples have not been utterly destroyed, not by the world's strongest military. They have not been totally assimilated, not by the world's largest religion. Native religions are indeed concerned with being a good person, respecting one's family, ancestors, community, and the Earth - and when these principles are lived, there is great strength.

In West African traditions, land belongs to the person who works it. Produce belongs to the person who grows it. Whatever is created belongs to the creators - not to the God that created them, and certainly not to the colonist or slavemaster.

One popular defense of the Founding Fathers says they were simply men of their time, flawed idealists for whom 'that was the culture then.' But in fact, they were not men of their time. The Founding Fathers were men of their color (white) of their status (wealthy) of their descent (European) of their time.
To say that the Founding Fathers were men of their time defines time according to them. It legitimizes their place at the top of the world--the origin of popular history--even if the leaders of other nations were more democratic and fair-handed.

We've all heard that women tolerate sex to get relationships, while men tolerate relationships to get sex. That is simply not true - but there is something truly chilling about the fact that most Americans believe it's true and use this formula as a guide for behavior.

The worst lie ever told is that it is easier to destroy than to create. This lie makes people apathetic about a number of imminently avoidable horrors, particularly the nuclear ones. But Oppenheimer didn't just go outside one day and trip over an atomic bomb. Nuclear development required trillions of dollars and a massive sustained effort by America's top politicians, military advisors, and scientific geniuses. Not one damn bit of it was easy. It was certainly harder that sitting down with Stalin or Khrushchev and having a talk . . .
America had options. The path of destruction was a choice. It has always been America's choice, and we citizens have always shrugged, assuming it's too late to turn back the doomsday clock, although we're the ones who wound it in the first place.

I firmly disagree with anyone who says humans are the most advanced, or the most intelligent species on the planet. In fact, only three animals have ever threatened to kill me: humans, their dogs, and a particularly aggressive species of house spider.

Native peoples do not look for salvation from worlds beyond. They need no alternate reality, because the mortal world and the spirit world are the same. This Earth is heaven, hell and purgatory; but most importantly, it is home. The greatest of spiritual mysteries may be revealed just beyond the front door, in the life of a community.

If the Constitution doesn't say anything about a woman's right to abortion, I'm damn sure it doesn't say anything about the rights of the unborn.