Top 83 Chief Joseph Quotes
#1. War can be avoided, and it ought to be avoided. I want no war.
Chief Joseph
#2. I did not want my people killed. I did not want bloodshed.
Chief Joseph
#3. 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.
Chief Joseph
#4. When an Indian fights, he only shoots to kill.
Chief Joseph
#5. It does not require many words to speak the truth.
Chief Joseph
#6. Good words do not last long unless they amount to something.
Chief Joseph
#7. The earth and myself are of one mind. The measure of the land and the neasure of our bodies are the same
Chief Joseph
#8. Treat all men alike. Give them the same law. Give them an even chance to live and grow.
Chief Joseph
#9. 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.
Chief Joseph
#11. Our fathers gave us many laws which they had learned from their
fathers. These laws were good.
Chief Joseph
#12. 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.
Chief Joseph
#13. 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
#14. 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.
Chief Joseph
#15. 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.
Chief Joseph
#16. When my young men began the killing, my heart was hurt.
Chief Joseph
#18. All men were made by the Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers.
Chief Joseph
#19. I said in my heart that, rather than have war, I would give up my country.
Chief Joseph
#20. 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.
Chief Joseph
#21. We gathered all the stock we could find, and made an attempt to move. We left many of our horses and cattle in Wallowa. We lost several hundred in crossing the river.
Chief Joseph
#22. All people should be treated the same way on earth.
Chief Joseph
#23. The white men told lies for each other. They drove off a great many of our cattle. Some branded our young cattle so they could claim them.
Chief Joseph
#24. We do not want churches. They will teach us to quarrel about God.
Chief Joseph
#25. My father ... had sharper eyes than the rest of our people.
Chief Joseph
#26. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more.
Chief Joseph
#27. I cannot tell how much my heart suffered for my people while at Leavenworth.
Chief Joseph
#28. 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.
Chief Joseph
#30. I would have given my own life if I could have undone the killing of white men by my people.
Chief Joseph
#31. 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.
Chief Joseph
#32. We were like deer. They were like grizzly bear.
Chief Joseph
#33. I only ask of the government to be treated as all other men are treated.
Chief Joseph
#34. I labored hard to avoid trouble and bloodshed.
Chief Joseph
#35. You might as well expect rivers to run backwards as any man born free to be contented penned up.
Chief Joseph
#36. The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.
Chief Joseph
#38. 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.
Chief Joseph
#39. 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.
Chief Joseph
#40. An Indian respects a brave man, but he despises a coward.
Chief Joseph
#41. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and the broken promises.
Chief Joseph
#42. When the last deer disappears into the morning mist, When the last elk vanishes from the hills, When the last buffalo falls on the plains, I will hunt mice for I am a hunter and I must have my freedom.
Chief Joseph
#45. Good words will not give me back my children.
Chief Joseph
#46. 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.
Chief Joseph
#47. Our people could not talk with these white-faced men, but they used signs which all people understand.
Chief Joseph
#48. A man who would not love his father's grave is worse than a wild animal.
Chief Joseph
#49. We are going by you without fighting if you will let us, but we are going by you anyhow!
Chief Joseph
#50. I believe much trouble and blood would be saved if we opened our hearts more.
Chief Joseph
#51. Our chiefs are killed ... The little children are freezing to death ... My people have no blankets, no food ... My heart is sick and sad ... I will fight no more forever.
Chief Joseph
#52. I am not a child, I think for myself. No man can think for me.
Chief Joseph
#54. I would give up everything rather than have the blood of white men upon the hands of my people.
Chief Joseph
#56. I have asked some of the great white chiefs where they get their authority to say to the Indian that he shall stay in one place, while he sees white men going where they please. They cannot tell me.
Chief Joseph
#57. I want the white people to understand my people.
Chief Joseph
#58. We ask only that the law shall work alike on all men.
Chief Joseph
#59. 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.
Chief Joseph
#60. My people were divided about surrendering.
Chief Joseph
#61. We soon found that the white men were growing rich very fast, and were greedy.
Chief Joseph
#62. The Great Spirit Chief who rules above all will smile upon this land ... and this time the Indian race is waiting and praying.
Chief Joseph
#63. 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
#64. Lawyer acted without authority from our band. He had no right to sell the Wallowa country.
Chief Joseph
#65. 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.
Chief Joseph
#66. Let me be a free man - free to travel, free to stop, free to work.
Chief Joseph
#68. 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. These men were very kind.
Chief Joseph
#69. I saw clearly that war was upon us when I learned that my young men had been secretly buying ammunition.
Chief Joseph
#70. I saw that the war could not be prevented. The time had passed.
Chief Joseph
#71. My father was the first to see through the schemes of the white man.
Chief Joseph
#72. 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.
Chief Joseph
#73. 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.
Chief Joseph
#74. If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian he can live in peace.
Chief Joseph
#75. I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty.
Chief Joseph
#76. I have heard talk and talk, but nothing is done.
Chief Joseph
#77. Cursed be he that scalps the reputation of the dead.
Chief Joseph
#78. 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.
Chief Joseph
#79. A chief called Lawyer, because he was a great talker, took the lead in the council, and sold nearly all the Nez Perce country.
Chief Joseph
#80. We damaged all the big guns we could, and carried away the powder and the lead.
Chief Joseph
#81. 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.
Chief Joseph
#82. Some of you think an Indian is like a wild animal. This is a great mistake.
Chief Joseph
#83. 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.
Chief Joseph
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