Sitting Bull

I know Great Spirit is looking down upon me from above, and will hear what I say.

I want to tell you that if the Great Spirit had chosen anyone to be the chief of this country, it is myself.

Is it wrong for me to love my own? Is it wicked for me because my skin is red? Because I am Sioux? Because I was born where my father lived? Because I would die for my people and my country?

When I was a boy, the Sioux owned the world. The sun rose and set on their land; they sent ten thousand men to battle. Where are the warriors today? Who slew them? Where are our lands? Who owns them?

Therefore, I do not wish to consider any proposition to cede any portion of our tribal holdings to the Great Father.

I wish it to be remembered that I was the last man of my tribe to surrender my rifle.

God made me an Indian, but not a reservation Indian.

Healthy feet can feel the very heart of Mother Earth.

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.

If I agree to dispose of any part of our land to the white people I would feel guilty of taking food away from our children's mouths, and I do not wish to be that mean.

What white man can say I never stole his land or a penny of his money? Yet they say that I am a thief.

What white woman, however lonely, was ever captive or insulted by me? Yet they say I am a bad Indian.

Only seven years ago we made a treaty by which we were assured that the buffalo country should be left to us forever. Now they threaten to take that from us also.

I am here by the will of the Great Spirit, and by his will I am chief.

It is not necessary for eagles to be crows.

For us, warriors are not what you think of as warriors. The warrior is not someone who fights, because no one has the right to take another life. The warrior, for us, is one who sacrifices himself for the good of others. His task is to take care of the elderly, the defenseless, those who can not provide for themselves, and above all, the children, the future of humanity.

Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children.

The life my people want is a life of freedom. I have seen nothing that a white man has, houses or railways or clothing or food, that is as good as the right to move in the open country and live in our fashion.

I surrender this rifle to you through my young son, whom I now desire to teach in this manner that he has become a friend of the Americans. I wish him to learn the habits of the whites and to be educated as their sons are educated. I wish it to be remembered that I was the last man of my tribe to surrender my rifle. This boy has given it to you, and he now wants to know how he is going to make a living.

I do not wish to be shut up in a corral. All agency Indians I have seen are worthless. They are neither red warriors nor white farmers. They are neither wolf nor dog.

Each man is good in the sight of the Great Spirit.