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.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the struggle of a people facing forced relocation and the challenge of adapting to significant change imposed by authority.
In this quote, Chief Joseph speaks to the harsh reality of his people's displacement, as imposed by a commanding figure. The mention of a 'haughty spirit' suggests the arrogance of authority while emphasizing the pain and resistance of those facing such a drastic change in their way of life. The quote encapsulates the challenges of losing one's home and the inevitable impact on cultural identity and community.
In practice
During a rally advocating for indigenous rights, this quote can be used to highlight the ongoing struggles faced by Native American communities.
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.
Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think and act for myself β and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty.
It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and the broken promises.
If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace. There need be no trouble. Treat all men alike. give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow.
The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.
All men were made by the Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers.
We've talked more about civil rights after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 than we talked about it before 1964.
As I was writing 'The Shock Doctrine', I was covering the Iraq War and profiteering from the war, and I started to see these patterns repeat in the aftermath of natural disasters, like the Asian tsunami and then Hurricane Katrina.
Back in the autumn I had awakened to a growing darkness and cacophony, as if something in the depths were crying out. A whole chorus of voices. Orphaned voices. They seemed to speak for all the unlived parts of me, and they came with a force and dazzle that I couldn't contain. They seemed to explode the boundaries of my existence. I know now that they were the clamor of a new self struggling to be born.
My problem is white comfort with Black death. I am personally tired of white comfort with black death.
The only way to get change is not through the courts or - heaven forbid - the politicians, but through a change of human consciousness and through a change of heart. Only through the arts - music, poetry, dance, painting, writing - "can we really reach each other.
Never put a question mark where God has put a period. When something is over and done, let it go and move on to the next chapter of your life.
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