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.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the dishonesty and exploitation faced by Native Americans from white settlers.
Chief Joseph's quote speaks to the injustices that Native Americans experienced at the hands of white settlers, emphasizing the duplicity and greed that led to the theft of their resources and livelihoods. It underscores a painful history of dishonesty and betrayal, where the principles of fair play and respect were utterly disregarded in pursuit of personal gain.
In practice
During a speech about social justice, one could reference this quote to illustrate the historical injustices faced by indigenous people.
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.
In the Middle Ages, cathendrals and convents burned like tinder; imagining a medieval story without a fire is like imagining a World War II movie in the Pacific without a fighter plane shot down in flames.
I grew up in the shadow of the Trujillato, saw how the regime had ravaged so many families.
Historians are to nationalism what poppy-growers in Pakistan are to heroin-addicts: we supply the essential raw material for the market.
The March on Washington was a defining moment in the history of this country and a great example of our nation truly living up to its creed.
If you seek Hamilton's monument, look around. You are living in it. We honor Jefferson, but live in Hamilton's country, a mighty industrial nation with a strong central government.
You can't write about history without writing about politics at some point. History is about movements of people. 'What is criminality and what is government' is a theme that runs through every history.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.