Quotes from Chief Joseph

Lawyer acted without authority from our band. He had no right to sell the Wallowa country.

The Indian race are waiting and praying.

I would give up everything rather than have the blood of white men upon the hands of my people.

I did not want my people killed. I did not want bloodshed.

I cannot tell how much my heart suffered for my people while at Leavenworth.

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.

I am not a child, I think for myself. No man can think for me.

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.

I only ask of the government to be treated as all other men are treated.

The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.

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.

If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian he can live in peace.

Good words do not last long unless they amount to something.

Good words will not give me back my children.

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.

All men were made by the Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers.

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.

I only ask of the Government to be treated as all other men are treated. If I cannot go to my own home, let me have a home in a country where my people will not die so fast.

We damaged all the big guns we could, and carried away the powder and the lead.

A chief called Lawyer, because he was a great talker, took the lead in the council, and sold nearly all the Nez Perce country.

We do not want churches. They will teach us to quarrel about God.

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.

Words do not pay for my dead people.

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.