Chief Joseph
Chief Joseph
Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it in Americanist orthography, popularly known as Chief Joseph or Young Joseph, succeeded his father Tuekakasas the leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kainband of Nez Perce, a Native American tribe indigenous to the Wallowa Valley in northeastern Oregon, in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States...
ProfessionWar Hero
Date of Birth3 March 1840
CityWallowa River, OR
tired heart home
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.
travel native-american men
Let me be a free man - free to travel, free to stop, free to work.
fathers-day father eye
My father... had sharper eyes than the rest of our people.
native-american fighting great-american
We are going by you without fighting if you will let us, but we are going by you anyhow!
horse gun return
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.
heart people my-heart
I cannot tell how much my heart suffered for my people while at Leavenworth.
dad father hands
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.
eye silence tongue
The eye tells what the tongue would hide.
country heart men
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.
race racism waiting
The Indian race are waiting and praying.
country winter men
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.
men white authority
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.
mistake thinking animal
Some of you think an Indian is like a wild animal. This is a great mistake.
horse moving rivers
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.