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
men justice church
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.
life strength teacher
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 — and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty.
mother teacher brother
If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace.....Treat all men alike. Give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow. All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers. The Earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.......Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade....where I choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to think and talk and act for myself, and I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty.
love spiritual believe
I believe much trouble would be saved if we opened our hearts more.
country men white-man
The first white men of your people who came to our country were named Lewis and Clark. They brought many things that our people had never seen. They talked straight. These men were very kind.
gun bigs powder
We damaged all the big guns we could, and carried away the powder and the lead.
country men thinking
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.
believe home native-american
We were taught to believe that the Great Spirit sees and hears everything, and that he never forgets, that hereafter he will give every man a spirit home according to his deserts; If he has been a good man, he will have a good home; if he has been a bad man, he will have a bad home. This I believe, and all my people believe the same.
children heart fighting
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.
mother running brother
All men were made brothers. The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it. You might as well expect the rivers to run backward as that any man who was born free should be content when penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases.
rivers mountain suits
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.
religion church want
We do not want churches. They will teach us to quarrel about God.
brother war white
We had good white friends who advised us against taking the war path. My friend and brother, Mr. Chapman, told us just how the war would end.
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.