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
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.
brother native-american reality
All men were made by the Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers.
race racism waiting
The Indian race are waiting and praying.
land mind body
The earth and myself are of one mind. The measure of the land and the neasure of our bodies are the same
tired broken-promises american-indian
I am tired of talk that comes to nothing.
travel native-american men
Let me be a free man - free to travel, free to stop, free to work.
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.
country men land
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.
running men rivers
You might as well expect rivers to run backwards as any man born free to be contented penned up.
native-american law great-american
I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty.
hurt heart men
When my young men began the killing, my heart was hurt.
trouble bloodshed hard
I labored hard to avoid trouble and bloodshed.
men two looks
Look twice at a two-faced man.
country native-american men
The earth was created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as it was. The country was made without lines of demarcation, and it is no man's business to divide it.