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 native-american heart
Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.
brother native-american reality
All men were made by the Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers.
running men rivers
You might as well expect rivers to run backwards as any man born free to be contented penned up.
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
broken-heart sick broken-promises
It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and the broken promises.
men white people
Our people could not talk with these white-faced men, but they used signs which all people understand.
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.
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.
country brother war
Whenever the white man treats the Indian as they treat each other, then we will have no more wars. We shall all be alike-brothers of one father and one another, with one sky above us and one country around us, and one government for all.
native-american race land
The Great Spirit Chief who rules above all will smile upon this land... and this time the Indian race is waiting and praying.
believe men spirit
I do not believe that the Great Spirit Chief gave one kind of men the right to tell another kind of men what they must do.
native-american dust tree
We live, we die, and like the grass and trees, renew ourselves from the soft earth of the grave. Stones crumble and decay, faiths grow old and they are forgotten, but new beliefs are born. The faith of the villages is dust now... but it will grow again... like the trees.
long lasts action
Good words do not last long unless they amount to something.
men law giving
Treat all men alike. Give them the same law. Give them an even chance to live and grow.