Words of Wisdom pg.2
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The Great Spirit will not punish us for what we do not know.
Red Jacket
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If I destroy you, I destroy myself. If I honor you, I honor myself.
Hunbatz Men
MAYAN
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There are many people who could claim and learn from their Indian ancestry,
but because of the fear their parents and grandparents knew, because of past
and present prejudice against Indian people, that part of their heritage is
clouded or denied.
Joseph Bruchac
ABENAKI
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Words hypnotize and deceive everyone at one time or another, but these
hypnotic words cannot last long in the hearts of true warriors.
Barney Bush
SHAWNEE
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We have an old saying, Everything living must die. Only the rocks and
mountains are forever.
Archie Fire Lame Deer
LAKOTA
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I was born on the prairies where the wind blew free and there was nothing
to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures....
Geronimo
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Grandfather, Great Spirit, once more behold me on earth and lean to hear my
feeble voice. You lived first, and You are older than all need, older than
all prayer...You are the life of all things.
Black Elk
OGLALA SIOUX
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I ran to the spring to fetch water for them when they were thirsty.
By these little services I won their affection....
Playful Calf
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When you are in the woods, you cannot ever be lost. You are surrounded by
friends and surrounded by God.
Joe Coyhis
STOCKBRIDGE-MUNSEE
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Black Hawk is a true Indian. He feels for his wife and children, his
friends ... they will suffer. He laments their fate.
Black Hawk
Sac
Circa 1800
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Don't be afraid to cry. It will free your mind of
sorrowful thoughts.
Don Talayesva
Hopi
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It's time Indians tell the world what we know... about nature and about
God. So I'm going to tell you what I know and who I am. You guys better
listen. You got a lot to learn.
Mathew King
LAKOTA
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That spiritual power I wear is much more
beautiful and much greater. We call it wisdom,
knowledge, power and gift or love. There are
these four parts to that spiritual power. So I wear
those. When you wear that power it will beautify
your mind and spirit. You become beautiful.
Everything that Tunkashila creates is beautiful.
Wallace Black Elk
LAKOTA
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The faces of our future generations are looking up to us from the earth and
we step with great care not to disturb our grandchildren.
Traditional Circle of Elders
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Holy Mother Earth, the trees and all nature
are witnesses to your thoughts and deeds.
Winnebago Wisdom
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It was good for the skin to touch the earth, and the old people liked to
remove their moccasins and walk with bare feet on the sacred earth... The
soil was soothing, strengthening, cleansing, and healing.
Chief Luther Standing Bear
TETON SIOUX
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The old Indian still sits upon the earth instead of
propping himself up and away from its life-giving forces.
Standing Bear
Lakota Sioux
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I'm an Indian, I'm one of God's children.
Mathew King
LAKOTA
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A bit of sunshine, a drop of rain, a puff of life from the Great Spirit as
He gently breathed upon that spot, created the Native Americans. They were
well formed and agile, copper colored and proud.
Harriet Starleaf Gumbs
SHINNECOCK
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It is hard to fight people that live like groundhogs.
Tecumseh
Shawnee
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We have a biological father and mother, but our
real Father is Tunkashila [Creator] and our real
Mother is the Earth.
Wallace Black Elk
LAKOTA
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I will keep my word until the stones melt.
Delshay
Apache
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Each man is good in the sight of the Great Spirit.
Sitting Bull
TETON SIOUX
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With one mind we address our acknowledgement, respect, and gratefulness to
all the sacred Cycle of Life. We, as humans, must remember to be humble and
acknowledge the gifts we use so freely in our daily lives.
Audrey Shenandoah
ONONDAGA
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Our people possessed remarkable powers of concentration ... and I
sometimes fancy that such nearness to nature .. keeps (us) in touch with unseen powers.
Charles Eastman, Physician
Santee Dakota
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Lots of people hardly ever feel real soil under
their feet, see plants grow except in flower pots,
or get fare enough beyond the street light to catch
the enchantment of a night sky studded with
stars. When people live far from scenes of the
Great Spirit's making, it's easy for them to forget His laws.
Tatanga Mani (Walking Buffalo)
STONEY
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The dances are prayers.
Pop Chalee
TAOS PUEBLO
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We are becoming like them, hypocrites and liars,
adulturous lazy drones,all talkers, and no workers.
Ma-ke-tai-me-she-kia-kiak
Sauk and Fox Chief
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You could study the ancestors, but without a
deep feeling of communication with them it
would be surface learning and surface talking.
Once you have gone into yourself and have learnt
very deeply, appreciate it, and relate to it very
well, everything will come very easily.
Ellen White
NANAIMO
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The honor of the people lies in the moccasin
tracks of the woman. Walk the good road.... Be
dutiful, respectful, gentle and modest my
daughter... Be strong with the warm, strong heart
of the earth. No people goes down until their
women are weak and dishonored, or dead upon
the ground. Be strong and sing the strength of the
Great Powers within you, all around you.
Village Wise Man
SIOUX
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A sundance woman is like the morning star,
filled with spiritual beauty, wisdom and
knowledge. Men and women are the most
powerful of the polarities. We walk beside men as
equal partners. It takes men and women who have
respect and love for one another to live within the
embrace of Father Sky and Mother Earth.
Dr. Henrietta Mann
SOUTHERN CHEYENNE
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The roots of the tree of his life have not yet grasped the rock and soil.
Standing Bear
Lakota
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The Indian, essentially an outdoor person, has no use for handkerchiefs;
he was practically immune to colds, and like the animal, not addicted to
spitting.
Luther Standing Bear
Lakota
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We create that bad among ourselves. We create
it; then we try to call it devil, Satan, or evil. But
man creates it. There is no devil. Man creates the
devil.
Wallace Black Elk
LAKOTA
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We do not walk alone. Great Being walks beside
us. Know this and be grateful.
Polingaysi Q“yawayma
HOPI
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May there be peace when we meet.
Audrey Shenandoah
ONONDAGA
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Growth is a painful process.
Wilma Mankiller
CHEROKEE
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The ground says, "The Great Spirit has placed me here to produce all that grows on me, trees and fruit."
Young Chief
Cayuse
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There is one God looking down on us all. We
are children of the one God. God is listening to
me. The sun, the darkness, the winds are all
listening to what we now say.
Geronimo
APACHE
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As Elders, it is our place to show respect to our
young people in order to gain respect.
Grace Azak
NISGA'A
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The teachings are for all, not just for Indians...
The white people never wanted to learn before.
They thought we were savages. Now they have a
different understanding, and they do want to
learn. We are all children of God. The tradition is
open to anyone who wants to learn.
Don Jose Matusuwa
HUICHOL
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I have learned a lot from trees; sometimes
about the weather, sometimes about animals,
sometimes about the Great Spirit.
Tatanga Mani
Stoney
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But we have to stick by the wisdom of our ancestors...
Paula Weasel Head
BLOOD
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Peace... comes within the souls of men when
they realize their relationship, their oneness, with
the universe and all its powers, and when they
realize that at the center of the Universe dwells
Wakan-Tanka, and that this center is really
everywhere, it is within each of us.
Black Elk (Hehaka Sapa)
OGLALA SIOUX
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I questioned the trees and bushes ...
Who made you? In dream Wakan Tanka told
me I must honour his works in nature.
Brave Buffalo
Sioux
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Many religions have been brought to this land.
And the way my religion is, they teach me, and
they taught me, and told me to resect all
religions. And I still do that.
Horace Axtell
NEZ PERCE
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Spiritual Values are an Attitude.
Leonard George
Chief Councilor
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The lack of respect for growing, living things
soon led to lack of respect for humans too.
Luther Standing Bear
Lakota
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Laughter - that is something very sacred
especially for us Indians.
John (Fire) Lame Deer
ROSEBUD LAKOTA
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As a child I was taught the Taku Wakan (Supernatural Powers)
were powerful and could do strange things.
This was taught me by the wise men and the shamans.
They taught me that I could gain their favor by
being kind to my people and brave before my enemies;
by telling the truth and living straight; by fighting for my
people and their hunting grounds.
Red Cloud
Lakota
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The battle for Indian children will be won in
the classroom, not on the streets or on horses. The
students of today are our warriors of tomorrow.
Wilma P. Mankiller
CHEROKEE
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Language is a vehicle for carrying spirit, life,
family. Language, religion, and land base are
three things that characterize culture.
Edmund Ladd
ZUNI PUEBLO
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Abuse and repression have no place in a
traditional family.
Haida Gwaii
Traditional Circle of Elders
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It is well to be good to women in the strength of
our manhood because we must sit under their
hands at both ends of our lives.
He Dog
OGLALA LAKOTA
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Nature is the storehouse of potential life of future generations and is
sacred.
Audrey Shenandoah
ONONDAGA
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The Great Spirit made us, the Indians, and gave
us this land we live in. He gave us the buffalo, the antelope,
and the deer for food and clothing.
Red CLoud
Lakota
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We do not want riches, but we want to train our
children right. Riches would do us no good. We
could not take them with us to the other world.
We do not want riches, we want peace and love.
Red Cloud
OGLALA LAKOTA
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The hearts of little children are pure, and
therefore, the Great Spirit may show to them
many things which older people miss.
Black Elk (Hehaka Sapa)
OGLALA LAKOTA
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Our Spiritual belief is that we were created as
part of the land - so our identity, our names, and
our songs are all tied to the land.
Chief Roderick Robinson
NISGA'A
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I don't think that anybody anywhere can talk about the future
of their people or of an organization without talking about education.
Whoever controls the education of our children controls our
future, the future of the Cherokee people and
of the Cherokee Nation.
Wilma P. Mankiller
CHEROKEE
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If you don't know the language, you'll only see
the surface of the culture...the language is the
heart of the culture and you cannot separate it.
Elaine Ramos
TLINGIT
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Our fathers gave us many laws,
which they learned from their fathers.
These laws were good.
In-mut-too-yah-lat-lat
Nez Perce
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In the absence of the sacred, nothing is sacred --
everything is for sale.
Oren Lyons
ONONDAGA
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The Creator ordained that people should live to an old age.
Handsome Lake
Seneca
1800's
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Money cannot buy affection.
Mangas Coloradas
APACHE
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Indians chase the vision, white men chase the dollar.
John (Fire) Lame Deer
ROSEBUD LAKOTA
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I've had a long regard for generational things:
pottery, cultural things, participation in dancing,
extended family. Only in that way does culture
survive; only in that way is culture active.
Tessie Naranjo
SANTA CLARA PUEBLO
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Praying to seek a vision, to seek truth is always right. Truth builds upon
itself - as the true mark of a warrior who conducts himself/herself
accordingly - so that its beauty may shine in the faces of our children.
Barney Bush
SHAWNEE
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In the end I tell my children, there's no way I
can tell you how to be an Acoma, how to be an
Indian. You have to experience it.
Stanley Paytiamo
ACOMA PUEBLO
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He orders all things, and He
has given us a fine day.
Red Jacket
Seneca
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Listen to the howl of our spiritual brother, the
wolf, for how it goes with him, so it goes for the
natural world.
Oren R. Lyons
Spokesman
Traditional Circle of Elders
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The Great Spirit whispers in my ear.
Black Hawk
Sac
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The smarter a man is the more he needs God to
protect him from thinking he knows everything.
George Webb
PIMA
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Sometimes dreams are wiser then waking.
Black Elk (Hehaka Sapa)
OGLALA
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Someone must speak for them. I do not see a
delegation for the four footed. I see no seat for
eagles. We forget and we consider ourselves
superior, but we are after all a mere part of the
Creation.
Oren Lyons
ONONDAGA
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Life, the circle, a measurement with no
beginning and no end.
Phillip Deere
MUSKOGEE-CREEK
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The Natural Law is a spiritual law. Its powers
are both light and dark.
Oren R. Lyons
Spokesman
Traditional Circle of Elders
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In our traditional ways, the woman is the
foundation of the family.
Haida Gwai
Traditional Circle of Elders
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We're sitting on our blessed Mother Earth from
which we get our strength and determination,
love and humility-all the beautiful attributes that
we've been given. so turn to one another; love one
another; respect one another; respect Mother
Earth; respect the waters-because that's life itself!
Phil Lane, Sr.
YANKTON SIOUX
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It's the most precious thing...to know absolutely
where you belong. There's a whole emotional
wrapping-around-of-you here. You see the same
rock, tree, road, clouds, sun -- you develop a nice
kind of intimacy with the world around you. To be
intimate is to grow, to learn...[it] is absolutely
fulfilling. Intimacy, that's my magic word for why I
live here.
Tessie Maranjo
SANTA CLARA PUEBLO
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People and nations who understand the Natural
Law are self-governing, following the principles
of love and respect that insure freedom and peace.
Traditional Circle of Elders
NAVAJO-HOPI Joint Use Area
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Whatever the fate of other Indians,
the Iroquois might still have been a nation.
Wa-o-wo-wa-no-onk
Cayuga Chief
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The Natural Law will prevail regardless of
man-made laws, tribunals and governments.
Traditional Circle of Elders
NAVAJO-HOPI
Joint Use Area
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We as men should not fear our mates; we should
listen to their counsel.
Oren R. Lyons, Spokesman
Traditional Circle of Elders
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A man should rely on his own resources; the one
who so trains himself is ready for any
emergency.
Oral Tradition
OMAHA
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I stand upon this great plain with the broad sunlight pouring down upon
it. We shall be brothers and friends for all our lives.
Red Cloud
Oglala Sioux
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And that, I guess, is what it all boils down to-do
the right thing, everything goes fine; do the
wrong thing, everything's a mess.
Robert Spott
YUROK
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Holy Mother Earth, the trees and all nature
are witness of your thoughts and deeds.
A Winnebago Wise Saying
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Male and female is fundamental to life; partners in work to be done.
Oren R. Lyons
Spokesman, Traditional Circle of Elders
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In our language there is no word to say inferior
or superiority or equality because we are equal;
it's a known fact. But life has become very
complicated since the newcomers came here. And
how does your spirit react to it?. It's painful. You
have to be strong to walk through the storm. I
know I'm a bridge between two worlds. All I ask
is for people to wash their feet before they try to
walk on me.
Alanis Obomsawin
ABENAKI
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Selfhood is ever calm and unshaken
by the storms of existence.
Ohiyesa
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In order for our children to survive in the world,
they need a firm understanding and belief in the
basic principles of sharing freedom and respect of
individuality.
Haida Gwaii
Traditional Circle of Elders
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