I think over again my small adventures
My fears, those small ones that seemed so big
For all the vital things I had to get and reach
And yet there is only one great thing
The only thing
To live to see the great day that dawns
And the light that fills the world.
— Kitlinuharmiut saying
The Great Spirit is in all things: he is in the air we breathe. The Great Spirit is our father, but the earth is our mother. She nourishes us; that which we put into the ground she returns to us, and healing plants she gives us likewise. — Wabanaki wisdom (as told by Big Thunder)
All things in the world are two. In our minds we are two, good and evil. With our eyes we see two things, things that are fair and things that are ugly…. We have the right hand that strikes and makes for evil, and we have the left hand full of kindness, near the heart. One foot may lead us to an evil way, the other foot may lead us to a good. So are all things two, all two. — Pawnee wisdom (as told by Chief White Eagle)
We will be known forever by the tracks we leave. — Dakota proverb
What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset. — Chief Crowfoot, Siksika
Each of us is put here in this time and this place to personally decide the future of humankind. Did you think the Creator would create unnecessary people in a time of such terrible danger? Know that you yourself are essential to this world. — Chief Nac’a Arvol Looking Horse, spiritual leader of Lakota, Dakota, Nakota Sioux Nations
Old Lakota was wise. He knew that the man’s heart, away from nature, becomes hard, he knew that lack of respect from growing, living things soon led to a lack of respect for humans, too. — Chief Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Lakota
Don’t be afraid to cry. It will free your mind of sorrowful thoughts. — Hopi wisdom (as told by Don C. Talayesva)
Man has responsibility, not power. — Tuscarora proverb
All things share the same breath—the beast, the tree, the man, the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. — Chief Seattle, Duwamish
The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. — Black Elk, Oglala Lakota
Souls dance in a circle, waiting to be born again on Earth. — Cherokee wisdom
Although wrongs have been done to me, I live in hope. I have not got two hearts. — Black Kettle, Cheyenne leader
The most cowardly way of quitting is hitting. — Billy Mills, Oglala Lakota
In any great undertaking it is not enough for a man to depend simply upon himself. — Lone Man, Teton Sioux
By listening to the inner self and following one’s instincts and intuitions, a person may be guided to safety. — Dr. A.C. Ross,Lakota
If we wonder often, the gift of knowledge will come. — Arapaho teaching
Why will you take by force what you may obtain by love? — Powhatan, Alogonquin
Many have fallen with the bottle in their hand. — Lakota proverb
We are now about to take our leave and kind farewell to our native land, the country the Great Spirit gave our fathers, we are on the eve of leaving that country that gave us birth, it is with sorrow we are forced by the white man to quit the scenes of our childhood, we bid farewell to it and all we hold dear. — Charles Hicks, Cherokee
I will willingly abandon this miserable body to hunger and suffering, provided that my soul may have its ordinary nourishment. ― Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Mohawk
Because woman lives so close to our first mother, the Earth, she emanates the strength and harmonious nature of all things. — Larry P. Aitken, Chippewa
One finger cannot lift a pebble. — Hopi proverb
Day and night cannot dwell together. — Chief Seattle, Duwamish
Those who have one foot in the canoe and one foot on the shore are going to fall into the river. — Tuscarora saying
In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations. — Iroquois instruction
We stand somewhere between the mountain and the ant. ― Onondaga wisdom (as told by Chief Oren Lyons)
There is nothing as eloquent as a rattlesnake’s tail. — Navajo saying
Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today. — Cherokee proverb (as told by Will Rogers)
There is no death, only a change of worlds. — Chief Seattle, Duwamish
When it comes time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home. — Chief Aupumut, Mohican
Poverty is a noose that strangles humility and breeds disrespect for God and man. — Wilbur Riegert, Chippewa
Sharing and giving are the ways of God. — Sauk teaching
There are many things to be shared with the Four Colors of humanity in our common destiny as one with our Mother the Earth. It is this sharing that must be considered with great care by the Elders and the medicine people who carry the Sacred Trusts, so that no harm may come to people through ignorance and misuse of these powerful forces. — Resolution of the Fifth Annual Meeting of the Traditional Elders Circle
