What the people believe is true. — Anishinabe
When a white army battles Indians and wins, it is called a great victory, but if they lose it is called a massacre. — Chiksika, Shawnee
Custer is said to have boasted that he could ride through the entire Sioux Nation with his Seventh Cavalry, and he was half right. He got half-way through. — Vine Deloria Jr., Yankton Dakota
It is less of a problem to be poor than to be dishonest. — Anishinabe
It is time to speak your truth. Create your community, be good to each other. Do not look outside yourself for a leader. — Thomas Banyacya Sr., Hopi
If a man is as wise as a serpent, he can afford to be as harmless as a dove. — Cheyenne proverb
When you carry the medicine, sometimes you have to carry it a long way. — Buffy Sainte-Marie, Cree
You must speak straight so that your words may go into my heart like sunshine. I will not lie to you; do not lie to me. — Cochise, Chiricahua Apache
It’s time to break the stereotypes of American Indians present in the entertainment industry. Our cultures have been co-opted and distorted by the mainstream media for the entertainment of others. — Ray Halbritter, Oneida
Don’t trust anyone who isn’t angry. — John Trudell, Santee Dakota
Any good thing you say to me shall not be forgotten. I shall carry it as near to my heart as my children, and it shall be as often on my tongue as the name of the Great Spirit. — Ten Bears, Comanche
When asked by an anthropologist what the Indians called America before the white man came, an Indian said simply, ‘Ours.’ — Vine Deloria Jr., Yankton Dakota
When our young people can no longer speak their language, then cultural genocide has taken place. — Darlene Pipe-Boy, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate
Our land is everything to us…I will tell you one of the things we remember on our land. We remember that our grandfathers paid for it—with their lives. — John Wooden Legs, Cheyenne
One of the things the old people taught me about the spirits was to never have a doubt. — Wallace Black Elk, Lakota
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. — Chief Red Cloud, Oglala Lakota
We’re the evidence of the crime. They can’t deal with the reality of who we are because then they have to deal with the reality of what they have done. — John Trudell, Santee Dakota
It does not require many words to speak the truth. — Chief Joseph, Nez Perce
