hunkpapa lakota leader

“ The life my people want is a life of freedom. ”

“ What white woman, however lonely, was ever captive or insulted by me? Yet they say I am a bad Indian. ”

“ What white man has ever seen me drunk? Who has ever come to me hungry and left me unfed? ”

“ I myself would rather die an Indian than live a white man. ”

“ The white men had many things we wanted, but we could see that they did not have the one thing we liked best freedom. ”

“ Healthy feet can feel the very heart of Mother Earth. ”

“ The white man knows how to make everything, but he does not know how to distribute it. ”

“ I have advised my people thus: when you find anything good in the white mans road, pick it up; but when you find something bad, or that turns out bad, drop it, leave it alone. ”

“ They claim this mother of ours, the Earth, for their own use, and fence their neighbors away from her, and deface her with their buildings and their refuse. ”

“ My friends and relatives, let us stand as one family, as we did before the white people led us astray. ”