Chief Joseph

The Wisdom of Chief Joseph--Nez Perce

I have carried a heavy load on my back
ever since I was a boy.
I realized then that we could not hold our own
with the white men.
We were like deer.
They were like grizzly bears.
We had small country.
Their country was large.
We were contented to let things remain
as the Great Spirit Chief made them.
They were not,
and would change the rivers and mountains
if they did not suit them.

Chief Joseph - Nez Perce

We do not want churches because
they will teach us to quarrel with God,
as the Catholic and Protestants do.
We do not want to learn that.

We may quarrel with men sometimes
about things on earth.
But we never quarrel about God.
We do want to learn that.

Chief Joseph - Nez Perce

If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian,
he can live in peace.
Treat all men alike.
Give them all the same law.
Give them all an even chance to live and grow.

All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief.
They are all brothers.
The Earth is the mother of all people,
and all people should have equal rights upon it.
You might as well expect the rivers to run backward
as that any man who was born a free man
should be contented when penned up
and denied liberty to go where he pleases.

If you tie a horse to a stake,
do you expect he will grow fat ?
If you pen an Indian up on a small spot of earth,
and compel him to stay there,
he will not be contented,
nor will he grow and prosper.

Chief Joseph - Nez Perce

Good words do not last long
unless they amount to something.
Words do not pay for my dead people.
They do not pay for my country,
now overrun by white men.
They do not protect my father's grave.
They do not pay for all my horses and cattle.

Good words will not give back my children.
Good words will not make good
the promise of your War Chief.
Good words will not give my people good health
and stop them from dying.
Good words will not get my people a home
where they can live in peace
and take care of themselves.

I am tired of talk that comes to nothing.
It makes my heart sick when I remember
all the good words
and all the broken promises.
There has been too much talking
by men who had no right to talk.

Chief Joseph - Nez Perce