We Cannot Be SEEN.

Chef Loretta Barrett Oden, Citizen Band Potawatomi

Chickasaw storyteller and actress Te Ata (Mary Frances Fisher) 1895-1995 created one woman shows about NDN dance, music & storytelling. Travelled widely performing hers & other NDN traditions for worldwide audiences.

Nez Perçé Chief Joseph said:

"We were taught to believe that the Great Spirit sees and hears everything, and that he never forgets, that hereafter he will give ...every man a spirit home according to his deserts; If he has been a good man, he will have a good home; if he has been a bad man, he will have a bad home. This I believe, and all my people believe the same.
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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.
It does not require many words to speak the truth.
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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. Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to think and talk and act for myself, and I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty."
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You might as well expect the rivers to run backward as that any man who was born free should be contented to be penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases.
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We are taught to believe that the Great Spirit sees and hears everything, and that he never forgets: that hereafter he will give every man a spirit-home" 

Those words fell on deaf years, closed ears today. More than a hundred years later being Indian is just a novelty in popular culture, and Indians are invisible, identified by Hollywood standards, if any recognition comes our way. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories June 26, 2017  

Chief Joseph (on right) and his nephew - Nez Perçé - 1897

WAR ON THE SOUL OF A PEOPLE

Chelsea Handler, talk show host, author, & comedienne

We do not want schools....

they will teach us to have churches.
We do not want churches....
they will teach us to quarrel about God.
We do not want to learn that.
We may quarrel with men sometimes
about things on this earth,
but we never quarrel about God.
We do not want to learn that.


~Heinmot Tooyalaket (Chief Joseph), Nez Perce

Earth Wisdom

“The Earth is the Mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it. You might as well expect the river 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.” - Chief Joseph, Nez Perce

“There is no death. Only a change of worlds.”

- Chief Seattle

“We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can't speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees.”
- Qwatsinas (Hereditary Chief Edward Moody),

Nuxalk Nation

AMERICAN DIPLOMACY

“Suppose a white man should come to me and say, Joseph, I like your horses. I want to buy them. I say to him, No, my horses suit me; I will not sell them. Then he goes to my neighbor and says, Pay me money, and I will sell you Joseph's horses. The white man returns to me and says, Joseph, I have bought your horses and you must let me have them. If we sold our lands to the government, this is the way they bought them.”

Chief Joseph, Nez Pierce

white business man

“Suppose a white man should come to me and say, Joseph, I like your horses. I want to buy them. I say to him, No, my horses suit me; I will not sell them. Then he goes to my neighbor and says, Pay me money, and I will sell you Joseph's horses. The white man returns to me and says, Joseph, I have bought your horses and you must let me have them. If we sold our lands to the government, this is the way they bought them.”

Chief Joseph, Nez Pierce