* "We are all indigenous people on this planet, and we have to reorganize to get along." -- Rebecca Adamson * For Indigenous people, the goal for our land is definitely about protection, but it’s also about use. We see ourselves as so integrated with our territory that our protection is tied to our use and our use is tied to our protection. We use the resources on our territory to live. -- Rebecca Adamson

In every Indigenous community I’ve been in, they absolutely do want community infrastructure and they do want development, but they want it on their own terms. They want to be able to use their national resources and their assets in a way that protects and sustains them. Our territories are our wealth, the major assets we have. And Indigenous people use and steward this property so that they can achieve and maintain a livelihood, and achieve and maintain that same livelihood for future generations.’
-- Rebecca Adamson

In Indian country, we should probably insist, first off, that our ancestors have never gotten the credit they deserve from this country for surviving. Survival wasn't as easy then as it seems now, and they never would have made it if they'd spent centuries wandering in a daze until they came across a dead buffalo beside a cold spring, with a lightning strike for fire somewhere in the background. To the contrary, tribes cooperated with and among each other on everything from buffalo hunts to the fish catch and crop harvests, none of which could have happened if our tribes had not known all about self-governance.
-- Rebecca Adamson

* Since the beginning, Native Peoples lived a life of being in harmony with all that surrounds us. It is a belief that all humankind are related to each other. Each has a purpose, spirit and sacredness. It is an understanding with the Great Spirit or Creator that we will follow these ways. And in this understanding we believe we are related to all other living species... -- Dennis Banks

* Although wrongs have been done me I live in hope. … Now we are together again to make peace. -- Chief Black Kettle Although wrongs have been done me I live in hope. I have not got two hearts… Now we are together again to make peace. My shame is as big as the earth, although I will do what my friends advise me to do. I once thought that I was the only man that persevered to be the friend of the white man, but since they have come and cleaned out our lodges, horses, and everything else, it is hard for me to believe white men anymore. -- Chief Black Kettle

* The native American has been generally despised by his white conquerors for his poverty and simplicity. They forget, perhaps, that his religion forbade the accumulation of wealth and the enjoyment of luxury... Furthermore, it was the rule of his life to share the fruits of his skill and success with his less fortunate brothers. Thus he kept his spirit free from the clog of pride, cupidity, or envy, and carried out, as he believed, the divine decree—a matter profoundly important to him. -- Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa)

 

Indigenous Rights Quotes

Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5

(Click on * for 8.5 X 11 PDF to print)

PRINT OUT SET OF INDIGENOUS QUOTES HANDOUTS

Indigenous Day - August 9