Red Cloud

“They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept but one; they promised to take our land, and they took it.”

“I am poor and naked, but I am the chief of the nation. We do not want riches but we do want to train our children right. 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.”

“The Great Spirit raised both the white man and the Indian. I think he raised the Indian first. He raised me in this land and it belongs to me.”

“In 1868, men came out and brought papers. We could not read them, and they did not tell us truly what was in them. We thought the treaty was to remove the forts, and that we should then cease from fighting.”

“We are told that Spotted Tail has consented to be the chief of all the Sioux. What is he? I am chief of the Oglalas. Let him speak for them.”

“I have come from where the sun sets. You were raised on chairs. I want to sit on the earth.”

“The riches of this world are not what we want. We want peace and to be left alone.”

“I was not raised with a fork, but I use my fingers. I am not ashamed of this. I have one heart, and it is true.”

“When we first made treaties with the Government, our old chiefs told us not to raise things on the land. They told us that the land was our mother, and that we should not wound her with the plow.”