"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children."

Ancient Indian Proverb

"A Mile in His Moccasins" by Lisa Danielle

"One does not sell the land people walk on." ... Crazy Horse, Sept. 23, 1875

                   Luther Standing Bear        Oglala Sioux
                                      1868-1937

  The American Indian is of the soil, whether it be the region of forests, plains,
pueblos, or mesas. He fits into the landscape, for the hand that fashioned the
continent also fashioned the man for his surroundings. He once grew as naturally as
the wild sunflowers, he belongs just as the buffalo belonged....

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Out of the Indian approach to life there came a great freedom, an intense and
absorbing respect for life, enriching faith in a Supreme Power, and principles of truth,
honesty, generosity, equity, and brotherhood as a guide to mundane relations.

                      Black Elk   Oglala Sioux Holy Man
                             1863-1950

  You have noticed that everything as Indian does is in a circle, and that is because
the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round.....
  The Sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are
all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nest in
circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours....
  Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again
to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so
it is in everything where power moves.

Crowfoot,  Blackfoot warrior and orator

"What is life?  It is the flash of a firefly in the night.  It is the breath
of a buffalo in the wintertime.  It is the little shadow which runs across
the grass and loses itself in the sunset."

   
                    Eagle Chief   (Letakos-Lesa)   Pawnee
 

  In the beginning of all things, wisdom and knowledge were with the animals, for
Tirawa, the One Above, did not speak directly to man. He sent certain animals to tell
men that he showed himself through the beast, and that from them, and from the stars
and the sun and moon should man learn.. all things tell of Tirawa.

  All things in the world are two. In our minds we are two, good and evil. With our
eyes we see two things, things that are fair and things that are ugly.... We have the
right hand that strikes and makes for evil, and we have the left hand full of kindness,
near the heart. One foot may lead us to an evil way, the other foot may lead us to a
good. So are all things two, all two.

                        Mourning Dove    Salish
                                  1888-1936

   ...... everything on the earth has a purpose, every disease an herb to cure it, and
every person a mission. This is the Indian theory of existence.   

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Children were encouraged to develop strict discipline and a high regard for sharing.
When a girl picked her first berries and dug her first roots, they were given away to
an elder so she would share her future success. When a child carried water for the home,
an elder would give compliments, pretending to taste meat in water carried by a boy or
berries in that of a girl. The child was encouraged not to be lazy and to grow straight
like a sapling.

                      Flat-Iron  (Maza Blaska         Oglala Sioux Chief

   From Wakan-Tanka, the Great Mystery, comes all power. It is from Wakan-Tanka that
the holy man has wisdom and the power to heal and make holy charms. Man knows that all
healing plants are given by Wakan-Tanka, therefore they are holy. So too is the
buffalo holy, because it is the gift of Wakan-Tanka.        

                      Sarah Winnemucca      Paiute 
 (1844-1891)
The traditions of our people are handed down from father to son. The Chief is considered to
be the most learned, and the leader of the tribe. The Doctor, however, is thought to have
more inspiration. He is supposed to be in communion with spirits... He cures the sick by
the laying of hands, and payers and incantations and heavenly songs. He infuses new life
into the patient, and performs most wonderful feats of skill in his practice.... He clothes
himself in the skins of young innocent animals, such as the fawn, and decorated himself
with the plumage of harmless birds, such as the dove and hummingbird ...    

                      Big Thunder (Bedagi)     Wabanaki Algonquin

The Great Spirit is in all things, he is in the air we breathe. The Great Spirit is our
Father, but the Earth is our Mother. She nourishes us, that which we put into the ground
she returns to us....

 
                     Lone Man (Isna-la-wica)       Teton Sioux

... I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not enough for a man to depend
simply upon himself.

                    Shooter             Teton Sioux

All birds, even those of the same species, are not alike, and it is the same with
animals and with human beings. The reason WakanTanka does not make two birds, or animals,
or human beings exactly alike is because each is placed here by WakanTanka to be an
independent individuality and to rely upon itself.

                George Copway (Kah-ge-ga-bowh)               Ojibwa Chief