Top 80 Chief Joseph Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “It does not require many words to speak the truth.”

— Chief Joseph

2. “The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.”

— Chief Joseph

3. “Words do not pay for my dead people.”

— Chief Joseph

4. “Look twice at a two-faced man.”

— Chief Joseph

5. “It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and the broken promises.”

— Chief Joseph

6. “From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more, forever.”

— Chief Joseph

7. “Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”

— Chief Joseph

8. “Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think and act for myself – and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty.”

— Chief Joseph

9. “I only ask of the Government to be treated as all other men are treated. If I cannot go to my own home, let me have a home in a country where my people will not die so fast.”

— Chief Joseph

10. “We do not want churches. They will teach us to quarrel about God.”

— Chief Joseph

11. “All men were made by the Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers.”

— Chief Joseph

12. “Governor Isaac Stevens of the Washington Territory said there were a great many white people in our country, and many more would come; that he wanted the land marked out so that the Indians and the white man could be separated.”

— Chief Joseph

13. “When I think of our condition, my heart is heavy. I see men of my own race treated as outlaws and driven from country to country, or shot down like animals.”

— Chief Joseph

14. “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 broken promises.”

— Chief Joseph

15. “Whenever the white man treats the Indian as they treat each other, then we will have no more wars. We shall all be alike-brothers of one father and one another, with one sky above us and one country around us, and one government for all.”

— Chief Joseph

16. “I am not a child, I think for myself. No man can think for me.”

— Chief Joseph

17. “All men were made 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 free should be content when penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases.”

— Chief Joseph

18. “We did not know there were other people besides the Indian until about one hundred winters ago, when some men with white faces came to our country.”

— Chief Joseph

19. “I labored hard to avoid trouble and bloodshed.”

— Chief Joseph

20. “With few words one can speak the truth.”

— Chief Joseph

21. “Some of you think an Indian is like a wild animal. This is a great mistake.”

— Chief Joseph

22. “War can be avoided, and it ought to be avoided. I want no war.”

— Chief Joseph

23. “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.”

— Chief Joseph

24. “Good words do not last long unless they amount to something.”

— Chief Joseph

25. “When the last deer disappears into the morning mist, When the last elk vanishes from the hills, When the last buffalo falls on the plains, I will hunt mice for I am a hunter and I must have my freedom.”

— Chief Joseph

26. “You might as well expect rivers to run backwards as any man born free to be contented penned up.”

— Chief Joseph

27. “We do not want churches because 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 the Great Spirit. We do not want to learn that.”

— Chief Joseph

28. “We are going by you without fighting if you will let us, but we are going by you anyhow!”

— Chief Joseph

29. “All people should be treated the same way on earth.”

— Chief Joseph

30. “The earth and myself are of one mind. The measure of the land and the neasure of our bodies are the same.”

— Chief Joseph

31. “I have heard talk and talk, but nothing is done. Good words do not last long unless they amount to something...”

— Chief Joseph

32. “I believe much trouble and blood would be saved if we opened our hearts more. I will tell you in my way how the Indian sees things. The white man has more words to tell you how they look to him, but it does not require many words to speak the truth.”

— Chief Joseph

33. “Big name often stands on small legs.”

— Chief Joseph

34. “I am tired of talk that comes to nothing.”

— Chief Joseph

35. “The Indian race are waiting and praying.”

— Chief Joseph

36. “If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian he can live in peace.”

— Chief Joseph

37. “The earth was created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as it was. The country was made without lines of demarcation, and it is no man’s business to divide it.”

— Chief Joseph

38. “I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty.”

— Chief Joseph

39. “The earth is our mother. She should not be disturbed by hoe or plough. We want only to subsist on what she freely gives us.”

— Chief Joseph

40. “I will speak with a straight tongue.”

— Chief Joseph

41. “I have asked some of the great white chiefs where they get their authority to say to the Indian that he shall stay in one place, while he sees white men going where they please. They cannot tell me.”

— Chief Joseph

42. “Good words will not give me back my children.”

— Chief Joseph

43. “I pressed my father’s hand and told him I would protect his grave with my life. My father smiled and passed away to the spirit land.”

— Chief Joseph

44. “A man who would not love his father’s grave is worse than a wild animal.”

— Chief Joseph

45. “We were like deer. They were like grizzly bear.”

— Chief Joseph

46. “The eye tells what the tongue would hide.”

— Chief Joseph

47. “It required a strong heart to stand up against such talk, but I urged my people to be quiet and not to begin a war.”

— Chief Joseph

Featured in: Strong Quotes

48. “An Indian respects a brave man, but he despises a coward.”

— Chief Joseph

49. “We had a great many horses, of which we gave Lewis and Clark what they needed, and they gave us guns and tobacco in return.”

— Chief Joseph

50. “We had good white friends who advised us against taking the war path. My friend and brother, Mr. Chapman, told us just how the war would end.”

— Chief Joseph