I am a red man.
 


 
If the Great Spirit had desired me 
to be a white man, 
he would have made me so in the first place. 

He put in your heart certain wishes and plans, 
in my heart he put other and different desires. 

Each man is good in his sight. 
It is not necessary for Eagles to be Crows. 

We are poor..but we are free. 

No white man controls our footsteps. 

If we must die...we die defending our rights. 


 


"Friends and Relatives:     

Our minds are again disturbed by 
the Great Father's representatives, 
the Indian Agent, the squaw men, 
the mixed-bloods, the interepreters, 
and the favorite ration chiefs. 

What is it they want of us at this time? 
They want us to give up another chunk 
of our tribal land. 
This is not the first time or the last time. 
They will again try to gain possession of 
the last piece of ground we possess. 
They are again telling us what they intend 
to do if we agree to their wishes. 

Have we ever set a price on our land 
and received such a value? 
No, we never did. 

What we got under formal treaties was 
promises of all sorts... 
We are dying off in expectaion of these promises... 

"Therefore, I do not wish to consider any 
proposition to cede any portion of our 
tribal holdings to the Great Father. 
If I agree to dispose of any part of our land 
to the white people I would feel guilty 
of taking food away from our children's mouths, 
and I do not wish to be that mean. 
There are things they tell us that sound good to hear, 
but when they have accomplished their purpose 
they will go home and will not try to fulfill 
our agreements with them." 



What treaty that the whites have kept 
has the red man broken? 
Not one. 

What treaty that the white man 
ever made with us have they kept? 
Not one. 

When I was a boy the Sioux owned the world; 
the sun rose and set on their land; 
they sent ten thousand men to battle. 
Where are the warriors today? 
Who slew them? 
Where are our lands? 
Who owns them? 

What white man can say 
I ever stole his land or a penny of his money?
Yet, they say I am a thief. 

What white woman, however lonely, 
was ever captive or insulted by me? 
Who has ever come to me hungry and unfed? 
Who has ever seen me beat my wives or abuse my children? 
What law have I broken? 

Is it wrong for me to love my own? 
Is it wicked for me because my skin is red? 

Because I am Lakota, 
because I was born where my father dies, 
because I would die for my people and my country? 


    
Sitting Bull -  Hunkpapa Sioux Nation  



 
Tilbage   


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