08/16/2026
The Wisdom of the Indigenous Tribes from Turtle Island*
International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples is celebrated today, August 9th! Established by the United Nations in December 1994, it is meant to honor the cultures, languages, and rights of indigenous communities worldwide.
There are 574 recognized American Indigenous tribes alone. In my ongoing series, I’ve created a handful of individual Indigenous icons. I’ve included some of their quotes to ponder.
Block Prints:
1 & 7. Black Elk, Oglala Lakota
2. Papunhank, Munsee
3. Kateri Tekakwitha, Mohawk
4. Chief Seattle, Duwamish & Suquamish
5. Joy Harjo, Muscogee (Creek)
6. Thomas Banyacya, Hopi
“How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?”
~ Chief Seattle, Duwamish and Suquamish
“This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”
~ Chief Seattle
“The Great Spirit is everywhere; He hears whatever is in our minds and our hearts, and it is not necessary to speak to Him in a loud voice.”
~ Black Elk, Oglala Lakota
“Is there not something worthy of perpetuation in our Indian spirit of democracy, where Earth, our mother, was free to all, and no one sought to impoverish or enslave his neighbor?”
~ Ohiyesa, Santee Dakota
“True power does not amass through the pain and suffering of others.”
― Joy Harjo
“Children must early learn the beauty of generosity. They are taught to give what they prize most, that they may taste the happiness of giving.”
~ Ohiyesa
“The first and most important step in life, and especially on the spiritual path is humility, which is the opposite of pride. In terms of spirituality, if the step of humility is skipped it results in delusions of grandeur. Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues. If you brag about your generosity then it spoils the generosity.”
~ The 12 Lakota Virtues, Humility
“Inside of me there are two dogs. One is mean and evil and the other is good and they fight each other all the time. When asked which one wins I answer, the one I feed the most.”
~ Sitting Bull, Hunkpapa Lakota
“For us, warriors are not what you think of as warriors. The warrior is not someone who fights, because no one has the right to take another life. The warrior, for us, is one who sacrifices himself for the good of others. His task is to take care of the elderly, the defenseless, those who cannot provide for themselves, and above all, the children, the future of humanity.”
~ Sitting Bull
“Hear me people: We have now to deal with another race - small and feeble when our fathers first met them, but now great and overbearing. Strangely enough they have a mind to till the soil and the love of possession is a disease with them. These people have made many rules that the rich may break but the poor may not. They take their tithes from the poor and weak to support the rich and those who rule. They claim this mother of ours, the earth, for their own and fence the neighbors away.”
~ Sitting Bull
“It does not take many words to tell the truth”
~ Sitting Bull
“What treaty have the Sioux made with the white man that we have broken? Not one. What treaty have the white man ever made with us that they have kept? Not one.”
~ Sitting Bull
“The life my people want is a life of freedom. I have seen nothing that a white man has, houses or railways or clothing or food, that is as good as the right to move in the open country and live in our fashion.”
~ Sitting Bull
“They want us to give up another chunk of our tribal land. This is not the first time or the last time.”
~ Sitting Bull, Hunkpapa Lakota
“I believe much trouble would be saved if we opened our hearts more.”
~ Chief Joseph
“If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace. Treat all men alike. Give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow. All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers. The Earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it. 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 think and talk and act for myself, and I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty.”
~ Chief Joseph
“Look twice at a two-faced man.”
~ Chief Joseph
“Realizing the American Dream is an Indigenous nightmare.”
~ Randy Woodley, Cherokee
“I am just a human being trying to make it in a world that is rapidly losing its understanding of being human.”
~ John Trudell, Dakota
“Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned, and the last fish has been caught, will we realize we cannot eat money.”
~ Cree Indian Proverb
“What mankind must know is that human beings cannot live without mother earth, but the planet can live without human beings.”
~ Evo Morales, Aymara
“The most important thing is that each individual must treat all others, all the people who walk on mother earth, including every nationality, with kindness. That covers a lot of ground. It doesn’t apply only to my people. I must treat everyone I meet the same.”
~ Tadodaho, Onondaga
“The hospitality of the wigwam is only limited by the institution of war.”
~ Ohiyesa, Dakota
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* Turtle Island is a term used by many Indigenous peoples to refer to the continent of North America. The name comes from traditional creation stories shared by various Algonquian, Iroquoian, and other Northeastern Woodland tribes, which describe the land as being formed on the back of a giant turtle.
