“No man is as wise as Mother Earth. She has witnessed every human day, every human struggle, every human pain, and every human joy. For maladies of both body and spirit, the wise ones of old pointed man to the hills. For man too is of the dust and Mother Earth stands ready to nurture and heal her children.”
–Anasazi Foundation, The Seven Paths: Changing One’s Way of Walking in the World
“Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, Seminole.
Over 60,000 forced into an Oklahoma shoebox.
Four thousand crumbling on the way.
How many were we, Black and Indian.
Their slaves, their lovers,
their wives, their half-breed children
their slaves.”
–Shonda Buchanan, Who’s Afraid of Black Indians (See in Library)
“When a woman grabs my braids and says ‘How cute!’ I grab her breast and say ‘How cute!’ She never touches me again!”
–Russel Means, Where White Men Fear to Tread: The Autobiography of Russel Means
“We dare boldly affirm, that during the Forty Years space, wherein they exercised their [Spanish] sanguinary and detestable Tyranny in these Regions, above Twelve Millions (computing Men, Women, and Children) have undeservedly perished; nor do I conceive that I should deviate from the Truth by saying that above Fifty Millions in all paid their last Debt to Nature.”
–Bartolome de las Casas, A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies (See in Library)
“Human perception is merely light perceiving light. Matter is a mirror — everything is a mirror that reflects light and creates images of that light — and the world of illusion, the Dream, is just like smoke which doesn’t allow us to see what we really are. The real us is pure love, pure light,”
–Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom
“If there is a wailing and gnashing of teeth by those condemned to hell, it might sound like the anguished lamentation of patients first entering the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians. Torn from their homes, family, and friends, they arrived at Canton in varying states of confusion and fear. To deal with their anxiety and upheaval, these Native American patients often resorted to cultural practices that still offered comfort and couldn’t be ripped away.”
“We will pass away. I, Nezahualcoyotl, say, enjoy!
Do we really live on earth? Ohuaya, ohuaya.
Not forever on earth, only a brief time here!
Even jades fracture; even gold ruptures, even quetzal plumes tear:
Not forever on earth: only a brief time here! Ohuaya, ohuaya.”
–Nezahualcoyotl
“There is a new awareness in young people that we must be proud of our heritage and work together for actions that will make life better for all Indians. We want to learn and preserve the Indian language, tribal dances and customs and Indian crafts so that we can pass these things on to our children and not become a lost culture.”
–Edmund Jefferson Danzinger, Jr, Survival and Regeneration (See in Library)