Welcome to the world of Indigenous Peoples Quotes ! Here you will find inspiring words from Indigenous people around the world, reflecting their perspectives on life, culture, and the world. Whether you are seeking inspiration, wisdom, or just a moment of reflection, these quotes can provide you with a unique glimpse into the life and thoughts of Indigenous people.
Indigenous quotes about life
💠“A single twig breaks, but the bundle of twigs is strong.” – Tecumseh
💠“All Indians must dance, everywhere keep on dancing.” – Wovoka
💠“Don’t live up to your stereotypes.” – Sherman Alexie
💠“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” – Will Rogers
💠“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.” – Chief Seattle
💠“Humans are vulnerable and rely on the kindnesses of the earth and the sun; we exist together in a sacred field of meaning.” – Joy Harjo
💠“I care not what people say of me so long as I do right. I shall never be any man’s slave.” – Running Eagle
💠“I like to be able to raise people’s consciousness, yes. And to remind that those of us involved in the receiving end of the oppression, we have a duty.” – Wes Studi
💠“I never was content unless I was trying my skill…or testing my endurance.” – Jim Thorpe
💠“I promised myself a long time ago that I would lead an interesting life.” – Sacheen Littlefeather
💠“I shall always fight good and hard, even if I have to fight alone.” – Susan La Flesche Picotte
💠“I should never have surrendered. I should have fought until I was the last man alive.” – Geronimo
💠“I’m Indian all the way and always will be. I’m not going to stop fighting until I die, and I hope I’m a good example of a human being and of my tribe.” – Anna Mae Aquash
💠“If anything at all, perfection is not when there is nothing to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” – Maria Tallchief
💠“If we must die, we die defending our rights.” – Sitting Bull
💠“If you believe in the power of words, you can bring about physical changes in the universe.” – N. Scott Momaday
💠“Let our last sleep be in the graves of our natvite land!” – Osceola
💠“Love won’t be tampered with, love won’t go away. Push it to one side and it creeps to the other.” – Louise Erdrich
💠“Show respect to all people, but grovel to none.” – Tecumseh
💠“Sometimes dreams are wiser than waking.” – Black Elk
💠“The secret of our success is that we never, never give up.” – Wilma Mankiller
💠“The world was made of stories, nothing else, just stories, and stories about stories.” – Tommy Orange
💠“There are no dreams too large, no innovation unimaginable and no frontiers beyond our reach.” – John S. Herrington
💠“There is but one secret to success: never give up.” – Ben Nighthorse Campbell
💠“This life is more than just a read through.” – Anthony Kiedis
💠“Upon suffering beyond suffering, the Red Nation shall rise again, and it shall be a blessing for a sick world. A world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separations. A world longing for light again.” – Crazy Horse
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.” – Jimi Hendrix
💠“Wisdom and peace come when you start living the life the creator intended for you.” – Geronimo
💠“You have to go through those mountains and valleys – because that’s what life is: soul growth.” – Wayne Newton
💠“You might as well expect rivers to run backwards as any man born free to be contented penned up.” – Chief Joseph
💠“You’re not selfish for wanting to be treated well.” – Jason Momoa
Quotes by Indigenous leaders
💠“Although wrongs have been done to me, I live in hopes.” – Black Kettle
💠“Amazing the things you find when you bother to search for them.” -Sacagawea
💠“Bias and prejudice are attitudes to be kept in hand, not attitudes to be avoided.” – Charles Curtis
💠“It does not require many words to speak the truth.” – Chief Joseph
💠“Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children.” – Sitting Bull
💠“Man’s heart away from nature becomes hard.” -Standing Bear
💠“November is Native American Heritage month, and a good time to honor the legacy of our ancestors, but every day we should stop to think about our country’s beginning and that the United States would not exist if not for a great deal of sacrifice, blood, and tears by Indian Tribes across the country.” – Deb Haaland
💠“Strong alliances can thrive even where disagreements exist, but they cannot thrive where free and open communication is shut down.” – Sharice Davids
💠“The Earth does not belong to us: we belong to the Earth.” – Chief Seattle
💠“The path to glory is rough, and many gloomy hours obscure it.” – Black Hawk
💠“There can never be peace between nations until there is first known that true peace which is within the souls of men.” – Black Elk
💠“Tribes don’t need Congressmembers’ sympathy. What tribes need is for us to properly exercise our duty.” – Sharice Davids
💠“We do not want riches, we want peace and love.” – Red Cloud
💠“While living I want to live well.” – Geronimo
💠“You must speak straight so that your words may go as sunlight into our hearts.” – Cochise
Native American proverbs
💠“A good chief gives, he does not take.” – Mohawk Tribe
💠“All dreams spin out from the same web.” – Hopi Tribe
💠“Ask questions from your heart and you will be answered from the heart.” – Omaha Tribe
💠“If we wonder often, the gift of knowledge will come.” – Arapaho Tribe
💠“If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself.” – Minquass Tribe
💠“It is better to have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand.” – Apache Tribe
💠“It is no longer good enough to cry peace, we must act peace, live peace and live in peace.” – Shenandoah Tribe
💠“Man has responsibility, not power.” – Tuscarora Tribe
“One rain does not make a crop.” – Creole Tribe
💠“Our first teacher is our own heart.” – Cheyenne Tribe
💠“Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past, Wisdom is of the future.” – Lumbee Tribe
💠“We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.” – Dakota Tribe
💠“When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.” – Cherokee Tribe
💠“You can’t wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.” – Navajo Tribe
Inspiring Quotes from Indigenous Peoples
💠“He who stands lives; he who sits perishes.” – Maori proverb
💠“History is a narrative; it’s a collection of stories sanctioned by the ruling power, and reinforced through words and images that suit them. That was the whole point of taking on history painting: to authorize these moments that have been swept under the rug for generations.” – Kent Monkman
💠“I release you, my beautiful and terrible fear. I release you. You were my beloved and hated twin, but now, I don’t know you as myself.” – Joy Harjo
💠“If we must die, we die defending our rights.” – Sitting Bull
💠“Our history is a living history, that has throbbed, withstood and survived many centuries of sacrifice. Now it comes forward again with strength. The seeds, dormant for such a long time, break out today with some uncertainty, although they germinate in a world that is at present characterized by confusion and uncertainty.” – Rigoberta Menchú Tum
💠“That hand is not the color of yours, but if I prick it, the blood will flow, and I shall feel pain. The blood is of the same color as yours. God made me, and I am a Man.” – Standing Bear
💠“Things which do not grow and change are dead things.” – Louise Erdrich
💠“We are what we imagine. Our very existence consists in our imagination of ourselves. Our best destiny is to imagine, at least, completely, who and what, and that we are. The greatest tragedy that can befall us is to go unimagined.”- N. Scott Momaday
💠“We as Aboriginal people still have to fight to prove that we are straight out plain human beings, the same as everyone else’” – Neville Bonner
💠“We only have one earth. Let’s take care of it.” – Deb Haaland
Verdict
The Indigenous Peoples Quotes remind us that the wisdom of Indigenous Peoples has been around for a long time, and it can still provide us with insight and guidance today. They bring an important perspective to our understanding of the world and our relationship to it, and remind us of our responsibility to care for, sustain, and honor the land and all its inhabitants.