Proverbs & World Wisdom: Native American Sayings Quotes

Explore a thoughtful selection of Native American sayings that honor respect for the land, kinship, humility, and balance across diverse nations and traditions. These concise teachings invite reflection and encourage mindful choices rooted in community and gratitude. Presented with simple themes, the quotes highlight enduring wisdom about listening, patience, courage, and living in harmony with nature. Find timeless insights that can guide everyday life and inspire a deeper sense of connection and responsibility.

Similar topics:African Proverbs Chinese Proverbs Japanese Proverbs Latin Phrases Norse & Viking Sayings

"They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept but one; they promised to take our land, and they took it"

Red Cloud, Statesman

"A single twig breaks, but the bundle of twigs is strong"

Tecumseh, Leader

"The religion of the Indian is the last thing about him that the man of another race will ever understand"

Charles Eastman, Author

Charles Eastman

"The American Indian was an individualist in religion as in war. He had neither a national army nor an organized church"

Charles Eastman, Author

Charles Eastman

"Strangely enough, they have a mind to till the soil, and the love of possessions is a disease in them"

Sitting Bull, Statesman

Sitting Bull

"The Sun, Moon and Stars are there to guide us"

Dennis Banks, Educator

Dennis Banks

"Indian names were either characteristic nicknames given in a playful spirit, deed names, birth names, or such as have a religious and symbolic meaning"

Charles Eastman, Author

Charles Eastman

"There were no temples or shrines among us save those of nature"

Charles Eastman, Author

Charles Eastman

"The red man divided mind into two parts, - the spiritual mind and the physical mind"

Charles Eastman, Author

Charles Eastman

"The hospitality of the wigwam is only limited by the institution of war"

Charles Eastman, Author

Charles Eastman

"Our people, though capable of strong and durable feeling, were not demonstrative in their affection at any time, least of all in the presence of guests or strangers"

Charles Eastman, Author

Charles Eastman

"It is not necessary for eagles to be crows"

Sitting Bull, Statesman

Sitting Bull

"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"

Sitting Bull, Statesman

Sitting Bull

"All men were made by the Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers!"

Chief Joseph, Leader

"It is an understanding with the Great Spirit or Creator that we will follow these ways"

Dennis Banks, Educator

Dennis Banks

"Since the beginning, Native Peoples lived a life of being in harmony with all that surrounds us"

Dennis Banks, Educator

Dennis Banks

"It also called upon traditional people in the Four Directions to strengthen the healing ceremonies, and asked people to heed the warnings of Mother Earth"

Dennis Banks, Educator

Dennis Banks

"A Crow is known wherever he is met by his beautiful white dress, and his tall and elegant figure; the greater part of the men being six feet high"

George Catlin, Artist

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

Sitting Bull, Statesman

Sitting Bull

"Each man is good in his sight. It is not necessary for eagles to be crows"

Sitting Bull, Statesman

Sitting Bull

"A chief called Lawyer, because he was a great talker, took the lead in the council, and sold nearly all the Nez Perce country"

Chief Joseph, Leader

"The most common trait of all primitive peoples is a reverence for the life-giving earth, and the Native American shared this elemental ethic: The land was alive to his loving touch, and he, its son, was brother to all creatures"

Stewart Udall, Politician

"You remember that my great vision came to me when I was only nine years old, and you have seen that I was not much good for anything until after I had performed the horse dance near the mouth of the Tongue River during my eighteenth summer"

Black Elk, Leader

"And while I stood there, I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being"

Black Elk, Leader

"And I say the sacred hoop of my people was one of the many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father"

Black Elk, Leader

"Instead of kids just hearing about beads and baskets and fringe, and about what 'was' and 'were,' we present Native American culture as a living contemporary culture"

Buffy Sainte-Marie

"I have a high regard for Native languages and the pivotal role they have played in our nation's history"

Rick Renzi, Politician

Rick Renzi

"The Mohawks have on all occasions shown their zeal and loyalty to the Great King; yet they have been very badly treated by his people"

Joseph Brant, Soldier

"The Indian was a religious man from his mother's womb"

Charles Eastman, Author

Charles Eastman

"No one who is at all acquainted with the Indian in his home can deny that we are a polite people"

Charles Eastman, Author

Charles Eastman

"We use a Native American tradition of the talking stick. You sit and pass it around, and whoever has the stick has to talk. Some people just hold it. Others really share"

Lisa Bonet, Actress

Lisa Bonet

"What white man can say I never stole his land or a penny of his money? Yet they say that I am a thief"

Sitting Bull, Statesman

Sitting Bull

"You think I am a fool, but you are a greater fool than I am"

Sitting Bull, Statesman

Sitting Bull

"It is through this mysterious power that we, too, have our being, and we, therefore, yield to our neighbors, even to our animal neighbors, the same right as ourselves to inhabit this vast land"

Sitting Bull, Statesman

Sitting Bull

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

Sitting Bull, Statesman

Sitting Bull

"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"

Sitting Bull, Statesman

Sitting Bull

"I want to tell you that if the Great Spirit had chosen anyone to be the chief of this country, it is myself"

Sitting Bull, Statesman

Sitting Bull

"I am here by the will of the Great Spirit, and by his will I am chief"

Sitting Bull, Statesman

Sitting Bull

"God made me an Indian"

Sitting Bull, Statesman

Sitting Bull

"Every seed is awakened, and all animal life"

Sitting Bull, Statesman

Sitting Bull

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