Chief Joseph
Chief Joseph
Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it in Americanist orthography, popularly known as Chief Joseph or Young Joseph, succeeded his father Tuekakasas the leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kainband of Nez Perce, a Native American tribe indigenous to the Wallowa Valley in northeastern Oregon, in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States...
ProfessionWar Hero
Date of Birth3 March 1840
CityWallowa River, OR
men vaccines white
We soon found that the white men were growing rich very fast, and were greedy.
truth few-words telling-the-truth
It takes few words to tell the truth.
done heard
I have heard talk and talk, but nothing is done.
country men land
Governor Isaac Stevens of the Washington Territory said there were a great many white people in our country, and many more would come; that he wanted the land marked out so that the Indians and the white man could be separated.
mother native-american rights
The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.
native-american fighting sun
From where the sun now stands I will fight no more.
tired heart home
Good words will not give my people good health and stop them from dying. Good words will not get my people a home where they can live in peace and take care of themselves. I am tired of talk that comes to nothing. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and broken promises.
travel native-american men
Let me be a free man - free to travel, free to stop, free to work.
fathers-day father eye
My father... had sharper eyes than the rest of our people.
native-american fighting great-american
We are going by you without fighting if you will let us, but we are going by you anyhow!
horse gun return
We had a great many horses, of which we gave Lewis and Clark what they needed, and they gave us guns and tobacco in return.
heart people my-heart
I cannot tell how much my heart suffered for my people while at Leavenworth.
dad father hands
I pressed my father's hand and told him I would protect his grave with my life. My father smiled and passed away to the spirit land.
eye silence tongue
The eye tells what the tongue would hide.