From my tribe I take nothing. I am the maker of my own destiny! And of that I might make the destiny of my red people, of our nation, as great as I conceive to in my mind, when I think of Weshemoneto, who rules this universe!
TECUMSEHFrom my tribe I take nothing. I am the maker of my own destiny! And of that I might make the destiny of my red people, of our nation, as great as I conceive to in my mind, when I think of Weshemoneto, who rules this universe!
TECUMSEHShow respect to all people and grovel to none. When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.
TECUMSEHWhen Jesus Christ came upon the Earth, you killed Him. The son of your own God. And only after He was dead did you worship Him and start killing those who would not.
TECUMSEHLive your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
TECUMSEHShow respect to all people, but grovel to none.
TECUMSEHBrothers, the white people are like poisonous serpents: when chilled they are feeble and harmless, but invigorate them with warmth and they sting their benefactors to death.
TECUMSEHLet us form one body, one heart, and defend to the last warrior our country, our homes, our liberty, and the graves of our fathers.
TECUMSEHAlways give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend,even a stranger, when in a lonely place.
TECUMSEHWe gave them forest-clad mountains and valleys full of game, and in return what did they give our warriors and our women? Rum, trinkets, and a grave.
TECUMSEHThe way, the only way to stop this evil is for the red man to unite in claiming a common and equal right in the land, as it was first, and should be now, for it was never divided.”
TECUMSEHSo live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
TECUMSEHNo tribe has the right to sell, even to each other, much less to strangers….
TECUMSEHPrepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
TECUMSEHWhere today are the Pequot? Where are the Narragansett, the Mohican, the Pcanet, and other powerful tribes of our people? They have vanished before the avarice and oppression of the white man, as snow before the summer sun.
TECUMSEHSell a country! Why not sell the air, the great sea, as well as the earth? Didn’t the Great Spirit make them all for the use of his children?
TECUMSEHAlways give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place.
TECUMSEH