My father! The sun is my father, and the earth is my mother, and on her bosom I will recline.
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.
More Tecumseh Quotes
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The Great Spirit made all things. He gave the white people a home beyond the great waters. He supplied these grounds with game, and gave them to his red children; and he gave them strength and courage to defend them.
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The 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.”
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Let us form one body, one heart, and defend to the last warrior our country, our homes, our liberty, and the graves of our fathers.
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A single twig breaks, but the bundle of twigs is strong.
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Brothers, we must be united; we must smoke the same pipe; we must fight each other’s battles; and more than all, we must love the Great Spirit.
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I would not then come to Governor Harrison to ask him to tear up the treaty, and to obliterate the landmark, but I would say to him, “Sir, you have the liberty to return to your own country.”
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Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.
TECUMSEH -
Where 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.
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Sell a country! Why not sell the air, the clouds and the great sea, as well as the earth? Did not the Great Spirit make them all for the use of his children?
TECUMSEH -
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!
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When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength.
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Show respect to all people, but grovel to none.
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Sell 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?
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When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength.
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Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people.
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From my tribe I take nothing, I am the maker of my own fortune.
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The white people have no right to take the land from the Indians, because the Indians had it first.
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Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.
TECUMSEH -
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
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Brothers, 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.
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Where today are the Pequot? Where are the Narragansett, the Mohican, the Pokanoket, and many other once powerful tribes of our people? They have vanished before the avarice and the oppression of the White Man, as snow before a summer sun.
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Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
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We 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.
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When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way.
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Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view and demand that they respect yours.
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I am a Shawnee. My forefathers were warriors. Their son is a warrior. From them, I take my only existence.
TECUMSEH