Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
TECUMSEHPrepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
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.”
TECUMSEHWhen the legends die, the dreams end; there is no more greatness.
TECUMSEHSing your death song, and die like a hero going home.
TECUMSEHThe 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.
TECUMSEHLove 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.
TECUMSEHI am a Shawnee. My forefathers were warriors. Their son is a warrior. From them, I take my only existence.
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.
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.
TECUMSEHLove your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
TECUMSEHAlways give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place.
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.
TECUMSEHWhere 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.
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.
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?
TECUMSEHWill we let ourselves be destroyed in our turn without a struggle, give up our homes, our country bequeathed to us by the Great Spirit, the graves of our dead and everything that is dear and sacred to us? I know you will cry with me, ‘Never! Never!’
TECUMSEH