I am the maker of my own fortune, and Oh! that I could make that of my Red People, and of my country, as great as the conceptions of my mind, when I think of the spirit that rules the universe.
TECUMSEHI am the maker of my own fortune, and Oh! that I could make that of my Red People, and of my country, as great as the conceptions of my mind, when I think of the spirit that rules the universe.
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.
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.
TECUMSEHAlways give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place.
TECUMSEHSell 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?
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.
TECUMSEHA single twig breaks, but the bundle of twigs is strong.
TECUMSEHSing your death song and die like a hero going home.
TECUMSEHSo live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
TECUMSEHWhen 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.
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.”
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!’
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 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.
TECUMSEHI am a Shawnee. My forefathers were warriors. Their son is a warrior. From them, I take my only existence.
TECUMSEH