Native American quotes: 40 real quotes with sources

Short Native American quotes

Each is twelve words or fewer: short enough for a slide title, an email signature or the channel topic.

1. 1

   We are of the soil and the soil is of us.

   Luther Standing Bear, Lakota, author and educator

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2. 2

   If there is no laughter, the soul dies.

   Louise Erdrich, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, novelist

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3. 3

   My reason teaches me that land cannot be sold.

   Black Hawk, Sauk, war leader

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4. 4

   Every soul has a distinct song.

   Joy Harjo, Muscogee Nation, former US Poet Laureate

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5. 5

   Words are intrinsically powerful. They are magical.

   N. Scott Momaday, Kiowa, Pulitzer-winning novelist

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6. 6

   Forests are worth more standing than cut.

   Winona LaDuke, Ojibwe, environmental activist

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Quotes by Native Americans on land, community and leadership

The themes Native writers and leaders return to most, in their words.

Native American quotes about life

On getting through hard times, and on what elders, stories and language teach.

Native American quotes about America

On the country, its history and its habits, including one that is funny on purpose.

36. 36

    America has always been multicultural, before the term became ubiquitous, before colonization, and it will be after.

    Joy Harjo, Muscogee Nation, former US Poet Laureate

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37. 37

    Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.

    Chief Joseph, Nez Perce, Wallowa band leader

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38. 38

    America does not seem to remember that it derived its wealth, its values, its food, much of its medicine and a large part of its “dream” from Native America.

    Paula Gunn Allen, Laguna Pueblo, poet and scholar

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39. 39

    The American people are a very generous people and will forgive almost any weakness, with the possible exception of stupidity.

    Will Rogers, Cherokee Nation, humorist

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40. 40

    We are bringing tradition along with us into the future rather than “going back to tradition” and maintaining ourselves like rigid museum pieces.

    LaDonna Harris, Comanche, activist and nonprofit founder

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Chief Joseph and most leaders of his century spoke through interpreters, and their words reached print through officers, reporters and editors. We list only speeches with a named record.

Famous “Native American proverbs” that aren’t real

These top most lists. We left them off because no Native person can be shown to have said them.

• “Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it.” (usually credited to Chief Seattle)

  Screenwriter Ted Perry wrote it for a film script in the early 1970s, loosely based on Seattle's speech. Wikiquote lists it as misattributed.

• “There is no death, only a change of worlds.” (usually credited to Chief Seattle)

  No record of his 1854 speech has it. Clarence Bagley added it to a reconstructed text in his 1929 History of King County, HistoryLink reports.

• “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” (usually shared as a Native American proverb)

  Quote Investigator traces it to Wendell Berry's 1971 book The Unforeseen Wilderness and found no Native source.

• “When the last tree is cut, the last fish is caught and the last river is poisoned, you will find that you cannot eat money.” (usually shared as a Cree prophecy)

  Quote Investigator's earliest version is from 1972, spoken by Abenaki filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin. It's a modern line, not an old prophecy.

• “Inside each of us, two wolves are fighting. The one that wins is the one you feed.” (usually shared as a Cherokee legend)

  Its earliest printed versions, from 1962 on, are Christian sermon stories about two dogs, Billy Graham's 1978 book among them. Wikipedia calls its origin unknown.

• “So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.” (usually credited to Tecumseh)

  Wikiquote lists it as disputed. Its earliest known print is Ernest Thompson Seton's 1936 book, 123 years after Tecumseh died, which calls it the teachings of Wabasha. The film Act of Valor (2012) ends with it.

• “I see a time of seven generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the sacred Tree of Life.” (usually credited to Crazy Horse)

  Wikiquote lists it as disputed: its earliest known publication is from 1980, a century after his death. His words reach us only secondhand, so he isn't on our list.

How to use these quotes respectfully at work

November is Native American Heritage Month. Four places a quote fits, with wording you can borrow, and five rules.

1. A quote a day in November. Post one each workday with the speaker's name, nation and one sentence about who they were. That sentence is what people learn from.“Today's quote is from Wilma Mankiller, the first woman elected Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation: ‘Women can help turn the world right side up.’”
2. On the all-hands slide. One quote, the name and nation, and thirty seconds from the presenter on why they chose it.“I picked Robin Wall Kimmerer, a Potawatomi botanist, because her line about leadership being rooted in service and wisdom is the bar I want us to hold.”
3. As a meeting opener. Read the quote, say who said it, ask one question, one answer each.“LaDonna Harris, a Comanche activist, said: ‘We progress as communities, not as individuals.’ What's one thing this team did together this year that none of us could have done alone?”
4. In the November newsletter. Three quotes from three eras, a book by a Native author to read, and the date of the month's main event.“This month's voices: Chief Joseph (Nez Perce) in 1879, Leslie Marmon Silko (Laguna Pueblo) in 1977 and Tommy Orange (Cheyenne and Arapaho) in 2018. Our book pick is Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass, and the learning session is on the 18th.”

Five rules for sharing them

• Credit the person and their nation, not “a Native proverb” or “Indian wisdom”. No name, no post.
• Mix living writers with 19th-century leaders, so the month isn't only about the past.
• Say how old words reached us: most 19th-century speeches were spoken through interpreters and written down by officers, reporters or editors.
• Skip headdresses, feathers and sacred symbols on the slide. Plain text and a name look better anyway.
• Pair the quote with something people do: a talk, a book by a Native author, a donation to a Native-led group your ERG picks.

For the rest of the month, see our Native American Heritage Month ideas. For Thanksgiving week, our Thanksgiving Jeopardy-style board is a free game for the team. More sourced lists: diversity and inclusion quotes and Black History Month quotes.

Run a learning session with a facilitator

Quotes keep the month visible. For one hour where people learn something, Indigenous Fundamentals is a 58-minute live workshop on correct terminology and core issues such as systemic racism and intergenerational trauma, so people feel ready to join conversations on Indigenous topics. It runs on your video call, on Zoom by default (Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request). Book about 2 weeks ahead. Our heritage month events page covers the rest of the year, and our DEI workshops go further on inclusion.