I know Great Spirit is looking down upon me from above, and will hear what I say.
Sitting BullRead
They claim this mother of ours, the Earth, for their own use, and fence their neighbors away from her, and deface her with their buildings and their refuse.
Interpretation
The quote critiques the way humanity exploits and damages the Earth, treating it as a possession rather than a shared home.
Sitting Bull's quote expresses a profound concern for the environment and the relationship humanity has with the Earth. It highlights how people often claim ownership over natural resources, isolating themselves from their neighbors and neglecting the communal responsibility to care for the planet. The imagery of 'fencing' and 'defacing' suggests that this possessiveness leads to harm, both environmentally and socially.
In practice
In an environmental advocacy speech to raise awareness about climate change.
I know Great Spirit is looking down upon me from above, and will hear what I say.
I want to tell you that if the Great Spirit had chosen anyone to be the chief of this country, it is myself.
Is it wrong for me to love my own? Is it wicked for me because my skin is red? Because I am Sioux? Because I was born where my father lived? Because I would die for my people and my country?
When I was a boy, the Sioux owned the world. The sun rose and set on their land; they sent ten thousand men to battle. Where are the warriors today? Who slew them? Where are our lands? Who owns them?
Therefore, I do not wish to consider any proposition to cede any portion of our tribal holdings to the Great Father.
I wish it to be remembered that I was the last man of my tribe to surrender my rifle.
Water is the one substance from which the earth can conceal nothing; it sucks out its innermost secrets and brings them to our very lips.
What if you have seen it before, ten thousand times over? An apple tree in full blossom is like a message, sent fresh from heaven to earth, of purity and beauty.
From the grasses in the field to the stars in the sky, each one is doing just that; and there is such profound peace and surpassing beauty in nature because none of these tries forcibly to transgress its limitations.
I see a world in the future in which we understand that all life is related to us and we treat that life with great humility and respect.
I don’t know, I don’t feel right unless I’ve got the sea and mountains nearby. People are mostly a product of where they were born and raised. How you think and feel’s always linked to the lay of the land, the temperature. The prevailing winds, even.
All that man needs for health and healing has been provided by God in nature, the Challenge of science is to find it.
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