I know Great Spirit is looking down upon me from above, and will hear what I say.
Sitting BullRead
Only seven years ago we made a treaty by which we were assured that the buffalo country should be left to us forever. Now they threaten to take that from us also.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on broken promises and the struggles of indigenous peoples in retaining their land.
Sitting Bull's quote highlights the deep sense of betrayal felt by Native Americans when treaties meant to protect their lands were disregarded. It serves as a poignant reminder of the historical injustices faced by indigenous communities, emphasizing the ongoing conflict between their rights and the interests of external forces seeking to exploit their territories.
In practice
During a speech about land rights, one could use this quote to illustrate the ongoing struggles of native populations.
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.
If we were logical, the future would be bleak, indeed. But we are more than logical. We are human beings, and we have faith, and we have hope, and we can work.
But the thought arrived inside her like a train: Marya Morevna, all in black, here and now, was a point at which all the women she had been met—the Yaichkan and the Leningrader and the chyerti maiden; the girl who saw the birds, and the girl who never did—the woman she was and the woman she might have been and the woman she would always be, forever intersecting and colliding, a thousand birds falling from a thousand oaks, over and over.
This was not an act of terrorism, but it was an act of war.
No voice comes from outer space, from the folds of dust and carpets of wind to tell us that this is the way it was meant to happen, that if only we knew how long the ruins would last we would never complain.
What a life! True life is elsewhere. We are not in the world.
Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.
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