I will speak with a straight tongue.
From Chief Joseph
We did not know there were other people besides the Indian until about one hundred winters ago, when some men with white faces came to our country.
My father... had sharper eyes than the rest of our people.
A chief called Lawyer, because he was a great talker, took the lead in the council, and sold nearly all the Nez Perce country.
Lawyer acted without authority from our band. He had no right to sell the Wallowa country.
I pressed my father's hand and told him I would protect his grave with my life. My father smiled and passed away to the spirit land.
For a short time we lived quietly. But this could not last. White men had found gold in the mountains around the land of winding water.
A man who would not love his father's grave is worse than a wild animal.
I labored hard to avoid trouble and bloodshed.
We gave up some of our country to the white men, thinking that then we could have peace. We were mistaken. The white man would not let us alone.
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