QUOTES
"The
true Indian sets no price upon either his property or his labor. His generosity
is limited only by his strength and ability. He regards it as an honor to be selected
for difficult or dangerous service and would think it shameful to ask for any
reward, saying rather: "Let the person I serve express his thanks according to
his own bringing up and his sense of honor. Each soul must meet the morning sun,
the new sweet earth, and the Great Silence alone!. What is Silence? It is the
Great Mystery! The Holy Silence is His voice!
...to
have a friend, and to be true under any and all trials, is the mark of a man!
Friendship
is held to be the severest test of character. It is easy, we think, to be loyal
to a family and clan, whose blood is in your own veins. Love between a man and
a woman is founded on the mating instinct and is not free from desire and self-seeking.
But to have a friend and to be true under any and all trials is the mark of a
man!
Nearness to nature . . . keeps the spirit sensitive to impressions not commonly
felt and in touch with the unseen powers.
Children
must early learn the the beauty of generosity. They are taught to give what they
prize most, that they may taste the happiness of giving
It
has been said that the position of woman is the test of civilization, and that
of our women was secure. In them was vested our standard of morals and the purity
of our blood.
The
logical man must either deny all miracles or none, and our American Indian myths
and hero stories are perhaps, in themselves, quite as credible as those of the
Hebrews of old.
If
you ask him: "What is silence?" he will answer, "It is the Great Mystery! The
holy silence is His voice!" If you ask: "What are the fruits of silence?" he will
say: "They are self-control, true courage or endurance, patience, dignity, and
reverence. Silence is the cornerstone of character."
There
were no temples or shrines among us save those of nature.
Yet,
if an enemy should honor us with a call, his trust will not be misplaced, and
he will go away convinced that he has met with a royal host!
The
native American has been generally despised by his white conquerors for his poverty
and simplicity. They forget, perhaps, that his religion forbade the accumulation
of wealth and the enjoyment of luxury. To him, as to other single-minded men in
every age and race, from Diogenes to the brothers of Saint Francis, from the Montanists
to the Shakers, the love of possessions has appeared a snare, and the burdens
of a complex society a source of needless peril and temptation. Furthermore, it
was the rule of his life to share the fruits of his skill and success with his
less fortunate brothers. Thus he kept his spirit free from the clog of pride,
cupidity, or envy, and carried out, as he believed, the divine decree—a matter
profoundly important to him.
