Indigenous people believe that Man belongs to the World; civilized people believe that the World belongs to Man. — Daniel Quinn
Aboriginal people are key because they have a different sense of where we belong and how we interact with nature. — David Suzuki
The land is sacred. These words are at the core of your being. The land is our mother, the rivers our blood. Take our land away and we die. That is, the Indian in us dies. — Mary Brave Bird
When asked by an anthropologist what the Indians called America before the white men came, an Indian said simply "Ours. — Vine Deloria Jr.
And Americans realized that native people are still here, that they have a moral standing, a legal standing. — Dennis Banks
I am against the fact that a settler minority should impose an entire system of values on an indigenous people. — Steven Biko
Every part of the earth is sacred to my people. — Chief Seattle
The native must realize that colonialism never gives anything away for nothing. — Frantz Fanon
I know that everything essential and great originated from the fact that the human being had a homeland and was rooted in tradition. — Martin Heidegger
We cultivated our land, but in a way different from the white man. We endeavored to live with the land; they seemed to live off it. I was taught to preserve, never to destroy. — Aboriginal proverbs
An Indian is an Indian regardless of the degree of Indian blood or which little government card they do or do not possess. — Wilma Mankiller
The land is where our roots are. The children must be taught to feel and live in harmony with the Earth. — Maria Montessori
The one thing I've always maintained is that I'm an American Indian. I'm not politically correct. — Russell Means
It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being, and we therefore yield to our neighbors, even to our animal neighbors, the same right as ourselves to inhabit this vast land. — Sitting Bull
Short Indigenous Quotes
Dear Iranian nation, your children have placed the first indigenous satellite into orbit. — Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Although wrongs have been done me I live in hope. ... Now we are together again to make peace. — Black Kettle
There are no quick fixes to Indigenous poverty and social disaster. — Malcolm Fraser
We are all indigenous people on this planet, and we have to reorganize to get along. — Rebecca Adamson
Yet there are thousands of Indigenous people searching for family members. — Malcolm Fraser
Yes, I’m proud to be indigenous. I’m half-Quechua-Huachipaeri from Peru. — Q'orianka Kilcher
We're not really indigenous to this world, this world being a temporal plane of reality. — Frederick Lenz
I support the indigenous people anywhere in the planet. — Edward James Olmos
My backyard was replete with madness, it just grew indigenously in South Florida. — Karen Russell
Indigenous People Quotes
We are not myths of the past, ruins in the jungle, or zoos. We are people and we want to be respected, not to be victims of intolerance and racism. — Rigoberta Menchu
To annihilate indigenous populations eventually paves the way to our own annihilation. They are the only people who practice sustainable living. We think they are relics of the past, but they may be the gatekeepers to our future. — Arundhati Roy
We must respect each other's right to choose a collective destiny, and the opportunity to develop the legal and political rights for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples so that we may enjoy the right to maintain our culture, our heritage and our land, as a united Australia. — Jackie Huggins
Although we are in different boats you in your boat and we in our canoe we share the same river of life. — Oren Lyons
We have our eye on the same destination – a sustainable future where Indigenous people are recognized for their wisdom and honored for their culture – there is no problem taking a different path to reach that place. — Aboriginal proverbs
Through consciousness, our minds have the power to change our planet and ourselves. It is time we heed the wisdom of the ancient indigenous people and channel our consciousness and spirit to tend the garden and not destroy it. — Bruce H. Lipton
Baldness that appears to be normal is a disease in Europe, almost all of them are bald, and that is because of the things they eat; while among the indigenous peoples there are no bald people, because we eat other things. — Evo Morales
As it has for America's other indigenous peoples, I believe the United States must fulfill its responsibility to Native Hawaiians. — Daniel Akaka
As it has for America's other indigenous peoples, I believe the United States must fulfill its responsibility to Native Hawaiians. — Daniel Kahikina Akaka
We are lagging far behind comparable countries in overcoming the disadvantages Indigenous people face. — Malcolm Fraser
Indigenous Culture Quotes
If the society that we're talking about is a society that starts wars all over the world, degrades indigenous cultures, is misogynistic in itself, if that's the society we're talking about, then it's not a bad thing if hip-hop did degrade that society. — KRS-One
Thousands of years ago, civilizations flourished in Africa which suffer not at all by comparison with those of other continents. In those centuries, Africans were politically free and economically independent. Their social patterns were their own and their cultures truly indigenous. — Haile Selassie
An indigenous feminism has been present in every culture in the world and in every period of history since the suppression of women began. — Robin Morgan
We focus on bringing back Indigenous languages, ceremonies, cultures, traditions - all that was lost over the past 150 years. This is how we'll generate hope - for all Canadian people. — Perry Bellegarde
We need to return to learning about the land by being on the land, or better, by being in the thick of it. That is the best way we can stay in touch with the fates of its creatures, its indigenous cultures, its earthbound wisdom. That is the best way we can be in touch with ourselves. — Gary Paul Nabhan
I started studying indigenous cultures and I was really inspired by their life styles and the way that they lived. Part of that was knowing how to survive in the wild and knowing how to heal themselves from the plants that grew around them. — Shailene Woodley
We are members of the most destructive culture ever to exist. Our assault on the natural world, on indigenous and other cultures, on women, on children, on all of us through the possibility of nuclear suicide and other means--all these are unprecedented in their magnitude and ferocity. — Derrick Jensen
Shamanism is a kind of universal spiritual practice with indigenous cultures around the world, and one important element of it is taking care of spirits. — Daniel Pinchbeck
The thing we often forget to talk about, or perhaps we take for granted, is our country’s dazzling beauty. Our natural environment is so much a part of Australia’s art, writing, music and culture, both indigenous and non indigenous. — Quentin Bryce
Indigenous people have discovered that Christianity is not inherently Western but universal - 'translatable' into any cultural idiom. — Nancy Pearcey
Native American Indian Quotes
Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children. — Crazy Horse
I salute the light within your eyes where the whole universe dwells. For when you are at that center within you and I am at that place within me, we shall be one. — Crazy Horse
If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them you will not know them and what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one destroys. — Chief Dan George
I see a time of Seven Generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the Sacred Tree of Life and the whole earth will become One Circle again. — Crazy Horse
We’re not Indians and we’re not Native Americans. We’re older than both concepts. We’re the people, we’re the human beings. — John Trudell
We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children — Chief Seattle
Historically speaking, we went from being Indians to pagans to savages to hostiles to militants to activists to Native Americans. Its five hundred years later and they still cant see us. We are still invisible. — John Trudell
I am tired of talk that comes to nothing It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and all the broken promises. There has been too much talking by men who had no right to talk. It does not require many words to speak the truth. — Chief Joseph
Wisdom and peace come when you start living the life the creator intended for you. — Geronimo
Above all, I wanted to be appreciated as a prima ballerina who happened to be a Native American, never as someone who was an American Indian ballerina. — Maria Tallchief
Native American Quotes
If you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you'll learn things you never knew you never knew. — Pocahontas
Mr. Blair, I look upon secession as anarchy. If I owned the four millions of slaves in the South, I would sacrifice them all to the Union; but how can I draw my sword upon Virginia, my native State? — Robert E. Lee
May the stars carry your sadness away, may the flowers fill your heart with beauty, may hope forever wipe away your tears. And, above all, may silence make you strong. — Chief Dan George
Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think and act for myself — and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty. — Chief Joseph
Peace cannot exist without justice, justice cannot exist without fairness, fairness cannot exist without development, development cannot exist without democracy, democracy cannot exist without respect for the identity and worth of cultures and peoples. — Rigoberta Menchu
One does not sell the earth upon which the people walk. — Crazy Horse
There is a direct connection between violence against the Earth and violence against women. — Lee Maracle
At the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit. And that center is really everywhere. It is within each of us. — Black Elk
Earth does not belong to us; we belong to earth. Take only memories, leave nothing but footprints. — Chief Seattle
The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. — Chief Seattle
Aboriginal Quotes
If Australia is The Lucky Country, the Aborigines must be the unluckiest people in the world. — Frank Hardy
The more you know the less you talk. — A. R. Rahman
The majority of Aboriginals do not want handouts because they realise that welfare is killing them. — Pauline Hanson
The Pilgrim Fathers landed on the shores of America and fell on their knees; then they fell upon the aborigines. — American Proverbs
My art speaks and will continue to speak, transcending barriers of nationality, language and other forces that may be divisive, fortifying the greatness of the spirit that has always been the foundation of the Ojibwa people. — Norval Morrisseau
If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is tied up with mine, then let us work together. — Lilla Watson
Let no-one say the past is dead, the past is all about us and within. — Oodgeroo Noonuccal
I wasn't aware of the impact that I had made on the lives of Aboriginal people until I did a bit of travelling and visited various communities throughout Victoria. To see the way that my people looked at me and to know that I made a difference to them was an honour. — Lionel Rose
Present governments are encouraging separatism in Australia by providing opportunities, land, moneys and facilities available only to Aboriginals. — Pauline Hanson
I'm going to win it for my country. I'm the first Aboriginal to win this. Isn't that something? I wish my Dad was alive to see it. He'd be as proud as I am. — Lionel Rose
I resolutely believe that respect for diversity is a fundamental pillar in the eradication of racism, xenophobia and intolerance. There is no excuse for evading the responsibility of finding the most suitable path toward the elimination of any expression of discrimination against indigenous peoples. — Rigoberta Menchu
All of this got me thinking about the history of the westward expansion, and got me to wondering how the exploration of the Solar System would be changed if there were an indigenous presence out there. — Sarah Zettel
To reach your heart, as every indigenous tribe I know has told me, you must first remember your Divine Mother... Your Mother is alive and very much conscious... Earth is not a rock, she has a name and a personality in the cosmos. And believe me, she knows your name. — Drunvalo Melchizedek
My stiffest earthly assignment is ended and my major life's work is done. My country is now free and I have been honoured to be its first indigenous head of state. What more could one desire in life? — Nnamdi Azikiwe
We live in an age that's repeating itself endlessly. We're getting closer again to the techno-chic world we saw in Atlantis that occurs in countless planes. It's indigenous to enlightenment. — Frederick Lenz
I believe very firmly that indigenous populations had a really good, intuitive understanding of why we're here. And we're trying to gain that same understanding through psychology and intellect in modern civilization. — Serj Tankian
Today the governments of Latin America should be ashamed of not havingexterminated the indigenous, at the end of the twentieth century, because weexist at the end of this century. We are not myths of the past, ruins in thejungle, or zoos. We are people and we want to be respected, not to be victims ofintolerance and racism. — Rigoberta Menchu
Then, I realized that there is an indigenous presence in the Solar System. It's us. So, then, I got to wondering what would happen if a more technologically advanced society moved next door to us, the way we moved next door to the American Indians. — Sarah Zettel
In a society where all are related, simple decisions require the approval of nearly everyone in that society. It is society as a whole, not merely a part of it, that must survive. This is the indigenous understanding. It is the understanding in a global sense. We are all indigenous people on this planet, and we have to reorganize to get along. — Rebecca Adamson
If you can imagine the one family continuously occupying the same land for 40,000 years or more, using it not just to sustain life but as a place of reverence and worship, where every tree, rock and waterhole had significance, you will get some understanding of the importance of land to indigenous people. — Tania Major
We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our birth. These are concepts which the Black Consciousness approach wishes to eradicate from the black man's mind before our society is driven to chaos by irresponsible people from Coca-cola and hamburger cultural backgrounds. — Steven Biko
What I can say is that it was clear to many of us that an indigenous African literary renaissance was overdue. A major objective was to challenge stereotypes, myths, and the image of ourselves and our continent, and to recast them through stories- prose, poetry, essays, and books for our children. That was my overall goal. — Chinua Achebe
The role of globalization is to homogenize all cultures, and to turn them into commodified markets, and therefore, to make them easier for global corporations to control. Global corporations are even now trying to commodify all remaining aspects of national cultures, not to mention indigenous cultures. — Jerry Mander
In more recent years, I've become more and more fascinated with the indigenous folklore of this land, Native American folklore, and also Hispanic folklore now that I live in the Southwest. — Terri Windling
The problem in Guatemala is that there is no solution to the issue of human rights. The problem is militarization, it is the injust distribution of wealth. It is intolerance of the indigenous, it is discrimination and marginalization. — Rigoberta Menchu
My reluctance to enter any relationship with men has been affected by the fact that many Aboriginal men are very wounded and are not able to be in a healthy relationship due to historical damage and with non-Native men because I no longer want to educate them about Indigenous Issues. I'm tired of being the educator or nurse. — Marilyn Dumont
Christopher Columbus introduced two phenomena that revolutionized race relations and transformed the modern world: the taking of land, wealth, and labor from indigenous people in the Western Hemisphere, leading to their near extermination, and the transatlantic slave trade, which created a racial underclass. — James W. Loewen
For Indigenous peoples , the impact of separating us from our heritage goes directly to the heart that pumps life through our peoples. To expect a people to be able to enjoy their culture without their cultural heritage and their sacred belongings is equivalent to amputating their legs and digging up the ground and asking them to run a marathon. — Mick Dodson
Here's the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are literally millions of human beings whose lives have been snuffed out by people who conquered under the banner of a white god. — Tim Wise
Turkey is taking advantage of the war in order to thoroughly liquidate its internal foes, i.e., the indigenous Christians, without being thereby disturbed by foreign intervention. — Talaat Pasha
Texas does not, like any other region, simply have indigenous dishes. It proclaims them. It congratulates you, on your arrival, at having escaped from the slop pails of the other 49 states. — Alistair Cooke
We have reached a pivotal time in Indigenous affairs when for the first time, national attention is being paid to the horror of Indigenous family violence in this country. For the first time, an Australian Prime Minister has held a summit in the national capital to listen to concerns and ideas on this issue from a group of Indigenous leaders. — Jackie Huggins
What is a country without rabbits and partridges? They are among the most simple and indigenous animal products; ancient and venerable families known to antiquity as to modern times; of the very hue and substance of Nature, nearest allied to leaves and to the ground. — Henry David Thoreau
Solutions will not be found while Indigenous people are treated as victims for whom someone else must find solutions. — Malcolm Fraser
And I thanked mi papa who'd always said to me that we, los Indios, the Indians, were like the weeds. That roses you had to water and giver fertilizer or they'd die. But weeds, indigenous plants, you gave them nada-nothing; hell you even poisoned them and put concrete over them, and those weeds would still break the concrete. — Victor Villasenor
I'd like to talk about free markets. Information in the computer age is the last genuine free market left on earth except those free markets where indigenous people are still surviving. And that's basically becoming limited. — Russell Means
We are seeing healing among the stolen generations, and initiatives which are enabling Indigenous people to make their distinctive contribution to our national life. — Malcolm Fraser
We are now facing a difficult situation in Peru, where there are attempts to cut back the territorial rights of the indigenous peoples, including moves to divide, fragment and privatise our communal organisations. Now more than ever, it is a matter of urgency for us to consolidate our own indigenous alternatives for development. — Evaristo Nugkuag
In Conclusion
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