“Because I am a red man. If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the f…”

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Because I am a red man. If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place. He put in your heart certain wishes and plans; in my heart he put other and different desires. Each man is good in the sight of the Great Spirit. It is not necessary, that eagles should be crows.

— Sitting Bull

Hunkpapa Lakota leader

Quoted in Vine Deloria, God Is Red: A Native View of Religion. Golden, Colo: Fulcrum Pub, 2003, cited to Virginia Armstrong, I have spoken; American history through the voices of the Indians. Chicago, Sage Books, 1971.

About this quote

Attributed to: Sitting Bull
Source: Quoted in Vine Deloria, God Is Red: A Native View of Religion. Golden, Colo: Fulcrum Pub, 2003, cited to Virginia Armstrong, I have spoken; American history through the voices of the Indians. Chicago, Sage Books, 1971.
Culture / tradition: Lakota
Attribution status: ✓ Verified source
Verification: Primary reference

Native American Indigenous #wisdom

Photo: Petar Milošević · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source · Portrait: David F. Barry, Photographer, Bismarck, Dakota Territory (Public domain)

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