Saturday, May 19, 2012

The Words of Chief Dan George


Chief Dan George
Native Canadian Indian


- We are as much alive as we keep the earth alive.


- When Christ said that man does not live by bread alone, he spoke of a hunger. This hunger was not the hunger of the body. It was not the hunger for bread. He spoke of a hunger that begins deep down in the very depths of our being. He spoke of a need as vital as breath. He spoke of our hunger for love.

Love is something you and I must have. We must have it because our spirit feeds upon it. We must have it because without it we become weak and faint. Without love our self-esteem weakens. Without it our courage fails. Without love we can no longer look out confidently at the world...But with love, we are creative. With it, we march tirelessly. With it, and with it alone, we are able to sacrifice for others.


- O Great Spirit whose voice I hear in the winds, 
 I come to you as one of your many children. 
 I need your strength and your wisdom. 
 Make me strong not to be superior to my brother, 
 but to be able to fight my greatest enemy:  
 "Myself" 


- When the white man came, we had the land and they had the bibles. Now they have the land and we have the bibles.
    

- One thing to remember is to talk to the animals. If you do, they will talk back to you. But if you don't talk to the animals, they won't talk back to you, then you won't understand, and when you don't understand you will fear and when you fear you will destroy the animals, and if you destroy the animals, you will destroy yourself.


- The beauty of the trees,
the softness of the air,
the fragrance of the grass,
speaks to me.

The summit of the mountain,
the thunder of the sky,
the rhythm of the sea,
speaks to me.

The strength of the fire,
the taste of salmon,
the trail of the sun,
and the life that never goes away,
they speak to me.
And my heart soars.

       
- 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.
       

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