Indigenous-peoples Quotes

“An Indonesianised Papuan mind is more dangerous to Papua’s sovereignty than an Indonesian weapon.”

— Yamin Kogoya

“Like I said, no Indian I’ve ever heard of has ever been or seen an angel.”

— Natalie Díaz

“Ancient wisdom did not disappear. We simply stopped knowing how to listen.”

— Gabriela Jurosz-Landa

“Being colonized automatically makes you bipolar.”

— Sherman Alexie

“I know you love him very much, but you need to let him go. They're not the same after they pass over.…

— Norris Black

“To understand the Dreamtime, you must understand that we do not own the land. The land is our mother and she owns…

— Lance Morcan

“Churchill was a big fat cannibal, Leopold was an ugly deadly virus, Columbus was a most wanted terrorist.”

— Abhijit Naskar

“A racist notion found in neoshamanic circles is placing high value on indigenous wisdom but not on indigenous people.”

— S. Kelley Harrell

“History repeats itself. The first time as tragedy. The second time as farce. The third time as tourist trap.”

— Sarah Vowell

“I feel alone here. In some ways, I feel abandoned here. This feels fitting, somehow, and, in recognizing the truth in that,…

— Brittany Penner

“Másaw (Skeleton Man) added. “If the Blue Star dancer removes his mask the Fifth World begins. There is no stopping it.”

— G.G. Collins

“The greatest tragedy is not that Papuans disappear. It is that Papua disappears while Papuans remain.”

— Yamin Kogoya

“I am not sure that energy company executives who say they want to understand the concerns of Indigenous people can actually do…

— Ryan Emanuel

“And afterward, I stopped at Red Cloud's grave to pay my respects to the old chief. Some Oglalas had left him tobacco…

— Luis Alberto Urrea

“The global Indigenous cause reached a major milestone in 2007 when the UN General Assembly passed the Declaration on the Rights of…

— Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

“By comparison, the dispossession and destruction of Indigenous populations—which the Society, for one, consistently linked to slavery—was largely ignored by the public.…

— Stefanos Geroulanos

“Adams has shown a nearly inexhaustible desire, leavened with an equal amount of sheer talent- five decades' worth and counting- in an…

— David E. Wilkins

“Papuan ancestors never stood before the world begging for the right to exist. They carved their existence into the mountains, forests, clans,…

— Yamin Kogoya

“It's been a relief to not have to fight so hard for at least a large group of us to question the…

— Shellen Lubin

“On an idyllic summer day, we walked through the meadows and hillsides, sitting in circles, laughing and filling sacks of cottongrass, salmonberries,…

— Lily H. Tuzroyluke

“Paleoecology teaches that refugia are not only physical places, but they also represent bottlenecks along a timeline. Large populations of trees, insects,…

— Ryan Emanuel

“Papuan ancestors never begged for survival. They engineered it. They did not ask the world for permission to exist; they organised their…

— Yamin Kogoya

“After weaning the indigenous people's of Egypt: 'from their miserable and barbarous manners, [Osiris] taught them how to till the earth, and…

— Graham Hancock

“We understand the forked tongue that our grandfathers talked about. [...] We know all the tricks of the wasicu world. Our young…

— Nick Estes

“The Australian aborigines, reckoned to be among the most primitive of races upon evidence that is far from conclusive, have a region…

— Olaf Ruhen

“I would rather not speak with history but history came to me. It was dark before daybreak when the fire sparked. The…

— Joy Harjo

“First off, as has been well stated by many Indigenous Feminists before us, the idea of gender equality did not come from…

— Erin Konsmo

“Papuan extinction is a systematised, structured, programmed, manufactured, engineered, monitored, funded, managed, organised, systematic, highly planned, bureaucratised, corporatised, institutionalised, civilisationalised, projected and…

— Yamin Kogoya

“I'm reasonably certain, salmon, swordfish, and hammerhead sharks do not find themselves paralyzed by spasms of self-blame for their plight - What…

— Derrick Jensen

“Quit bothering with angels, I say. They’re no good for Indians. Remember what happened last time some white god came floating across…

— Natalie Díaz

“We go and do the things that you're calling exploring and adventuring ... and [for us] it's just regular life.”

— Gayle Kabloona

“If I stay here, I will be just fine. Before I shut the door, I got a box of crackers from the…

— Kathleen Alcala

“We need to learn more. We need to do better. We are all woven together in the fabric of the Earth and…

— Shellen Lubin

“I think that the thing I most want you to remember is that research is a ceremony. And so is life. Everything…

— Shawn Wilson

“Of all of society's institutions, education has brought us to the current state of poor relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples; but…

— Murray Sinclair

“I guess you hate the people most who make justifiable demands. Because they go to the heart of our psyche. We know…

— Mary Crow Dog

“Now many of us celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day (instead of or along with Thanksgiving, Turkey Day, Family Feud and/or Family Fun and…

— Shellen Lubin

“But Palestinians do respond overwhelmingly with love. Just as the Indigenous populations of an entire hemisphere, subjected to the largest genocide in…

— Omar El Akkad

“Meanwhile, hemlocks kept their footings in the deep, shady wrinkles of lower mountain slopes— coves shaped by intimate creeks and gorges carved…

— Ryan Emanuel