wetes pe m'e wees - I Am of This Land

THE ORIGINAL LAWS

of all Indigenous peoples teach us how to mold ourselves to nature, instead of forcing nature to mold to us. — Joe Whittle, Hasinai/Lenape, 2018

MY FATHER USED TO TELL US STORIES

about the Wallowas when we were little children growing up on the West Plains of Spokane…and he always used to look to the South over the mountains out there and tell us, ‘That’s our home. We’re wealthy people, we own that land.’ — Joe McCormack, Nez Perce

WE HAVE TO BE THE VOICE AND THE WARRIORS

for the next seven generations; our fish, water, land… our many endangered natural resources need protection. Our people need to be educated and we need to unite. — Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment, NGO

I AM AWED TO THINK

of the generations of my forefathers and mothers who picked berries in the same patches … who fished for salmon out of the same rivers … who enjoyed the lilting songs of the red-winged blackbirds ... — Jeremy FiveCrows, Nez Perce, 2007

POWER IS NOT BRUTE FORCE AND MONEY;

power is in your spirit. Power is in your soul. It is what your ancestors, your old people gave you. Power is in the earth; it is in your relationship to the earth. — Winona Laduke, Ojibwe