"People are equal partners with the plants and animals, not their masters who exploit them."

---- Haida Gwaii, Traditional Circle of Elders

"So, with the Native way, it's not whether people find out about what you've done or not... that's not nearly as strong as having your source of morality within you, having your morality arise out of an inner perception of what is wrong, ridiculous, or shameful. You are your own judge."

-- Eunice Baumann-Nelson, Ph.D., PENOBSCOT

"When we become hollow bones there is no limit to what the Higher Powers can do in and through us in spiritual things."

---- Frank Fools Crow, LAKOTA

"Listen to the howl of our spiritual brother, the wolf, for how it goes with him, so it goes for the natural world."

-- Oren R. Lyons, Spokesman, Traditional Circle of Elders

"Everything is laid out for you. Your path is straight ahead of you. Sometimes it's invisible but it's there. You may not know where it's going, but still you have to follow that path. It's the path to the Creator. That's the only path there is."

-- Leon Shenandoah, ONONDAGA

"One of the first things Seneca children learned was that they might create their own world, their own environment, by visualizing actions and desires in prayer. The Senecas believed that everything that made life important came from within. Prayer assisted in developing a guideline toward discipline and self control."

---- Twylah Nitcsh, SENECA

"Spiritual matters are difficult to explain because you must live with them in order to fully understand them."

---- Thomas Yellowtail, CROW

"A man should rely on his own resources; the one who so trains himself is ready for any emergency."

---- Oral Tradition, OMAHA

"I've had a long regard for generational things: pottery, cultural things, participation in dancing, and extended family. Only in that way does culture survive; only in that way is culture active."

-- Tessie Naranjo, SANTA CLARA PUEBLO

"People have to be responsible for their thoughts, so they have to learn to control them. It may not be easy, but it can be done."

---- Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE

"When we're through with this earth and all these problems, we don't have to come back. But as long as we're here we have a job to do and a purpose to fulfill, and that means dealing with the circumstances around us."

---- Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE

"We don't have to say or think what we don't wish to. We have a choice in those things, and we have to realize that and practice using that choice."

---- Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE

"If people are going to get back into balance, one of the things they have to do is seek the truth. They have to start really speaking the truth themselves, and that's a difficult thing to do. The way it is now in the world, we don't mind lying."

---- John Peters (Slow Turtle), WAMPANOAG

"We all come from the same root, but the leaves are all different."

---- John Fire, Lame Deer, LAKOTA

"The journey to the Spirit World is a long one, my friend. But when you die, that doesn��t mean that this is the end."

---- Buddy Red Bow, LAKOTA

"We as men should not fear our mates; we should listen to their counsel."

---- Oren R. Lyons, Spokesman, Traditional Circle of Elders

"A sundance woman is like the morning star, filled with spiritual beauty, wisdom and knowledge. Men and women are the most powerful of the polarities. We walk beside men as equal partners. It takes men and women who have respect and love for one another to live within the embrace of Father Sky and Mother Earth."

---- Dr. Henrietta Mann, SOUTHERN CHEYENNE

"Knowledge is a beautiful thing, but the use of knowledge in a good way is what makes for wisdom. Learning how to use knowledge in a sacred manner, that's wisdom to me. And to me, that's what a true Elder is."

---- Sun Bear, CHIPPEWA

Niibaa Namaag = Christmas (Anishnabe)

Nimkodaading = New Year's Day (Anishnabe)

"If you get troubled, go and sit by the river. The flowing water will take your troubles away."

---- Joe Coyhis, STOCKBRIDGE-MUNSEE