Hanging on the wall in my hallway is a painting I did many years ago of a person I admire a lot–Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Indian Tribe. Chief Joseph loved his land; he resisted tyranny and tried valiantly to escape the pursuing U. S. army and take his people to safety and freedom in Canada.
Chief Joseph valued freedom more than security. He believed his people and his land, his way of life were worth fighting for. Although badly out-numbered, his valor in the face of overwhelming odds forever earned him the respect of his enemies and the admiration of generations to come.
He failed to reach Canada but he succeeded in leaving a legacy of courage, tenacity, and nobility even in defeat. To me, his speech upon surrender is one of the most beautiful and wrenching I have ever read. “My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”
Our country has many heroes and Chief Joseph ranks among the best.
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There were many brave American Indians. When I wrote Sarah’s Valley, I researched the Abinacki tribe. It was so interesting. They were a very peace loving people. Whenever I think of the way life was for them those many centuries ago, for some reason I always remember Micah 4:4. I guess they wouldn’t be sitting under a fig tree but just that quiet slow way of life!
Thanks, Sharon. Yes, the native Americans had a special way of life and it was their own. When I go through the Cherokee Village in Tahlequah and smell the wood smoke of the open fires, it certainly stirs my blood and I think of long-ago ancestors who lived close to nature in Georgia.
After reading the coments and replies on Chief Joseph, I can see myself in a small room, sitting off to the side listening to the two of you talking about Native American history. Not adding to the conversation, just soaking in the stories, for fear that if I did, you would cease the story tellin’. The whole atmosphere would change from that very simple time, when the sound of wind in the trees, and the chirp of squirrels and birds going about their busy lives would cease. Then suddenly be interrupted by a fourteen wheeler gearing down or the thousands of automobile racing on to the next town….I long to hear the stories of my ancestors the Cherokee, the Caddo, even the French….what colorful stories they could tell…like WHY they named my great grandmother Teenz, and why did they name her sister Louisiana. ?.. Ah, if we could hear them…
We lived within 100 miles of some of the areas where Chief Joseph tried to escape. We drove over The Chief Joseph highway many times in northern Wyoming.
That’s wonderful, Helen. He was such a valiant man.
Jan, you are a storyteller and a writer! Such beautiful word pictures. Thanks