National Native American Heritage Month is a period dedicated to celebrating the customs, traditions and contributions of America’s first inhabitants in the month of November.
This month-long event, also referred to as Native American Heritage Month or American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, is a tribute to the accomplishments and contributions of people of Indigenous descent.
In commemoration of this significant month, a collection of 75 inspiring Native American quotes has been compiled.
These uplifting phrases honor and highlight the rich heritage and profound impact of Indigenous people, offering an enlightening perspective during the Native American Heritage Month celebrations.
Top 10 National Native American Heritage Month Quotes
Let our last sleep be in the graves of our native land! ~ Osceola.
It does not require many words to speak the truth. ~ Chief Joseph.
One does not sell the land people walk on. ~ Crazy Horse.
Show respect to all people, but grovel to none. ~ Tecumseh.
Sometimes dreams are wiser than waking. ~ Black Elk.
This country was a lot better off when the Indians were running it. ~ Vine Deloria, Jr.
The ground on which we stand is sacred ground. It is the blood of our ancestors. ~ Chief Plenty Coups, Crow.
You might as well expect rivers to run backwards as any man born free to be contented penned up. ~ Chief Joseph.
Strong alliances can thrive even where disagreements exist, but they cannot thrive where free and open communication is shut down. ~ Sharice Davids.
We will be known forever by the tracks we leave. ~ Dakota Tribe.
Famous National Native American Heritage Month Quotes
You can’t wake a person who is pretending to be asleep. ~ Navajo Tribe.
While living I want to live well. ~ Geronimo.
The path to glory is rough, and many gloomy hours obscure it. ~ Black Hawk.
You must speak straight so that your words may go as sunlight into our hearts. ~ Cochise.
I want my people to stay with me here. All the dead men will come to life again. Their spirits will come to their bodies again. We must wait here in the homes of our fathers and be ready to meet them in the bosom of our mother. ~ Wovoka.
If we must die, we die defending our rights. ~ Sitting Bull.
It is no longer good enough to cry peace, we must act peace, live peace and live in peace. ~ Shenandoah Tribe.
We Indians really should be better liars, considering how often we’ve been lied to. ~ Sherman Alexie.
Don’t live up to your stereotypes. ~ Sherman Alexie.
Best National Native American Heritage Month Quotes
There can never be peace between nations until there is first known that true peace which is within the souls of men. ~ Black Elk.
A good chief gives, he does not take. ~ Mohawk Tribe.
Although wrongs have been done to me, I live in hopes. ~ Black Kettle.
There are no dreams too large, no innovation unimaginable and no frontiers beyond our reach. ~ John S. Herrington.
I like to be able to raise people’s consciousness, yes. And to remind that those of us involved in the receiving end of the oppression, we have a duty. ~ Wes Studi.
The Earth does not belong to us: we belong to the Earth. ~ Chief Seattle.
Indians and animals know better how to live than white man; nobody can be in good health if he does not have all the time fresh air, sunshine, and good water. ~ Flying Hawk.
It’s impossible to write about Native life without humour? That’s how people maintain sanity. ~ Louise Erdrich.
Popular National Native American Heritage Month Quotes
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. ~ Chief Seattle.
Wisdom and peace come when you start living the life the creator intended for you. ~ Geronimo.
You have to go through those mountains and valleys – because that’s what life is: soul growth. ~ Wayne Newton.
It’s important as a writer to do my art well and do it in a way that is powerful and beautiful and meaningful, so that my work regenerates the people, certainly Indian people, and the earth and the sun. And in that way we all continue forever. ~ Joy Harjo.
I do not think the measure of a civilization is how tall its buildings of concrete are, but rather how well its people have learned to relate to their environment and fellow man. ~ Sun Bear.
Every society needs educated people, but the primary responsibility of educated people is to bring wisdom back into the community and make it available to others so that the lives they are leading make sense. ~ Vine Deloria, Jr.
Our first teacher is our own heart. ~ Cheyenne Tribe.
Related: Native American Quotes and Sayings from Great Americans and Boston Tea Party Quotes That Led to American Revolution
Powerful National Native American Heritage Month Quotes
If anything at all, perfection is not when there is nothing to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. ~ Maria Tallchief.
Humans are vulnerable and rely on the kindnesses of the earth and the sun; we exist together in a sacred field of meaning. ~ Joy Harjo.
I promised myself a long time ago that I would lead an interesting life. ~ Sacheen Littlefeather.
A very great vision is needed and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky. ~ Crazy Horse.
The land is sacred. These words are at the core of your being. The land is our mother, the rivers our blood. Take our land away and we die. That is, the Indian in us dies. ~ Mary Brave Bird.
There is but one secret to success: never give up. ~ Ben Nighthorse Campbell.
You’re not selfish for wanting to be treated well. ~ Jason Momoa.
Grown men can learn from very little children, for the hearts of the little children are pure. Therefore, the Great Spirit may show them many things which older people miss. ~ Black Elk.
The world was made of stories, nothing else, just stories, and stories about stories. ~ Tommy Orange.
Profound National Native American Heritage Month Quotes
We know our lands have now become more valuable. The white people think we do not know their value; but we know that the land is everlasting, and the few goods we receive for it are soon worn out and gone. ~ Canassatego.
I never was content unless I was trying my skill…or testing my endurance. ~ Jim Thorpe.
If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself. ~ Minquass Tribe.
Amazing the things you find when you bother to search for them. ~ Sacagawea.
One rain does not make a crop. ~ Creole Tribe.
Upon suffering beyond suffering, the Red Nation shall rise again, and it shall be a blessing for a sick world. A world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separations. A world longing for light again. ~ Crazy Horse.
Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. ~ Will Rogers.
This life is more than just a read through. ~ Anthony Kiedis.
November is Native American Heritage month, and a good time to honor the legacy of our ancestors, but every day we should stop to think about our country’s beginning and that the United States would not exist if not for a great deal of sacrifice, blood, and tears by Indian Tribes across the country. ~ Deb Haaland.
Thought-Provoking National Native American Heritage Month
I should never have surrendered. I should have fought until I was the last man alive. ~ Geronimo.
Man has responsibility, not power. ~ Tuscarora Tribe.
What happens when you let an unsatisfactory present go on long enough? It becomes your entire history. ~ Louise Erdrich.
All Indians must dance, everywhere keep on dancing. ~ Wovoka.
I’m Indian all the way and always will be. I’m not going to stop fighting until I die, and I hope I’m a good example of a human being and of my tribe. ~ Anna Mae Aquash.
I shall always fight good and hard, even if I have to fight alone. ~ Susan La Flesche Picotte.
I care not what people say of me so long as I do right. I shall never be any man’s slave. ~ Running Eagle.
Tribes don’t need Congressmembers’ sympathy. What tribes need is for us to properly exercise our duty. ~ Sharice Davids.
A single twig breaks, but the bundle of twigs is strong. ~ Tecumseh.
Ask questions from your heart and you will be answered from the heart. ~ Omaha Tribe.
It is better to have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand. ~ Apache Tribe.
Wise National Native American Heritage Month Quotes
If you believe in the power of words, you can bring about physical changes in the universe. ~ N. Scott Momaday.
When a white army battles Indians and wins, it is called a great victory, but if they lose it is called a massacre. ~ Chiksika.
Bias and prejudice are attitudes to be kept in hand, not attitudes to be avoided. ~ Charles Curtis.
What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset. ~ Crowfoot.
Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children. ~ Sitting Bull.
Love won’t be tampered with, love won’t go away. Push it to one side and it creeps to the other. ~ Louise Erdrich.
We do not want riches, we want peace and love. ~ Red Cloud.
When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice. ~ Cherokee Tribe.
All dreams spin out from the same web. ~ Hopi Tribe.
So these were the 75 top quotes about National Native American Heritage Month.
If you like these quotes and sayings, then you can also read my other posts on American Flag quotes and Flag Day quotes.
