26 Native American Quotes on Life and Death

BY SOFO ARCHON

Wanduta (Red Arrow), from the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, in the Oak Lake area, Manitoba, ca. 1913

The wisdom of the native American Indians is timeless and powerful enough to transform human consciousness, so that we (individually and collectively) can lead a peaceful, close-to-nature, compassionate life. 

Below are 28 hand-picked Native American Indian quotes on life and death. May they open your mind and heart wide.

1. “Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark.” – Cheyenne

2. “Don’t be afraid to cry. It will free your mind of sorrowful thoughts.” – Hopi

3. “Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand.” – Tribe Unknown 

4. “It is better to have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand.” – Apache

5. “They are not dead who live in the hearts they leave behind.” – Tuscarora

6. “All plants are our brothers and sisters. They talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them.” – Arapaho

7. “A brave man dies but once, a coward many times.” – Iowa

8. “When we show our respect for other living things, they respond with respect for us.” – Arapaho

9. “If we wonder often, the gift of knowledge will come.” – Arapaho

10. “Most of us do not look as handsome to others as we do to ourselves.” – Assiniboine

11.  “You can’t wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.” – Navajo

12. “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

13. “Those who have one foot in the canoe, and one foot in the boat, are going to fall into the river.” – Tuscarora

14. “The weakness of the enemy makes our strength.” – Cherokee

15. “When the white man discovered this country, Indians were running it. No taxes, no debt, women did all the work. White man thought he could improve on a system like this.” – Cherokee

16. “When a man moves away from nature his heart becomes hard.” – Lakota

17. “We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.” – Dakota

18. “Do not judge your neighbor until you walk two moons in his moccasins.” – Cheyenne

19. “There is nothing as eloquent as a rattlesnake’s tail.” – Navajo

20. “Force, no matter how concealed, begets resistance.” – Lakota

21. “Our first teacher is our own heart.” – Cheyenne

22. “Everyone who is successful must have dreamed of something.” – Maricopa

23. “All who have died are equal.” – Comanche

24. “What the people believe is true.” – Anishinabe

25. “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.” – Blackfoot