Quote#Wisdom
My skin is not red but that is what my people are called by others.…
Quote byDeskaheh · 1873–1925
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Last speech, March 10 1925.
English (original)
My skin is not red but that is what my people are called by others. My skin is brown, light brown, but our cheeks have a little flush and that is why we are called red skins. We don’t mind that. There is no difference between us, under the skins, that any expert with a carving knife has ever discovered.
— Deskaheh
More from Deskaheh
We want none of your laws and customs that we have not willingly adopted for ourselves. We have adopted many. You have adopted some of ours — votes for women, for instance.
You young people in the United States may not believe what I am saying. Do not take my word, but read your history. A good deal of true history about that has got into print now.
If this must go on to the bitter end, we would rather that you come with your guns and poison gases and get rid of us that way. Do it openly and above board. Do away with the pretense that you have the right to subjugate us to your will.
You would call it Canada. We do not. We call the little ten-miles square we have left the "Grand River Country." We have the right to do that. It is ours. We have the written pledge of George III that we should have it forever as against …
You got half of your territory here by warfare upon redmen, usually unprovoked, and you got about a quarter of it by bribing their chiefs, and not over a quarter of it did you get openly and fairly. You might have gotten a good share of it …
So boys and girls, if you grow up and claim the right to live together and govern yourselves — and you ought to — and if you do not concede the same right to other peoples — and you will be strong enough to have your own way — you will be …