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We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of the land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy - and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his fathers' graves, and his children’s birthright is forgotten.

— Chief Seattle Misattributed

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At night when the streets of your cities and villages are silent and you think them deserted, they will throng with the returning hosts that once filled them and still love this beautiful land. The white man will never be alone.

Statement on surrendering tribal lands to Isaac Stevens, governor of Washington Territory (1855)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Chief Seattle (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.