Gerald R. Ford Quotes

... the rights of the first Americans to remain Indians while exercising their rights as Americans.

We have received the talk of our father the President of the United States, by the hands of our brothers the commissioners on the part of the United States. We find it is the wish of our father to exchange lands with us, lying on the west side of the Mississippi river, which we are very sorry to hear, as we never had a thought of exchanging our land for any others, as we think that we would not a country that would suit us as well as this we now occupy, it being the land of our forefathers, if we should exchange our lands for anu other, gearing the consequences may be similar to transplanting an old tree, which would wither and die away, and we are fearful we would come to the same. We want you, our brothers, to take our talk. We have no lands to exchange for any other. We wish our father to extend his protection to us here, as he proposes to do on the west of the Mississippi, as we apprehend we would, in a few years, experience the same difficulties in any other section of the country that might be suitable to us west of the Mississippi. Friends and brothers; we know that our white brothers are crowding upon us daily, which we know is not just. We further consider that there are a number of nations west of the Mississippi that have been enemies to us as well as our white brothers. It would be as much impossible to unite us with them as it would be to unite oil and water, and we have every reason to believe that those tribes that have left their country are not well satisfied; and if that should be the case, we are fearful that those tribes will take satisfaction of us for injuries done by us as well as our white brothers. We are a small tribe, and unable to defend our rights in any country. Our father the President wishes that we should come under the laws of the United States; we are a people that are not enlightened, and we cannot consent to be under your Government. If we should consent, we should be like unto young corn growing and met with a drought that would kill it all.

First, take the government of the Indians out of politics; second, let the laws of the Indians be the same as those of the whites; third, give the Indian the ballot.

I'm a member of the American Indian Movement, and I'm from the indigenous nations of the Western Hemisphere.

In the end, there is no absence of irony: the integrity of what is sacred to Native Americans will be determined by the government that has been responsible for doing everything in its power to destroy Native American cultures.

An Indian tribe is sovereign to the extent that the U.S. permits it to be sovereign.

The Indians have a right to the occupation of their lands, independent of the States within whose chartered lines they happen to be

There is now a recognition that there are three sovereigns in this country, and they are the Federal Government, the state governments and the tribal governments.

I have asked some of the great white chiefs where they get their authority to say to the Indian that he shall stay in one place, while he sees white men going where they please. They can not tell me.

The Cherokee Nation has had a government for a long, long, long time. We had a government in this country long before there was a United States government.

I am afraid that the talk of "freeing" Indians and making them full citizens is a cloak to make it possible to take a little more away from them. Indians are citizens! They have a right to vote! They serve in the armed forces, and they pay income taxes and other taxes except on their land. This land-tax exemption is usually part of the agreed price received from the Federal government for larger areas given up. All the Indians ask is that they be consulted and that they give their consent as to the proper time for "termination" of certain agreements, and that each tribe be consulted separately.

That the Indians possess the inherent right of expatriation, as well as the more fortunate white race, and have the inalienable right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," so long as they obey the laws and do not trespass on forbidden ground

We must frequently promote their [Native Americans] interest against their inclination.

The Democratic Party has learned from the terrible mistakes of the past. Our platform requires that we honor, fulfill, and strengthen the federal government's trust responsibility to American Indians. We take this responsibility seriously.

As a Cherokee, I can attest to the fact that Native Americans have been on the losing side of history. Our rights have been infringed upon, our treaties have been broken, our culture has been stolen, and our tribes have been decimated at the hands of our own United States government.

Every president since Nixon has embraced a policy of 'self-determination without termination' - the idea that Native Americans are best equipped to govern themselves. Trump is breaking with this position.

We have a government-to-government relationship with tribes, and they should have that opportunity to weigh in on important decisions that affect them.

With federal recognition, the Lumbee Tribe would become a full player in Indian country, no longer second class Indians in the eyes of the federal government. As such, we would employ our substantial skills and abilities to help correct problems faced by Indian country and make significant contributions.

The federal government needs to make it clear that recognition of Indigenous rights means that when Indigenous bands and their leadership approve projects, we listen.

Tribal sovereignty means that. It's sovereign. You're a... you're a... you've been given sovereignty and you're viewed as a sovereign entity.

This government to government relationship is the result of sovereign and independent tribal governments being incorporated into the fabric of our Nation, of Indian tribes becoming what our courts have come to refer to as quasi-sovereign domestic dependent nations. Over the years the relationship has flourished, grown, and evolved into a vibrant partnership in which over 500 tribal governments stand shoulder to shoulder with the other governmental units that form our Republic.

I stand with the Navajo Nation and call upon the U.S. Government to do what is right and clean up this mess.

We know that this nation entered into solemn treaties [with Indian tribes] which have been continuously violated for more than 250 years. It's a disgrace. It's an outrage. We must do everything in our power to keep those treaties. Otherwise, the word of the United States government is no good.

Freedom doesn't mean the absence of all restrictions. It means possessing unshakable conviction in the face of any obstacle.

There are tribes, I should say nations, which prior to the AIM movement had only ten or fifteen employees, and now have upwards of 2000. There are educational programs that didn't exist before, there are housing programs, health programs, senior citizen programs, cultural programs and the list goes on. It's all because some people stood up and said sovereignty is our right by treaty and the constitution says treaty law is the supreme law of the land.