Charles Eastman Quotes

The clan is nothing more than a larger family, with its patriarchal chief as the natural head, and the union of several clans by intermarriage and voluntary connection constitutes the tribe.

Each soul must meet the morning sun, the new sweet earth, and the Great Silence alone! What is Silence? It is the Great Mystery! The Holy Silence is His voice!

The true Indian sets no price upon either his property or his labor. His generosity is limited only by his strength and ability.

In every religion there is an element of the supernatural, varying with the influence of pure reason over its devotees.

The American Indian was an individualist in religion as in war. He had neither a national army nor an organized church. There were no temples or shrines among us save those of nature. He sees no need for setting apart one day in seven as a holy day, since to him all days are God's.

The elements and majestic forces in nature, Lightning, Wind, Water, Fire, and Frost, were regarded with awe as spiritual powers, but always secondary and intermediate in character.

Nearness to nature ... keeps the spirit sensitive to impressions not commonly felt and in touch with the unseen powers.

Love between a man and a woman is founded on the mating instinct and is not free from desire and self-seeking. But to have a friend and to be true under any and all trials is the mark of a man.

There was no religious ceremony connected with marriage among us, while on the other hand the relation between man and woman was regarded as in itself mysterious and holy.