7 Quotes & Sayings By Charles Alexander Eastman

Charles Alexander Eastman was born at Fort Klamath in Oregon on February 24, 1839. He grew up with his mother's people, the Shoshone. He began to study the Shoshone language in 1848 when he was ten years old. He later served as Indian Scout, interpreter, and translator for various agencies of the United States government Read more

In 1868-1869 he served under Colonel Marcus A. Reno with Kit Carson against the Cheyenne in Colorado. He moved to Washington, D.C., in 1870, where he worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs with General George Crook.

In 1874 he traveled to Denver, where he again worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs with General Philip Sheridan and later on the reservation of the Oglala Sioux tribe in South Dakota, under Colonel Nelson A. Miles. He took part in several Sioux battles on behalf of his people and was present at the death of Chief Sitting Bull at Fort Robinson in 1881.

Through his long experience with Shoshone and other native peoples, Charles became one of America's most respected ethnologists.

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The logical man must either deny all miracles or none. Charles Alexander Eastman
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To the untutored sage, the concentration of population was the prolific mother of all evils, moral no less than physical. He argued that food is good, while surfeit kills; that love is good, but lust destroys; and not less dreaded than the pestilence following upon crowded and unsanitary dwellings was the loss of spiritual power inseparable from too close contact with one's fellow-men. Charles Alexander Eastman
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The true Indian sets no price upon either his property or his labor. His generosity is limited only by his strength and ability. He regards it as an honor to be selected for difficult or dangerous service and would think it shameful to ask for any reward, saying rather: "Let the person I serve express his thanks according to his own bringing up and his sense of honor. 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! . Charles Alexander Eastman
Children must early learn the the beauty of generosity. They...
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Children must early learn the the beauty of generosity. They are taught to give what they prize most, that they may taste the happiness of giving. Charles Alexander Eastman
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Gradually it became known that the new race had a definite purpose, and that purpose was to chart and possess the whole country, regardless of the rights of its earlier inhabitants. Still the old chiefs cautioned their people to be patient, for, said they, the land is vast, both races can live on it, each in their own way. Let us therefore befriend them and trust their friendship. While they reasoned thus, the temptations of graft and self-aggrandizement overtook some of the leaders. . Charles Alexander Eastman
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It was our belief that the love of possessions is a weakness to be overcome. Children must early learn the beauty of generosity. They are taught to give what they prize most, that they may taste the happiness of giving. . The Indians in their simplicity literally give away all that they have–to relatives, to guests of other tribes or clans, but above all to the poor and the aged, from whom they can hope for no return. Charles Alexander Eastman