Tecumseh was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. A persuasive orator, Tecumseh traveled widely, forming a Native American confederacy and promoting inter-tribal unity. Although his efforts to unite Native Americans ended with his death in the War of 1812, he became an iconic folk hero in American, Indigenous, and Canadian popular history. These Tecumseh quotes will motivate you.
Best Tecumseh Quotes
- “When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.” ~ Tecumseh
- “So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.” ~ Tecumseh
- “When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.” ~ Tecumseh
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“When Jesus Christ came upon the Earth, you killed Him. The son of your own God. And only after He was dead did you worship Him and start killing those who would not.” ~ Tecumseh
- “Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none. When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.” ~ Tecumseh
- “No tribe has the right to sell, even to each other, much less to strangers…. Sell a country! Why not sell the air, the great sea, as well as the earth? Didn’t the Great Spirit make them all for the use of his children? The way, the only way to stop this evil is for the red man to unite in claiming a common and equal right in the land, as it was first, and should be now, for it was never divided.” We gave them forest-clad mountains and valleys full of game, and in return what did they give our warriors and our women? Rum, trinkets, and a grave.” ~ Tecumseh
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“Show respect to all people, but grovel to none.” ~ Tecumseh
- “A single twig breaks, but the bundle of twigs is strong.” ~ Tecumseh
- “Let us form one body, one heart, and defend to the last warrior our country, our homes, our liberty, and the graves of our fathers.” ~ Tecumseh
- “Abuse no one and nothing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.” ~ Tecumseh
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“Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.” ~ Tecumseh
- “Brothers, we must be united; we must smoke the same pipe; we must fight each other’s battles; and more than all, we must love the Great Spirit.” ~ Tecumseh
- “Where today are the Pequot? Where are the Narragansett, the Mohican, the Pcanet, and other powerful tribes of our people? They have vanished before the avarice and oppression of the white man, as snow before the summer sun.” ~ Tecumseh
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“From my tribe I take nothing, I am the maker of my own fortune.” ~ Tecumseh
- “Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view and demand that they respect yours.” ~ Tecumseh
- “When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength.” ~ Tecumseh Quotes
- “I am Shawnee! I am a warrior! My forefathers were warriors. From them I took only my birth into this world. From my tribe I take nothing. I am the maker of my own destiny! And of that I might make the destiny of my red people, of our nation, as great as I conceive to in my mind, when I think of Weshemoneto, who rules this universe!” ~ Tecumseh
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“When the legends die, the dreams end; there is no more greatness.” ~ Tecumseh
- “Where today are the Pequot? Where are the Narragansett, the Mohican, the Pokanoket, and many other once powerful tribes of our people? They have vanished before the avarice and the oppression of the White Man, as snow before a summer sun. Will we let ourselves be destroyed in our turn without a struggle, give up our homes, our country bequeathed to us by the Great Spirit, the graves of our dead and everything that is dear and sacred to us? I know you will cry with me, ‘Never! Never!'” ~ Tecumseh
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“The Great Spirit is angry with all men that tell lies.” ~ Tecumseh
- “Brothers, the white people are like poisonous serpents: when chilled they are feeble and harmless,
but invigorate them with warmth and they sting their benefactors to death.” ~ Tecumseh - “Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.” ~ Tecumseh
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“The white people have no right to take the land from the Indians, because the Indians had it first.” ~ Tecumseh
- “Sell a country! Why not sell the air, the clouds and the great sea, as well as the earth? Did not the Great Spirit make them all for the use of his children?” ~ Tecumseh
- “I am the maker of my own fortune, and Oh! that I could make that of my Red People, and of my country, as great as the conceptions of my mind, when I think of the spirit that rules the universe. I would not then come to Governor Harrison to ask him to tear up the treaty, and to obliterate the landmark, but I would say to him, “Sir, you have the liberty to return to your own country.”” ~ Tecumseh
- “Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place.” ~ Tecumseh
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“Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.” ~ Tecumseh
- “The way, and the only way, to stop this evil is for all the red men to unite in claiming a common and equal right in the land, as it was at first, and should be yet; for it was never divided, but belongs to all for the use of each.” ~ Tecumseh
- “The Great Spirit made all things. He gave the white people a home beyond the great waters. He supplied these grounds with game, and gave them to his red children; and he gave them strength and courage to defend them.” ~ Tecumseh
- “My father! The sun is my father, and the earth is my mother, and on her bosom I will recline.” ~ Tecumseh
- “I am a Shawnee. My forefathers were warriors. Their son is a warrior. From them, I take my only existence.” ~ Tecumseh
- “Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.” ~ Tecumseh
