Talk:Native American proverbs
[edit] Merge?
I noticed there's a page entitled Indigenous American proverbs in addition to this one. They both have quotes from tribes, but each might have quotes the other doesn't. I didn't check.
"WE do not inherit the world from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." tribe unknown: This is no proverb. This is an excerpt from a literary letter written by a white naturalist who happened to beleive that most American Indians were noble natives who respect nature. However like many native hunter gatherers and primitive farmers they did not have the slightest bit of environmental awareness because they did not need it. Game was plenty, sources rich until the white men came.
The above is a good criticism, but it needs an attribution. I'm just here to sort out the article by tribes. Dogandpony
Removing "A brave man dies but once; a coward, many times," this is a paraphrase of Julius Caesar.
- Translating this edit for the greek wikiquote i have only one thing to say...they were by far the most beautiful proverbs and quotes i have read from regions of the world 213.5.36.41 22:14, 20 February 2006 (UTC)
"Only when the last tree has withered, and the last fish caught, and the last river been poisoned, will we realize we cannot eat money." Cree. Is this actually Cree? I have heard this same proverb from David Suzuki... Norman
Yes, that is a Cree proverb. Some mistake it for Chief Sealth, or as the white man called him; Chief Seattle, but it is not. Though he says something along the same lines "All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man, the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports." (Chief Seattle) - Victory Moon
Unapropriate line "Wakan Tanka nici un" removed. It is unapropriate, and generated by non-Lakota people who lack the understanding of the lakota. Please read this quote from David Little Elk, authorized teacher of Lakota language and culture: "One mistake is when people take non-Lakota expressions and translate them into Lakota. When they do this, they think they are "speaking Lakota". One example, is the expression "Wakan Tanka nici un". This is an expression that is not from the Lakota Perspective. Rather, it is non-native expression translated into Lakota. However, translating a non-Lakota expression using the Lakota language does not convert it into a Lakota expression. " (from www.malakota.com) Storm
[edit] Cleanup?
I suggest it's time for a major cleanup, as Native American sayings are plagued by doubtful attribution (e.g. the Chief Seattle forgery). Since current practice is now not to include unsourced quotes - Wikiquote:Limits on quotations#Sourced vs. unsourced quotes - we need to start working on citation. Gordonofcartoon 23:15, 4 February 2010 (UTC)
