Top 110 Indigenous Quotes

Many mainstream winemakers use indigenous yeasts rather than commercially grown ones to ferment their grapes – precisely what natural winemakers advocate.

Does being practical mean we prop up a legal system that’s unfair, that bears its weight down on black men and black women, and by extension if you are Hispanic or indigenous or poor? Does being practical mean you don’t say to the American people you deserve better than you’re getting? That’s not the practical we want.

Native people – about two-thirds of the uranium in the United States is on indigenous lands. On a worldwide scale, about 70 percent of the uranium is either in Aboriginal lands in Australia or up in the Subarctic of Canada, where native people are still fighting uranium mining.

All of this got me thinking about the history of the westward expansion, and got me to wondering how the exploration of the Solar System would be changed if there were an indigenous presence out there.

I was attracted to black music for the same reason that I loved those old Irish ballads. Both were social statements of sorts, and both were indigenous to their respective cultures: Ireland, where my father had grown up, and towns like St. Louis along the Mississippi River, where I was growing up.

Full Circle integrates the indigenous and modern practices, bringing individuals, community and organizations together as indispensable collaborators realizing a co-creative, sustainable and fulfilling future.

Most governments in Latin America have failed to recognize the rights of indigenous people and their right to their own traditional territories.

In all of my books, I’ve emphasized that the fundamental difference between civilized and indigenous ways of being is that, for even the most open-minded of the civilized, listening to the natural world is a metaphor.

Too often, governments are quick to use excessive force and even pervert the course of justice to keep oil and gas flowing, forests logged, wild rivers dammed and minerals extracted. As the Global Witness study reveals, citizens are often killed, too – especially if they’re poor and indigenous.

As an Egyptian, I was glad to see the film ‘Black Panther’ embrace my country with its inclusion of the Ancient Egyptian goddess Bast as the deity of Wakandans. But considering the anti-black racism against the Nubian indigenous community and visitors in my country, I knew Egypt would not return the love.

The truth is nobody can own anything. That was an unheard-of concept among indigenous people. We invented that.

For centuries, cultures throughout the world have used indigenous technologies to navigate life’s complexities. From navigator-priests in Micronesia to mystics in India, vast sums of knowledge are available if we but recognize it.

If people can’t acknowledge the wisdom of indigenous cultures, then that’s their loss.

I didn’t have any Indigenous friends until I was in my 30s, and I’ll always remember and be inspired by the remarkable friendship I had with Connie Bush, an outstanding Indigenous leader from Groot Eylandt on who was on the National Women’s Advisory Council with me.

If I meet someone who’s Native American and I don’t know anything about indigenous people in New Jersey – which I kind of don’t, which is not really good – I can learn more and more about their lives, and that makes me a more open person and a more accepting person.

Whale Rider’ was a very authentic and specific movie about the indigenous culture from where I come. Amazingly, by the fact it was so authentic and so specific, it became really powerfully universal.

There are people all over Australia who use their homes as hubs that they travel from, and they encourage their indigenous people to continue to stay there.

The immediate impact of British imperial free-trading was often the collapse of local indigenous industries which were in no position to compete, and a consequent destruction of livelihoods and communities.

I only hope that one day, America will recognize what the rest of the world already has known, that our indigenous music – gospel, blues, jazz and R&B – is the heart and soul of all popular music; and that we cannot afford to let this legacy slip into obscurity, I’m telling you.

There are good reasons to push for more Indigenous Labor MPs, not just on equity but also for what they can contribute to Labor.

For me it’s about supporting our Indigenous kids and completing that whole journey: early childhood, primary school, high school, university and then career. I want to be a part of that process all the way, wearing lots of different hats.

We need ongoing indigenous products, like ‘Blood,’ to sell on the international market.

You either keep the forest standing, which takes jobs away from indigenous people who need to feed themselves, or you cut down the trees, which affects the climate. In the long term, you have to protect the forest.

Hawaii – the Aloha state – is built on the strength of its multicultural society, from our indigenous Native Hawaiian people to the many immigrants that followed.

I don’t think anyone who’s had a casual observation of the Trump administration will suggest that their priority is going to be environment, Indigenous and other things like that.

Then, I realized that there is an indigenous presence in the Solar System. It’s us. So, then, I got to wondering what would happen if a more technologically advanced society moved next door to us, the way we moved next door to the American Indians.

Indigenous people all over the world take quite a lot of trouble with their hair and their clothes.

Being Indigenous, I feel very proud being an Australian and there are so many stories I want to tell.

I’ve always been an ambassador for Australians, non-Indigenous Australians and Indigenous Australians… I let people know about who I am and that I’m not just a basketballer, I’m a person who comes from a very rich heritage.

Whilst I’m all for psychedelic science – I think it’s fantastic – I don’t think we necessarily have time to wait for the science to tell us these medicines are useful. The indigenous cultures have already shown us the ways.

Pergamon, a prosperous city in western Anatolia, was fabled to have been founded by Hercules’ son. Like many Hellenistic cities populated by Greeks who intermarried with indigenous people, Pergamon after Alexander the Great’s death (323 B.C.) had evolved a hybrid of democracy and Persian-influenced monarchy.

Bolivia is a majority indigenous nation, but that majority has always been excluded.

Even after being diagnosed with Covid-19, Bolsonaro fails to take this virus seriously and is directly targeting vulnerable indigenous communities by failing to provide them with adequate funding to address this pandemic. It’s an attack on human rights.

The relationship between the government of the United States and social and indigenous movements has always been difficult. Not just in Bolivia but worldwide. We need to have bilateral relations characterized by mutual respect.

Indigenous communities have suffered horribly as a result of residential schools.

Various Turkish people invaded southwest Asia during the Middle Ages and carved an empire for themselves from lands occupied by the indigenous Semitic and Indo-European inhabitants.

The sad truth is that mass migration, whatever the colour of the skins of those involved, upsets and worries indigenous people, especially the poorest.

Food sovereignty is an affirmation of who we are as indigenous peoples and a way, one of the most surefooted ways, to restore our relationship with the world around us.

Immigrants are not the real problem. The real problem is much more serious: intolerance and hatred of indigenous ethnic groups. You can prohibit immigration, but what can you do about non-Russian ethnic groups living in their native territories in Russia?

There hasn’t been that many indigenous Australians who have made it in the pop industry.

I’m just a little indigenous boy who likes to have a dance.

Forced labor affects the most vulnerable and least protected people, perpetuating a vicious cycle of poverty and dependency. Women, low-skilled migrant workers, children, indigenous peoples, and other groups suffering discrimination on different grounds are disproportionately affected.

I am a sports enthusiast, and if given an opportunity, I want to be a sportsman, even today. I want to promote the sport that is indigenous to India. Kabaddi is a matter of national pride. Why can’t cricket, hockey, football and kabaddi be given equal platforms and co-exist? I believe that can happen.

Here’s the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are literally millions of human beings whose lives have been snuffed out by people who conquered under the banner of a white god.

We are lagging far behind comparable countries in overcoming the disadvantages Indigenous people face.

For me, Cathy Freeman was definitely my idol and inspiration growing up. Everyone saw what she achieved on the track… but for me it was how she carried herself as an indigenous woman. For me, that’s what caught my eye and why I wanted to be like her.

Obviously, my Indigenous culture is very special to me.

My mother would drag me to remote clinics to show the indigenous Dayaks what a healthy baby should look like.

In reality, the pioneers of this transformation of the indigenous Zapatista woman are a merit of the women insurgents.

Yet there are thousands of Indigenous people searching for family members.

When it comes to nuclear technology, the Iranian people are very sensitive. It is a part of our national pride, and nuclear technology has become indigenous.

When something happens – good, bad or ugly – you find a way to be able to do your part for your community. How do you better the lives of Indigenous people, how do you give back to the land, how do you stay connected? All of this is the same question.

I am deeply committed to the cause of Indigenous Australians, and not just because of the Apology, but the big challenges which lie ahead in closing the gap.

Health economists have estimated that an injection of $250 million per year in Indigenous clinical care, and $50 million in preventative care, is required to provide services at the same level as for any other group with the health conditions of Indigenous Australians.

Our manufacturing in India has grown with a lot of indigenous strength.

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.

Statistically after six months, if an Indigenous or non-Indigenous person has come off welfare, even long-term welfare, and has stuck in that’s job for six months, then they’ve really broken in their own psychology the welfare reliance mentality. They’re up on their own two feet.

Well, I think indigenous peoples have ways of living on the Earth that they’ve had forever. And they’ve been overrun by organized religion, which has had a lot of money and power.

All the Indigenous paintings throughout history, they were always a bird’s eye view, it’s the Indigenous way of storytelling.

In my cosmology, indigenous wild deer are more important than exotic ornamental shrubs.

I can’t imagine what it must be like to be one of the indigenous people of the United States of America. I can’t imagine watching the news every day – as people debate whose country this is and who should be in charge of it and how to make it great again – and hardly ever see your people brought into the discussion.

As a proud Indigenous man I have a lot of things that are symbolic and have a lot of meaning to me.

In 2006, I entered the presidential palace in the main square of La Paz as the first indigenous president of Bolivia. Our government, under the slogan ‘Bolivia Changes,’ is committed to ending the colonialism, racism and exclusion that many of our people lived under for many centuries.

We have people that live in rural remote communities. They live in Indigenous communities in Queensland up to the Torres Strait and we have an obligation, a duty as a federation to ensure that all of these communities, all of these families have access to health.

There are certain regions in the country where the indigenous people eat dogs.

We’re addicted to this concept of civilization – we can’t imagine living outside of it because we’ve had it for 10,000 years, all of what we call history. But according to archaeologists, humanity has been on this planet for millions of years in indigenous form.

We hope the Bell Shakespeare Company will become an indigenous part of the Globe Shakespeare Centre in Australia.

We estimate that once Iraq acquires fissile material – whether from a foreign source or by securing the materials to build an indigenous fissile material capability – it could fabricate a nuclear weapon within one year.

Canada is a country of ingredients without a cuisine; we’re a country with musicians without an indigenous instrument; Toronto’s a city that doesn’t even have a dish named after it.

The term ‘pashmina’ is often used interchangeably with ‘cashmere,’ but in reality, pashmina is a specific type of very fine, lofty cashmere, woven from a specific type of goat – one indigenous to northern India, Nepal, and Pakistan, and harvested and woven there as well.

My assumption was that all indigenous architecture would be more fractal. My reasoning was that all indigenous architecture tends to be organized from the bottom up. As it turns out, though, my reasoning was wrong.

There is no way that we know what is going on between the African American and the Asian American. We don’t understand what an Indigenous American is. We don’t understand what a Latino American is.

The Malays can hardly be said to have an indigenous literature, for it is almost entirely derived from Persia, Siam, Arabia, and Java. Arabic is their sacred language.

The presidents and the founding fathers and all of the people we sort of raise up as false idols, we don’t wrestle with the fact that many of these were brilliant men, but they were also men with deep prejudices against people of color, against indigenous people, against women.

This idea of, oh, poor little black person, oh, poor little poor person, oh, poor little woman, oh, poor little indigenous person – everybody’s a poor little something! I don’t try and please everybody.

The thing we often forget to talk about, or perhaps we take for granted, is our country’s dazzling beauty. Our natural environment is so much a part of Australia’s art, writing, music and culture, both indigenous and non indigenous.

We need to move towards a truly just and equitable society by… making sure that every Canadian – whether they’re living in long-term care or they’re working part-time or they’re students or they’re Black or they’re Indigenous – whatever their circumstances, can live in dignity and security.

All definitions of wilderness that exclude people seem to me to be false. African ‘wilderness’ areas are racist because indigenous people are being cleared out of them so white people can go on holiday there.

If Canadians want to know what the Conservatives’ ideas are or plans are on the environment, on Indigenous reconciliation, on any issue that Canadians are looking for some leadership, we have to have a plan and an approach. We can’t just run on the economy.

A less icy Arctic is coming, and generally speaking, that’s not a good thing. Climate change is warming this region twice as fast as the global average, threatening wildlife and indigenous communities.

I believe that the debate of ‘Who should tell indigenous stories?’ is very important. It’s something that should be talked about. I’m totally up for that and if my work can be part of that debate, I’m thrilled.

I’m connected with my indigenous roots.

My family, we’re indigenous people from San Luis Potosi in Central Mexico. My father moved to Detroit and brought all of us because the automobile companies were paying great wages.

If you take a look at the breaches of rights, whether it’s the underfunding of education or health care, and all these issues which accentuate the poverty of Canada’s indigenous people, and the lack of reaction to them – it becomes clear that if Canadians understood what’s at stake, they wouldn’t stand for it.

Bengal’s indigenous art and craft is widely popular throughout the world.

I think we learned a lesson and paid a bitter price when we put troops on the ground on a long-term basis in Iraq and Afghanistan. Let us support a homegrown, indigenous, and locally inspired effort to bring stability to the region.

What we do to our native Australians, our own indigenous people, is nothing short of horrific.

There are no quick fixes to Indigenous poverty and social disaster.

I often wonder, when I hear some important speaker rattle off the rote land acknowledgements that have become the standard introduction for official events in this country, whether Indigenous people are getting sick of being constantly and dolefully reminded of who owns their land now.

I’d like to talk about free markets. Information in the computer age is the last genuine free market left on earth except those free markets where indigenous people are still surviving. And that’s basically becoming limited.

The problem with politicians getting to know the issues in indigenous townships is that we tend to suffer from what Aboriginal people call the ‘seagull syndrome’ – we fly in, scratch around and fly out.

Consequences of linear thinking in Afghanistan and Iraq included overestimating indigenous forces’ capabilities, underestimating the enemy, and the associated expectation that the coalition could soon reduce force levels and shift to an exclusively advisory effort.

If we tackle deforestation in the right way, the benefits will be far-reaching – greater food security, improved livelihoods for millions of small farmers and indigenous people, more prosperous rural economies, and above all, a more stable climate.

If we can reach populations in developing countries and help them understand the value of their indigenous diet and lifestyles rather than copying ours, perhaps we can reverse the exponential rise in cardiovascular disease that is plaguing them.

Indigenous lives matter.

That’s the way I do things when I want to celebrate, I always plant a tree. And so I got an indigenous tree, called Nandi flame, it has this beautiful red flowers. When it is in flower it is like it is in flame.

You have troubles with violent indigenous movement around the continent. Here, we are putting more power in their hands and creating a nonviolent indigenous society.

I enrolled to do a TAFE course on Indigenous Studies, and over the next two-and-a-half years of my course I learned so much about my people and my culture in a broader sense. It made me so proud of my Aboriginality and our history in this country, which dates back over 40,000 years.

Turkey tail mushrooms have been used to treat various maladies for hundreds of years in Asia, Europe, and by indigenous peoples in North America. Records of turkey tail brewed as medicinal tea date from the early 15th century, during the Ming Dynasty in China.

Sorry Day falls on the eve of Reconciliation Week, giving us the chance to ask whether we are making progress in the wider challenge of reconciling Indigenous and other Australians.

Through consciousness, our minds have the power to change our planet and ourselves. It is time we heed the wisdom of the ancient indigenous people and channel our consciousness and spirit to tend the garden and not destroy it.

No climate plan can leave workers and communities behind nor trample the rights of Indigenous communities. Canadians must have opportunity and income security during economic transformation.

Nebraska was home to indigenous peoples for centuries. It became a state in 1867, and has produced an important literary figure, Willa Cather, as well as an investor said to be the world’s second richest man, Warren Buffett.

Thousands of years ago, civilizations flourished in Africa which suffer not at all by comparison with those of other continents. In those centuries, Africans were politically free and economically independent. Their social patterns were their own and their cultures truly indigenous.

Canada has, entrenched in our Constitution, a world-leading recognition of Indigenous rights.

The scariness of manhood to males may be symbolically seen in the many stories of indigenous Australian boys who ran away and hid in the bush as the time of initiation approached.

I think we have to keep working enormously hard to see that every single Indigenous child – every Australian child – has true equality of opportunity. We’ve got to work harder at it. I think, you know, the heartland issue for us is the gap; the gap in life expectancy in this country.

There’s been moments where I’ve felt, as an indigenous woman growing up in Australia, there’s been that kind of rivalry of being indigenous… I’ve had that experience of someone saying, ‘I don’t know if she’s going to go that far.’

The way that I represent Australia and indigenous Australia affects other people as well from other cultures.

As it has for America’s other indigenous peoples, I believe the United States must fulfill its responsibility to Native Hawaiians.