Black Kettle

“This war did not spring up here in our land; this war was brought upon us by the children of the Great Father who came to take our land from us without price, and who, in our land, do a great many evil things. The Great Father and his children are to blame for this trouble. . . . It has been our wish to live here in our country peaceably, and do such things as may be for the welfare and good of our people, but the Great Father has filled it with soldiers who think only of our death. Some of our people who have gone from here in order that they may have a change, and others who have gone north to hunt, have been attacked by the soldiers from the other side, and now when they are willing to come back the soldiers stand betweenthem to keep them from coming home. It seems to me there is a better way than this. When people come to trouble, it is a better for both parties to come together without arms and talk it over and find some peaceful way to settle it.