You can learn a lot about the values and traditions of a culture by its proverbs.
Proverbs are simple, traditional sayings that express a perceived truth based on common sense or experience.
They are often metaphorical and are easily transmitted by oral traditions so they become key phrases repeated in a culture.
Here are some of the most thought-provoking Native American Proverbs to contemplate:
1. Life is not separate from death. It only looks that way.
— Blackfoot Proverb
2. “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”
― Iroquois Proverb
3. “The one who tells the stories rules the world.”
― Hopi Proverb
4. “Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past, wisdom is of the future.”
― Lumbee Proverb
5. “One finger cannot lift a pebble.”
― Hopi Proverb
6. “A people without a history is like the wind over buffalo grass.”
― Sioux Proverb
7. “If we wonder often, the gift of knowledge will come. If we never wonder, knowledge will never find us.”
― Arapaho Proverb
8. “It is better to have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand.”
― Apache Proverb
9. When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.
― Cherokee Proverb
10. We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.
― Dakota Proverb
11. You can’t wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.
― Navajo Proverb
12. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself.
― Minquass Proverb
13. It is easy to be brave from a distance.
― Omaha Proverb
14. A good chief gives, he does not take.
― Mohawk Proverb
15. Don’t be afraid to cry. It will free your mind of sorrowful thoughts.
― Hopi Proverb
16. Before eating, always take time to thank the food.
― Arapaho Proverb
17. Poverty is a noose that strangles humility and breeds disrespect for God and man.
― Sioux Proverb
18. They are not dead who live in the hearts they leave behind.
― Tuscarora Proverb
19. All plants are our brothers and sisters. They talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them.
― Arapaho Proverb
20. All who have died are equal.
― Comanche Proverb
21. All dreams spin out from the same web.
― Hopi Proverb
22. “Man’s law changes with his understanding of man. Only the laws of the spirit remain always the same.”
― Crow Proverb
23. “Everything the power does, it does in a circle.”
― Lakota Proverb
24. “With all things and in all things, we are relatives.”
― Sioux Proverb
25. “A brave man dies only once, a coward dies many times”.
― Iowa Proverb
26. When we show our respect for other living things, they respond with respect for us.
― Arapaho Proverb
27. Ask questions from your heart and you will be answered from the heart.
– Omaha Tribe
28. It is no longer good enough to cry peace, we must act peace, live peace and live in peace.
– Shenandoah Tribe
29. Man has responsibility, not power.”
– Tuscarora Tribe
30. Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today.
– Cherokee Proverb
31. It is less of a problem to be poor than to be dishonest.
– Anishinabe Proverb
32. It is easy to be brave from a distance.
– Omaha Proverb
33. Remember that your children are not your own, but are lent to you by the Creator.
― Mohawk
34. A man or woman with many children has many homes.
― Lakota Sioux
35. The heart is your center, being from your center outward.
— Anishinaabe Proverb
Here are some more Native American Proverbs where I can’t find the source among a specific tribe or cultural group.
36. Do not pray when it is raining if you do not pray when the sun is shining.
— Native American Proverb
37. Do not change horses in the middle of the river.
— Native American Proverb
38. Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture the heart.
— Native American Proverb
39. When the White man wins, it is a battle, when the Indian wins, it is a massacre.
— Native American Proverb
40. No river can return to its source, yet all rivers must have a beginning.
— Native American Proverb
41. Even your silence holds a sort of prayer.
— Native American Proverb
42. Showing kindness to a stranger is a gift that is always returned.
— Native American Proverb
43. Don’t walk behind me;
I may not lead.
Don’t walk in front of me;
I may not follow.
Walk beside me
that we may be as one.
— Native American Proverb
44. Listen to the wind, it talks.
Listen to the silence, it speaks.
Listen to your heart, it knows.
— Native American Proverb
45. A community that lacks faith in itself cannot survive.
— Native American Proverb
- The Ancient History Of Mexico’s Sacred Valley of Tepoztlán - October 3, 2024
- Mexico’s Pyramid of Cholula Is The World’s Largest Pyramid - October 3, 2024
- 7 Dream Herbs For Enhancing Sleep And Lucid Dreaming - October 3, 2024