Oil on Canvas, 24" X 30"

"I have heard talk and talk,
but nothing is done.

Good words do not last long
unless they amount to something.

Words do not pay for my dead people,
they do not pay for my country,
they do not protect my father's grave.

Good words will not give me back my children.

Good words willl not give my people good health
and stop them from dying.

I am tired of talk that leads to nothing.

It makes my heart sick when I remember
all the good words and all the broken promises."

-- Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce

From a speech given in 1870
at Lincoln Hall, Washington D.C.,
recalling his people's tragic flight for freedom.