Quotessence
Home / Authors / Russell Means
Russell Means

Russell Means Quotes

Activist

Filter quotes by topic

AllIndianPeopleAmerican IndianHumansHuman BeingsWayAmericaFreedomIfsKnowsWantCountryGovernmentYoungAmerican Indian MovementEnvironmentHas BeensMovementPolicyStates

Famous Russell Means Quotes

“Even though the American Indian Movement on a national-international scale has proven to be extremely dysfunctional, the American Indian Movement I was associated with I'm very proud of. We were a revolutionary, militant organization whose purpose was spirituality first, and that's how I want to be remembered.”

WantFirstsPurposeSpiritualityMovementProudOrganizationInternationalScalesIndianRememberedRevolutionaryProvenAmerican IndianMilitantAmerican Indian Movement
Author:Russell Means
Create image

“Before AIM, Indians were dispirited, defeated, and culturally dissolving. People were ashamed to be Indian. You didn't see the young people wearing braids or chokers or ribbon shirts in those days. Hell, I didn't wear 'em. People didn't Sun Dance, they didn't Sweat, they were losing their languages. Then there was that spark at Alcatraz, and we took off. Man, we took a ride across this country. We put Indians and Indian rights smack dab in the middle of the public consciousness for the first time since the so-called Indian wars.”

PeopleMenFirstsWarCountryYoungLanguageConsciousnessSunHellRightsMiddleLosingFirst TimeAimIndianShirtsAshamedEmsSparksSweatDefeatedAmerican IndianRibbonsSmackDissolvingBraidsDabsAlcatrazChokers
Author:Russell Means
Create image

“[The is] a mistaken belief that [the word Indian] refers somehow to the country, India. When Columbus washed up on the beach in the Caribbean, he was not looking for a country called India. Europeans were calling that country Hindustan in 1492.... Columbus called the tribal people he met "Indio," from the Italian in dio, meaning "in God."”

PeopleCountryBeliefCallingMetsIndiaIndianBeachNativeItalianNative AmericanMistakenColumbusCaribbeanDio
Author:Russell Means
Create image

“You see the one thing I've always maintained is that I'm an American Indian. I'm not a Native American. I'm not politically correct. Everyone who's born in the Western Hemisphere is a Native American. We are all Native Americans. And if you notice, I put American before my ethnicity. I'm not a hyphenated African-American or Irish-American or Jewish-American or Mexican-American.”

IfsBornOne ThingWesternAfrican AmericanIndianNativeNative AmericanMexicanEthnicityAmerican IndianPolitically CorrectHemisphereMexican American
Author:Russell Means
Create image