March 20, 1871 - a great day in Morley, Alberta. It was on that day that little Tatanga Mani (Walking Buffalo) was, born. In the years that followed, he was adopted by white missionary John McDougall, educated in white men's schools, returned to the reserve at Morley to advise and guide his people, and finally in his old age, was asked to act as an emissary of peace on behalf of the Canadian Government.

Hear his words;

"Nobody tries to make the coyotes act like beavers, or the eagles behave like robins. Christians see themselves as set apart from the rest of the animal and plant world by superiority, even as a special creation. Perhaps the principles of brotherhood which the world urgently needs come more easily to the Indian. "

"Do you know that trees talk? Well, they do. They talk to each other, and they'll talk to you, if you will listen. Trouble is, white people don't listen. They never listened to the Indians, and so I don't suppose they'll listen to the other voices in nature. But I have learned a lot from trees, sometimes about the weather, sometimes about animals, sometimes about the Great Spirit.

"We were lawless people but we were on pretty good terms with the Great Spirit, creator and ruler of all. You whites assumed we were savages. You didn't understand our prayers. You didn't try to understand. When we sang or: praises to the sun or moon or wind, you said we were worshipping idols. Without understanding, you condemned us as lost souls just because our form of worship was different from yours.

"We saw the Great Spirit's work in almost everything: sun, moon, trees, wind, and mountains. Sometimes we approached him through these things. Was that so bad? I think we have a true belief in the supreme being, a stronger faith than that of most of the whites who have called us pagans. The red savages have always lived closer to nature than have the white savages. Nature is the book of that great power which one man calls God and which we call the Great Spirit. But, what difference does a name make?

To all Indians, he said: "You see, we lost our land and our freedom, but we don't have to lose all our Indian ways and habits. As good Indians, we can make a substantial contribution to Canadian culture. It may not have occurred to many white men that red, black, and yellow peoples might have some good ideas about satisfying the world's needs. 1'll never try to justify the foolish fighting and scalping my people did, but in some ways, we had better ways of living. At least we kept our fighting to small wars, whereas the so-called civilized whites go in for big conflicts. "There's a lot of madness in the white man's world. We think whites would be better off to slow down and live closer to the soil and forests and growing things, instead of galloping around like stampeding buffaloes in cutback country. If they would take some of our advice, they might find a contentment which they had not discovered in their mad rush for money and for the pleasures which they think it will buy."

To all White Men, he said: "It's strange, but in trying to find solutions to Indian problems, the authorities speak to nearly everybody but Indians. Many of us could offer sound advice on this question. But remember, we're proud of our race, and we want to continue to be Indians. I was born with a bronze skin and I like it. Some of my friends were born white or black or yellow. They were not consulted. But that's all right. There are yellow roses, white roses, and red roses and the fragrance of one is about as nice as another. I hope my children will live in a world where people of all colors can sit and work together without having to conform completely to the majority's will . . . You must accept us as Indians who want to be Indians and who are proud to be Indians. "

Death claimed our wise brother December 26, 1967, and the entire world mourned. Any fool can be quarrelsome and belligerent. Being half good and half bad takes neither effort nor skill. But being a man of peace requires bravery.