Vine Deloria Jr.

“When asked by an anthropologist what the Indians called America before the white man came, an Indian said simply, "Ours."”

“When ecologists find a predictable life-span of a generation separating us from total extinction, it would seem that we have a duty to search for another interpretation of mankind’s life story.”

“Before any final solution to American history can occur, a reconciliation must be effected between the spiritual owner of the land – American Indians – and the political owner of the land – American Whites. Guilt and accusations cannot continue to revolve in a vacuum without some effort at reaching a solution.”

“The idea that religion was conceived as originally designed for a particular people relating to a specific god falls well within the experiences of the rest of humankind and may conceivably be considered a basic factor in the existence of religion.”

“[Perhaps] a religious universality cannot be successfully maintained across racial and ethnic lines...ethnicity will almost always triumph.”

“Most tribal religions make no pretense as to their universality...”

“The very conception of a Chosen People implies a lost religious ethnicity. Most likely religions do not in fact cross national and ethnic lines without losing their power and identity. It is probably more in the nature of things to have different groups with different religions”

“Besides the importance of land and religion, the existence of a specific religion among a distinct group of people is probably a fundamental element of human experience.”