While Living I Want To Live Well.

I Was No Chief And Never Had Been, But Because I Had Been More Deeply Wronged Than Others, This Honor Was Conferred Upon Me, And I Resolved To Prove Worthy Of The Trust.

I Was Born On The Prairies Where The Wind Blew Free And There Was Nothing To Break The Light Of The Sun. I Was Born Where There Were No Enclosures.

The Song That I Will Sing Is An Old Song, So Old That None Knows Who Made It. It Has Been Handed Down Through Generations And Was Taught To Me When I Was But A Little Lad. It Is Now My Own Song. It Belongs To Me. This Is A Holy Song (medicine-song), And Great Is Its Power. The Song Tells How, As I Sing, I Go Through The Air To A Holy Place Where Yusun (the Supreme Being) Will Give Me Power To Do Wonderful Things. I Am Surrounded By Little Clouds, And As I Go Through The Air I Change, Becoming Spirit Only.

I Am Not Ashamed To Be A Christian, And I Am Glad To Know That The President Of The United States Is A Christian, For Without The Help Of The Almighty I Do Not Think He Could Rightly Judge In Ruling So Many People. I Have Advised All Of My People Who Are Not Christians, To Study That Religion, Because It Seems To Me The Best Religion In Enabling One To Live Right.

Since My Life As A Prisoner Has Begun I Have Heard The Teachings Of The White Man's Religion, And In Many Respects Believe It To Be Better Than The Religion Of My Fathers