September 18, 2026

No Eagle Need Be A Crow

I am a red man. If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place. He put in your heart certain wishes and plans, in my heart he put other and different desires. Each man is good in his sight. It is not necessary for eagles to be crows.

Sitting Bull, the Hunkpapa Lakota leader, spoke these words during the years when U.S. agents pressed his people to farm, pray, and dress like white settlers. He had already led his people through war and exile, and now faced a quieter battle over what a good life was supposed to look like. Rather than argue policy, he pointed to something plain and undeniable: an eagle does not need to become a crow to be complete. That plainness is the whole point today, when so much pressure comes from adding roles and opinions we never actually needed.