Thunder Rolling in the Mountains

“On the backs of the running horses are soldiers […] their leader is Howard.”

Chief Joseph prophesies this vision to Sound of Running Feet. He has the power of foresight, and he can hear the white soldiers coming. Soon, they arrive and nothing for the Nez Perce is ever the same. This quote introduces one of the spiritual aspects of the story. Chief Joseph is accurate down to the name of the leader in his prophesy, suggesting that the spiritual connection to Wallowa holds factual merit.

“That is not good, to drive people from their homes.”

Chief Joseph says this to General Howard. He is trying to explain his connection to his homeland, but General Howard does not care of listen. It does not matter to him what Chief Joseph believes about his home when that land has value for white men. The quote suggests a lack of empathy on Howard’s part, likely because he doesn’t see the Native Americans as equals. 

“I have many names, but Thunder Rolling in the Mountains is the name that binds me forever to this Land of Wandering Waters.”

Chief Joseph says this to General Howard and his men when they come to demand the Nez Perce leave Wallowa. He is trying to explain his passion for his homeland—it literally gave him his name and his identity. The connection to one’s homeland is a major theme in the novel. 

“To escape them would be dodging hail in a hailstorm.”

Chief Joseph explains why they must do what the white men want: They are so large in number and can so easily find more men that there is no way for the Nez Perce to fight back. He uses this metaphor to explain the impossibility of escape to his people and point out the overwhelming odds. 

“This earth is my mother. You tell me to live like the white man and plow the land. Shall I take a knife and tear my mother’s bosom? […] The Spirit Chief gave no man the right to tell another man where he must live and where he must die.”

Too-hul-hul-sote speaks this into the hillside where the white men sit, waiting for the Nez Perce to cross the flooding river. He is enraged that they must leave Wallowa and also angry at the white man’s treatment of the land. He describes the earth as his mother to explain why he treats the land with respect and gentleness. This relationship with the land opposes the white men’s use of the land: the settlers want to use the land while the Nez Perce want to commune with it. 

“You’ll see I’m not a child playing warrior. You’ll be sorry for your words.”

The Nez Perce throw a party before they arrive in Lapwai to celebrate their freedom. At that party, Wah-lit-its becomes angry and is mocked for “playing warrior.” To prove himself, he slaughters white men and begins a war. His rash pride brings terror on his community and suggests that the Nez Perce aren’t entirely innocent in the war’s beginnings. 

“[A]ll the warriors have rifles. The soldiers won’t need them anymore.”

Swan Necklace explains the success of the Nez Perce in their early battle by describing the rifles they stole from the white soldiers. He is talking to Sound of Running Feet, who is pleased at the success of her people in war. This point also represents Swan Necklace’s character development from a passive artist to a warrior. Sound of Running Feet will later reject the rifles that they proudly discuss in this quote. 

“Fighting is for those who would stand against white soldiers.”

When tribe members tell Sound of Running Feet she cannot fight because she is a woman, she is angry. She refuses that women cannot fight—she wants to stand with her people against white men. She doesn’t see her gender difference as a reason for abstaining from war, and her quote here puts it in simple terms: fighting is for anyone on the Nez Perce side. 

“The white settlers are like the sands of the river. No matter how many we kill, more come[.] […] We must protect our women and children, even if it means we are strangers in the land.”

Chief Joseph says this to his people to persuade them to flee rather than fight. He wants to fight for his homeland, as Sound of Running Feet desires, but he is more willing to be far away from home and live rather than watch his people die. Here, O’Dell points out the futility of resisting colonization: there are too many to fight, and they have far superior weapons. 

“All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. Yet we shoot one another down like animals.”

This quote appears twice in the novel—first Chief Joseph says it to indicate the brutality of men against one another. Later, Sound of Running Feet remembers it and chooses to put down her rifle and not shoot Charging Hawk. She wants to end that unnecessary violence. The quote suggests an equality that the white settlers haven’t considered bestowing on Native Americans. 

“As we wrapped them in soft buffalo robes, we wailed songs of mourning. The sounds pierced the air as our loss pierced our hearts.”

Sound of Running Feet describes the scene as she and her people bury the dead after a particularly brutal battle. They bury the dead in shallow graves and sing. They cannot linger, for their people are in danger. This quote points out the humanity of the tribe and makes their plight sympathetic. 

“A new spirit ran through the camp, some of the same spirit we had before the white general came.”

After a victorious raid on the soldiers in which the Nez Perce steal all of Howard’s mules, the spirits in the camp are much higher. It feels as if the Nez Perce might be victorious, against all odds.

“Ne-mee-poo women do not fight.”

Lean Elk, the new war chief, tells Sound of Running Feet the above quote. He is angry at Sound of Running Feet for witnessing the raid and blames her that the whites awoke before the raiders were able to steal all of the horses. She feels enraged at his statement, as her fate is just as tied to the tribe as his is. This quote develops the theme of the power of women and gender roles in Native American culture. 

“It puzzled me to see that white women acted no different from women of the Ne-mee-poo.”

Sound of Running Feet meets two white women, who the Nez Perce captured. They stay with the tribe for a few days, and Sound of Running Feet is surprised to see them act the same way as Native women—comforting each other and hoping for peace. This quote suggests that white people are not too different from Native Americans. It also connects to Quote 15 in that women are the innocent bystanders in war and are not to participate or have a say. They may, in this case, only hope for peace.

“Now all the tribes are enemies […] We hate ourselves.”

After the Crow refuse to help the Nez Perce, the tribe meets, and they reflect on the way that the whites have driven tribes apart. Rather than band together against the white invaders, the tribes are hedging their bets against one another. In the face of overwhelming odds, each tribe must consider what is best for their own people. 

“They were no longer our brothers, so we took their horses and left our worn-out ponies behind.”

Further indication of the split between the Crow and the Nez Perce comes when the Nez Perce steal the Crow’s horses. They no longer see the Crow as “brothers,” but rather enemies who deserve no respect, even though the Crow are victims of the settlers as well. 

“I wondered if the ugly moon was a warning from the Great Spirit. Was it blood I saw on the rising moon?”

Just before the most violent battle of the novel, Sound of Running Feet sees a blood-red moon. She is worried, like Looking Glass, about the safety of her people in a wide-open prairie. The quote foreshadows the events of the next morning when the settlers ambush and slaughter the Nez Perce. 

“As I dug with my camas hook I wondered if we would ever be safe.”

During the battle, the women and children dig holes in gullies for their people to hide from the cannon fire of the white soldiers. For Sound of Running Feet, it feels as if peace will never return—she wonders if her people will ever be safe. The quote speaks to the hopelessness of the Nez Perce’s situation. 

“They said that the soldier had good food, a warm bed, and good treatment. He hoped that the Blue Coats were treating Chief Joseph the same way.”

Captain Jerome writes this in a note to his fellow soldiers after the Nez Perce capture him in retribution for the capture of Chief Joseph. The Nez Perce treat him well and with respect, and he suspects the settlers are not treating Chief Joseph the same way. This moment suggests that the Nez Perce are still honorable in the face of battle. After several dishonest war tactics from the settlers, it’s difficult to tell whether the Nez Perce will stick to these honorable traditions or will adopt the settler’s cruel methods as they have their weaponry.

“I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”

This is a devastating line from Chief Joseph as he surrenders to the white soldiers. His people are starving and running out of ammunition. The old and sick are dying. He speaks this quote to indicate he can no longer fight the whites for the sake of his people. His comment that his heart is sick foreshadows his death by heartbreak. 

“Better we die together than trust ourselves to those who speak with two tongues.”

Swan Necklace says this to Sound of Running Feet as they flee their camp. He refers to the duplicity of the whites; he does not believe they will be safe even in surrender, suggesting they’ve learned of the settler’s dishonest tactics. Ironically, Swan Necklace will soon die by another tribe that tells him he is their brother; a tribe that truly “speaks with two tongues.”

“I laid him in a shallow grave and chanted a song of mourning. The death of Swan Necklace had taken my heart away. In my breast where my heart once beat was a piece of cold stone.”

After Charging Hawk kills Swan Necklace, Sound of Running Feet buries him. She mourns his death; this death, of her lover, is the last straw in a long year of grief and devastation.

“He was also a man without shame, I thought. He had eaten with Swan Necklace and slept in the same tipi. Yet he killed his guest to get a rifle.”

Sound of Running Feet reflects on her thoughts on Charging Hawk. His mother insists on his goodness and his strength as a man and a warrior, but Sound of Running Feet knows that Charging Hawk is unethical, that he lacks shame. As such, he cannot be a good man.