They were All Our Fathers

We respected our old people above all
others in the tribe. To live to be so old
they must have been brave and strong,
and good fighters, and we aspired to
be like them. We never allowed our old
people to want for anything . . . We
looked upon our old people as
demigods of a kind, we loved them
deeply. They were all our fathers
-BUFFALO CHILD LONG LANCE,
1890-1932