Palin Book Attributes Leftist Native-American's Quote to UCLA's John Wooden

david-sessions

David Sessions

Washington Reporter
Posted:
12/1/09
Chapter 3 of Sarah Palin's memoir, "Going Rogue: An American Life," begins with a quote that the book attributes to legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden:
"Our land is everything to us. . . . I will tell you one of the things we remember on our land. We remember our grandfathers paid for it -- with their lives."
But as The Huffington Post's Geoffrey Dunn reports, the quote is actually from John Wooden Legs, a Native American activist. The words come from the book "We Are the People: Voices From the Other Side of American History," an anthology of left-wing essays. The full quote reveals that the Cheyenne chief was referring to his tribe's defeat of Gen. George Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn:
"Our land is everything to us. It is the only place in the world where Cheyennes talk the Cheyenne language to each other. It is the only place where Cheyennes remember the same things together. I will tell you one of the things we remember on our land. We remember our grandfathers paid for it -- with their life. My people and the Sioux defeated General Custer at the Little Bighorn."
Gawker reports that the quote is misattributed to John Wooden on a popular quotations site, where Palin or her ghost writer might have found it.