OCTOBER 26:

1995 Quebec Quebec - Quebec Cree and Inuit First Nations hold a referendum and reject Quebec sovereignty.

1987 Ottawa Ontario - Ottawa adopts the Meech Lake Accord.

October 26, 1877:  Chief Joseph's "I will fight no more" speech was first printed on this date.

1876 St-François-Xavier, Manitoba - Metis songwriter Pierre Falcon dies at age 83; known as Pierriche or Pierre the Rhymer, born at Elbow Fort near Swan River June 4, 1793, son of a North West Company employee and a Cree woman; educated in Montreal, then worked as a clerk for the NWC and the Hudson's Bay Company; retired to Grantown, on the White Horse Plain, where he farmed and served as a magistrate; wrote rousing songs about his work, daily life and major Metis events; best known work is La Chanson de la Grenouillère, about the battle of Seven Oaks.

1678 Quebec Quebec - 'Brandy Parliament' votes 15-5 to open up liquor trade to Indians; no restrictions placed on liquor trade in New France. 
 

BACKGROUND:
 

Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce (c 1840-1904) was known to his people as "Thunder Traveling to the Loftier Mountain Heights."  He led his people in an attempt to resist the takeover of their lands in the Oregon Territory by white settlers.  In 1877, the Nez Perce were ordered to move to a reservation in Idaho.  Chief Joseph agreed at first. But after members of his tribe killed a group of settlers, he tried to flee to Canada with his followers, traveling over 1500 miles through Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana.  Along the way they fought several battles with the pursuing U.S. Army.  Chief Joseph spoke these words when they finally surrendered on October 5, 1877.
 

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>From http://www.nezperce.com/npedu11.html
 

"Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told me before I have in my heart. I am tired of fighting; Looking Glass is dead; Too-Hul-hul-sote is dead; the old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led on the young men is dead. It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food; no one knows where they are - perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever." 1
 

1 Brown, Mark H., The Flight of the Nez Perce, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, 1967, p. 407.

Historical Note: Mark Brown may have been one of the first Historians to question whether or not Joseph actually gave the surrender speech as taken by Lieutenant C. E. S. Wood. Or, did Lt. Wood paraphrase Joseph's words?

It should be noted that the speech is consistent with Joseph's eloquence as a speaker. It is reasonable to assume that the surrender speech was very near what Lt. Wood reported or perhaps edited slightly as Lt. Wood was later trying to recall and document Joseph's words. It should also be noted that Lt. Wood made the transcription of the speech at time of delivery and that both Lt. Wood and General Howard may have edited the transcription.