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Ballad Of Crowfoot
Willie Dunn
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Comes the spring and its warm thaw
Around your neck, the eagle claw
Upon your head the buffalo horn
Today a great new chief is born
So raise them fast towards the sun
A heart now beats, a life's begun
It's 1821
Today a Blackfoot soul is born
Crowfoot, Crowfoot, why the tears?
You've been a brave man for many years
Why the sadness? Why the sorrow?
Maybe there'll be a better tomorrow
ย
The years have gone, the years have passed
Your heart is set, your soul is cast
You stand before the council fire
You have the mind and the desire
Of notions wise you speak so well
And in brave deeds you do excel
And it's 1853
And you stand the chief of Confederacy
You are the leader, you are the chief
You stand against both the liar and thief
They trade, raise whiskey, steal your land
And they're coming in swift like the wind-blown sand
They shoot the buffalo, kill the game
And send their preachers into shame
And it's 1864
And you think of peace and you think of war
ย
You see a settler in more number
He takes whatever he encounters
You've seen the Sioux all battered, beaten
They're all in rags, they haven't eaten
The Nez Perce were much the same
It seems like such a heartless game
And it's 1876
And the enemy's full of those death-dealing tricks
Today the treaty stands on the table
Will you sign it? Are you able?
It offers food and protection too
Do you really think they'll hold it true?
It offers a reserve, now isn't that grand?
And in return you cede all of your land
And it's 1877
And you know the scales are so uneven
Crowfoot, Crowfoot, why the tears?
You've been a brave man for many years
Why the sadness? Why the sorrow?
Maybe there'll be a better tomorrow
ย
Well, the buffalo are slaughtered, there's nothing to eat
The government's played again with the meat
And your people are riddled with the white man's disease
And in the summer you're sick and in the winter you freeze
And sometimes you wonder why you signed that day
But they broke the treaties themselves anyway
And it's 1889
And your death star explodes and then it falls
ย
Crowfoot, Crowfoot, why the tears?
You've been a brave man for many years
Why the sadness? Why the sorrow?
Maybe there'll be a better tomorrow
ย
The years have gone, the years have flown
The nation since has swiftly grown
But yet for the native, it's all the same
There's still the hardship, there's still the pain
There's still the hardship, there's still the strife
Its bitterness shines like a whetted knife
There's still the hypocrisy and the hate
Was that in the treaties? Is that the fate?
We're all unhappy pawns in the government's game
And it's always the native who gets the blame
It's a problem which money can never lessen
And it's 1971
Crowfoot, Crowfoot, why the tears?
You've been a brave man for many years
Why the sadness? Why the sorrow?
Maybe there'll be a better tomorrow
Maybe one day you'll find honesty
Instead of the usual treachery
Perhaps one day the truth may prevail
And the warmth of love which it does entail
Crowfoot, Crowfoot, why the tears?
You've been a brave man for many years
Why the sadness? Why the sorrow?
Maybe there'll be a better tomorrow
ย