Way-Hi

In the South Dakota summer sun

In Nineteen twenty-five

I was born the son of a Sioux and his wife

I was barely, just barely alive

Yeah the midwife slapped my red behind

I opened my lungs and cried

And how many times have I cried to myself

And wished that that infant had died?

Cho: Way-hi! My spirit’s not dyin’

But it sleeps on the prairie with no place to go

Way-hi! Wake up Wok-on-Tonka!

It’s too late for me, but my children must know

After fifteen year I went on the road

From a distance of time I could see

My father insane and my brothers in chains

And my tribe not much different from me

And I served in the Air Force for nigh on four years

In Berlin I was treated okay

But back in Dakota the Germans have homes

Where Injuns no longer can stay

Chorus

And then I was married and fought to raise kids

But my children could not be for me

By the church they were raise and by Jesus

     were saved

From an ignorant savage like me

But we’re learning in Taos to stand on our own

We’re learning in Alcatraz

Our children will teach us, our spirits will lead us

To fight as we did in the past!

Chorus (2x)

Written by Bob Abrahams, © 1979, Goose Drool Music (ASCAP)

On Draw The Line – www.peteralsop.com