'GREAT WHITE FATHER'
A poem by Buddy Black
How could we do
The things we’ve done,
We stole their land
We stole their sun.
A poem by Buddy Black
How could we do
The things we’ve done,
We stole their land
We stole their sun.
We traded beads
For meadows green
For mountain tops
And crystal streams.
We shook them from
Their tents at night,
And filled their hearts
With death and fright.
Then scattered all their dreams around,
And burned and plowed
their hunting grounds,
And took away their rights.
And all in the name
Of the Great White Father
Was all that it would take.
Their earth gods cried
But all in vain
‘cause the round eyes came,
And came, and came.
They smiled and lied
With bright blue eyes,
We promised the world
But gave them lies.
Their tree gods cried
As we cleared their lands,
And brought death and reek
With our greedy hands.
We felt no guilt,
We knew no pain,
As we soaked their land like summer rain
With the products of our lies.
We wove a quilt
Of human souls
And stole their robes
From wigwam poles.
We spread those quilts
On our sorry beds
Cast from treaties,
And bullet leads.
And all in the name
Of the Great White Father
Was all that it would take.
Treaties were penned in native blood
But it could not stop
The human flood
That swept out from the east.
Have no fear
Cried the Great White Father,
We just want the hills
We’ll go no further.
The Red man
Was blinded by the scheming lies
That hid behind
Our evil eyes.
And in the name
Of the Great White Father
Was all that it would take.
Soon the lowly hills
Were breeched,
The mountains fell
And the plains were reached.
And the long knives came
With a bugles blare that chilled the land,
And froze the fire
That burned in the hearts of Americas Native man.
After we schemed and lied
And killed and took,
We planted lies
In history books.
We gave them Jesus
To save their souls
And protests were met
With bullet holes.
And all in the name
Of the Great White Father
Was all that it would take.
In the end
No one wanted this poor red man
So we threw him a plot
Of wasted land.
Where nothing would grow
In the sterile sand,
Especially the soul
Of our Native man.
So grovel in the dirt
And eat the sand,
And enjoy the gift
Of the great white man.
And all in the name
Of the Great White Father
Was all that it would take. :/
For meadows green
For mountain tops
And crystal streams.
We shook them from
Their tents at night,
And filled their hearts
With death and fright.
Then scattered all their dreams around,
And burned and plowed
their hunting grounds,
And took away their rights.
And all in the name
Of the Great White Father
Was all that it would take.
Their earth gods cried
But all in vain
‘cause the round eyes came,
And came, and came.
They smiled and lied
With bright blue eyes,
We promised the world
But gave them lies.
Their tree gods cried
As we cleared their lands,
And brought death and reek
With our greedy hands.
We felt no guilt,
We knew no pain,
As we soaked their land like summer rain
With the products of our lies.
We wove a quilt
Of human souls
And stole their robes
From wigwam poles.
We spread those quilts
On our sorry beds
Cast from treaties,
And bullet leads.
And all in the name
Of the Great White Father
Was all that it would take.
Treaties were penned in native blood
But it could not stop
The human flood
That swept out from the east.
Have no fear
Cried the Great White Father,
We just want the hills
We’ll go no further.
The Red man
Was blinded by the scheming lies
That hid behind
Our evil eyes.
And in the name
Of the Great White Father
Was all that it would take.
Soon the lowly hills
Were breeched,
The mountains fell
And the plains were reached.
And the long knives came
With a bugles blare that chilled the land,
And froze the fire
That burned in the hearts of Americas Native man.
After we schemed and lied
And killed and took,
We planted lies
In history books.
We gave them Jesus
To save their souls
And protests were met
With bullet holes.
And all in the name
Of the Great White Father
Was all that it would take.
In the end
No one wanted this poor red man
So we threw him a plot
Of wasted land.
Where nothing would grow
In the sterile sand,
Especially the soul
Of our Native man.
So grovel in the dirt
And eat the sand,
And enjoy the gift
Of the great white man.
And all in the name
Of the Great White Father
Was all that it would take. :/
