Song Of The Nez Perce
Lenny Anderson
Chorus
Soar Like The Eagl E, Dive Like The Hawk
Listen To The Drums Of The Nez Perce People
Listen To The Mountains Talk.
Verse
In The High Wallowa Valley, The Nez Perce People Lived
They Took The Game, The Fish And Roots, The Things That Nature Gives
And They Moved With The Seasons, For A Millenia Or More.
And They Fought When They Had To Fight,
For They Knew The Way Of War
Then The White Men Came, Lewis And Clark, And The Missionaries Too.
Followed By Hungry Miners, And Scoundrels Selling Booze.
And The Troubles, They Were Bound To Come, As They Had Come Before.
But The Nez Perce Said They’d Never Shed
The White Man’s Blood In War.
Settlers Come From Over The Hill, For A Place To Call Their Own
Passing The Poles Old Joseph Left To Mark The Borders Of His Homeland
And The Treaty Rights Of The Nez Perce, The Simply Did Ignore,
Young Joseph Said, We Want Peace Not War.
For 10 Long Years, The Settlers Came, Despite The Nez Perce Pleas,
They Came And Went, And They Grazed Their Stock, Just Where And When They Pleased.
Until A Young Warrior Was Shot Down, They Said He Stole A Horse.
Young Joseph Calmed His Men,
Saying "We Don’t Want War”
Though They Never Signed That Treaty, That Robbed Them Of Their Lands.
The Army Come And It Ordered Them, Their Camps There To Disband
And With Springs Rising Rivers, They Had 30 Days, No More
But Jospeh Said They Would Comply, ‘Cause They Did Not Want War.
Chorus
Soar Like The Eagl E, Dive Like The Hawk
Listen To The Drums Of The Nez Perce People
Listen To The Mountains Talk.
Verse
Young Warriors Rode, In The Night, Angry With The White Man’s Greed.
In The Salmon River Settlements, They Left Some Whites To Bleed.
And Now There Was No Turning Back, They’d Passed Through A One Way Door.
And With The Army In Pursuit, The Nez Perce Geared For War.
At White Bird And Clear Water, They Turned Back The Calvary Charge.
And Other Bands Joined The Fight, The Rebeliion Did Enlarge
And In Armed Retreat Through Lolo Pass, To The Bitter Root Vallely Floor
For Their Women And Their Children, The Nez Perce Fought This War.
In The Early Dawn At Big Hole, Soldiers Surprised Them In Their Sleep.
They Fought Back In Desperation, But Now They Had More Cause To Weep.
For Many Braves Were Lost That Day, And The Nez Perce Hearts Were Sore.
For They Won The Fight, But Resumed Their Flight, ‘Cause The Could Not Win This War
So On They Fled To Yellowstone, The Country Of The Crow.
A People Who Had Once Been Friends Now Scouted For Their Foes
Then North Across Montana, Toward Canada’s Peaceful Shore
For Only In That Northern Land, Could They Escape This War
They Were One Days Ride From Safety, In The Great Queen Mother’s Land.
At Lonely Bear’s Paw Mountain, They Made Their Final Stand.
They Were Caught In Closing Jaw, Of Armies Of A Hundred Score
And Joseph Said, Holding High His Head.
We Will Fight Not More, Forever.
Chorus
Soar Like The Eagl E, Dive Like The Hawk
Listen To The Drums Of The Nez Perce People
Listen To The Mountains Talk.
Verse
Now Promises Were Made That Day, A Hundred Years Ago
That The Nez Perce Could Return Again To Their Lands In Idaho
But Still They Languish Exiles, And Still Their Hearts Are Sore.
Victims Of Our Forefathers Genocidal War
Chorus
Soar Like The Eagl E, Dive Like The Hawk
Listen To The Drums Of The Nez Perce People
Listen To The Mountains Talk
Soar Like The Eagl E, Dive Like The Hawk
Listen To The Drums Of The Nez Perce People
Listen To The Mountains Talk.
