Indian Hunter (III), The

DESCRIPTION: "Why does the white man follow my path?" The white man has taken enough but wants more. "... [t]he white man wrongs the one Who never did harm to him"
AUTHOR: Eliza Cook (1818-1889) in 1837 (source: Thomson-Pioneer citing Spaeth,_A History of Popular Music in America_); tune by Henry Russell (source: Jon W. Finson, _The Voices That Are Gone: Themes in Nineteenth-Century American Popular Song_, Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 246)
EARLIEST DATE: 1856 (Thompson-APioneerSongster)
KEYWORDS: greed lament nonballad Indians(Am.)
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Thompson-APioneerSongster 77, "The Indian Hunter" (1 text)
Wolf-AmericanSongSheets, #1044, p. 71, "Indian Hunter No. 2" (1 reference)
Dime-Song-Book #4/72, p. 50 and #4/64, p. 50, "Indian Hunter" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Jon W. Finson, _The Voices That Are Gone: Themes in Nineteenth-Century American Popular Song_, Oxford University Press, 1994, pp. 246-248 (1 partial text, 1 partial tune, plus notes)
Roud #2843
NOTES [94 words]: Finson's notes point out a genuine irony in this song: Cook's ode to the noble savage contrasts sharply with Russell's florid arrangement, which has similarities to Italian opera. Although even Cook's text views the Indian as an ineffective hunter-gatherer.
For background on Eliza Cook, see the notes to "Grandmother's Chair." For background on Henry Russell, see "Cheer, Boys, Cheer (II)."
I note that the Index has *two* "Indian Hunter" songs attributed by their editors to Cook and Russell. I'm pretty sure this is the one that is truly by Cook and Russell. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.6
File: TPS077

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