Old Indian, An (The Indian Song)

DESCRIPTION: "An old Indian sat in his little canoe, / A-floating along o'er the water so blue. / He sang of the days when these lands were his own, / Before the palefaces among them were known." A lament for the loss of the Indians' land and culture
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1919 (Rickaby/Dykstra/Leary-PineryBoys-SongsSongcatchingInLumberjackEra)
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am.) lament
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW) Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Warner-TraditionalAmericanFolkSongsFromAnneAndFrankWarnerColl 30, "An Old Indian" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume-CanadasStoryInSong, pp. 86-88, "The Indian's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck-SongsOfTheMichiganLumberjacks 81, "The Indian's Lament" (1 text)
Beck-LoreOfTheLumberCamps 100, "The Indian's Lament" (1 text)
Rickaby/Dykstra/Leary-PineryBoys-SongsSongcatchingInLumberjackEra 54, "The Indian's Lament" (2 texts)
Peacock, pp. 157-158, "The Indian's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SongsAndBalladsFromNovaScotia 121, "Indian Song" (1 text plus a fragment, 2 tunes)

ST Wa030 (Partial)
Roud #1846
RECORDINGS:
Cyril O'Brien, "Indian's Lament" (on MUNFLA/Leach)
Mrs. Tom Sullivan, "The Indian's Lament" (on Ontario1)
Mrs. Thomas Walters, "The Indian's Lament" (on PeacockCDROM) [one verse only]

CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Steals of the White Man" (theme)
cf. "Logan's Lament" (theme)
cf. "The Fair Captive" (plot elements)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Poor Indian
File: Wa030

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