[Hook (2x): Shoeless Jeff]
These are the skies where the eagle flies
The coyote calls and the water falls
Listen to the wind and begin to feel within
The wisdom and the vision of American Indians
[Verse 1: Shoeless Jeff]
Before the Europeans settled these American lands
A People already lived here, do you understand?
They roamed the beautiful woodlands, and mountains, and sands
A span of thousands of years, and their legend still stands
Way back in the Ice Age, when glaciers froze
They crossed-in through Alaska, that's how the story goes
[Verse 2: Scott Free]
The tribes of the Northeast sk**fully used
Bark from birch trees to build big canoes
Surviving from gifts within the lakes and land
Using spears to fish and planting corn by hand
Iroquois to Delaware, Hopewell to Fox
Just a few tribes from a region with lots
[Verse 3: Shoeless Jeff]
Down in the Southeast, with luscious and fertile soil
Tribes learned to farm, out in the sun they toiled
This led to complex societies with rulers so royal
There were builders and artisans, and knowledge of medicines
The Seminoles were proud, The Natchez played lacrosse
There was the Creek, Choctaw, Cherokee, and Chickasaw
[Verse 4: Scott Free]
The Crow, Blackfeet and Dakota home on the range
Nomadic tribes that roamed the Great Plains
In order to survive, they hunted the buffalo
Shot stone-tipped arrows at a distance with a bow
From buffalo skins they made teepees and canopies
And tribe warriors helped protect from enemies
[Hook (2x): Shoeless Jeff]
These are the skies where the eagle flies
The coyote calls and the water falls
Listen to the wind and begin to feel within
The wisdom and the vision of American Indians
[Verse 5: Shoeless Jeff]
In the Southwest were clay homes known as pueblos
The Zuni and the Hopi and were the tribes who made those
They dressed in big masks and danced and performed
Asking the spirit beings kachinas for a harvest of corn
For beautifully woven patterns, we look to the Navajo
Apaches had the brave warrior Geronimo
[Verse 6: Scott Free]
From the High Plateau down through the Great Basin
Tribes like the Utes survived through migration
Preparing for cold winters, some were found
Building earth covered houses that were part underground
Horses and bows, skins and hemp were traded
With tribes from the Plains for robes decorated
[Verse 7: Shoeless Jeff]
To the rainy Northwest where the totem poles stood
These were memorials to ancestors, carved out of wood
Wealthy families had ways to show signs of success
Hosting lavish potlatches, giving gifts to their guests
They hunted large sea animals with nets and harpoons
And lived in long houses, which had one long room
[Verse 8: Scott Free]
Over time Europeans moved into Tribal regions
Sometimes they fought war, sometimes they formed allegiance
Then dark clouds rained down upon the Trail of Tears
Tribes were forced West from where they lived for years
This song is a tribute, to just reflect upon
Today, American Indians continue on
[Hook (2x): Shoeless Jeff]
These are the skies where the eagle flies
The coyote calls and the water falls
Listen to the wind and begin to feel within
The wisdom and the vision of American Indians