When the river runs to the mountain And the birds swim in the sea Only then, can you justify Taking a man's liberty When we lived on the prairie Hunting buffalo Happy in the sunshine Contented in the snow We cherished our rivers We nourished our lands Our children grew in freedom Into men and women strong, women strong And then came the white man Searching for gold We opened our arms to you Welcomed young and old, young and old And then you built your railways And then you came in scores And then you came in thousands And then a million more, a million more All this time you told us That we should live as one And then you brought your armies To throw us out with guns, out with guns You are the savage We are the wise We told the truth, man You told the lies, told the lies You slaughtered our children You'd murder your own Your greed for yellow metal Drove us from our homes, from our homes When the river runs to the mountain And the birds swim in the sea Only then, can you justify Taking a man's liberty You've taken away all our lives You've claimed our liberty So bury my heart at Wounded Knee