[Native Chanting Intro] Come close children Sit by the fire You ask why we live inside these lines So listen to the wind It still knows our story [Verse 1] Before these fences divided the ground We followed the seasons as the herds moved around Horse beneath us and the wide sky above The Plains gave life and we answered with love Buffalo fed us and covered us warm Bones became tools and hides became homes Nothing was wasted and nothing stood alone The land was our teacher and the prairie was home [Chorus] Remember the plains We remember Remember the names We remember Where the buffalo ran we were strong we were free They changed the land but they could not change me Hold to the story hold to the song The road has been hard but the people live on [Verse 2] Then hunters came with the railroad line Killing the herds one hide at a time Millions of buffalo faded away The heart of our life disappeared from the plains The government knew if the herds were gone The nations would struggle to carry on They drew reservations and ordered us there Promised protection and promised fair care [Chorus] Remember the plains We remember Remember the names We remember Where the buffalo ran we were strong we were free They changed the land but they could not change me Hold to the story hold to the song The road has been hard but the people live on [Verse 3] The reservation land was narrow and dry Food came late while the promises died Treaties were written then broken for gold Lines kept moving when the stories were told They pushed us to farm where the soil would not grow Tried changing our language our ways and our clothes But listen my children beneath all that pain The roots stayed alive like the grass through the rain [Bridge] The buffalo fell But the memory stood The treaty was broken But the people endured They measured our land They could not measure worth A nation is more than a line in the earth [Final Chorus] Remember the plains We remember Remember the names We remember Where the buffalo ran we were strong we were free They changed the land but they could not change me Hold to the story hold to the song The road has been hard but the people live on Remember the language Remember the way Carry the old songs into a new day Look to the sunrise and know who you are The land may be distant but never too far [Outro] Now you know children Why we live inside these lines But a reservation never held our whole story The wind still knows our names And tomorrow will too [Native Chanting Outro]
