Tribute from east and west,
Of what we loved the best,
Wampum belt, necklace drest
Gladly they grant us.
White men can wisely tell,
How we fought, how we fell;
None could our glory quell,
No tribe could daunt us.
Eagles for swiftness we,
Panthers for subtlety,
Wise when in counsel free,
We took our stations.
Where was the tribe so brave,
Whose war craft could them save
From being conquered, slave
Of the Six Nations!
Wah! we all heard the news,
Of the winged war canoes,
Swift as the wild sea mews,
Objects of wonder;
Spreading their white wings wide,
Breasting the mighty tide,
Black lips from out their side,
Spoke lofty thunder.
Upward their way they steer,
Swifter than swimming deer,
Furled they their white wings near
Green Hochelaga.
We heard their name and fame,
Sweeping like forest flame,
To our great lodge it came,
In fair Onondaga.
Shy on their native strand,
The mild Algonquins stand
And gave the heart's right hand
To the white stranger.
With speech and gesture fair,
Gave a free welcome there,
Proud they to spare and share,
Fearing no danger.
Pale face and red man met,
Smoked they the Calumet,
And the peace feast was set
For the pale faces;
All of sweet wild wood cheer,
Fish from the river clear.
Haunch of the antlered deer,
Feast the two races.
If peace and trust were slain,
Whose the loss? Whose the blame?
Let the white scribes explain,
Our foes be our judges.
They sat down as conquerors,
Took the land, took the furs,
Let the braves starve like curs
Outside their lodges.
Vanished the hunter strong,
Stilled was the husking song;
No corn fields stretched along
In green Hochelaga.
Like to the forest flame,
Devouring the white man came;
Soon spread their evil fame
To far Onondaga.
Should we be pale face prey,
Fade like the mist away?
Fiercely we turned to bay
Not like the others.
The mild Algonquin race,
Melted before their face,
Leaving a roomy place
For their white brothers.
But we from sea to lake
Had made the wide earth shake,
And braves like women quake
As they were drunken.
We give our hunting grounds!
Give up our burial mounds!
Whimper like beaten hounds
Like the Algonquin!