Charlie Parr 1890 Lyrics

I was in the burial party
That went back to Wounded Knee
With rock hammers and ice picks
To chip the dead ones free

After the massacre and the blizzard
They'd been frozen to the ground
Mother's and children and warriors
We found them all around

They were frozen in their agony
Or shock and terror as they fled
The army's giant howitzers
That sang their song of death

We found Chief Big Foot
His scarf around his face
The ice was frozen blood
From his neck down to his waist

The bloody footprints along the creek
Did the ghost dance for the dead
And I hoped that it was true
What all the legends said

That there'll be a new spring coming
And our families will come home
And game will fill the prairies
And the crops will always grow

We wrapped the bodies in red blankets
And placed them on our sled
And left their stacked up rifles
And the few things that they had

'Crazy Horse is buried here”
Someone said as we were due to start
'just his heart” I told him, crying
'it's only just his heart”