This Land Was Your Land

This Land Was Your Land (Cherokee Version of Woody Guthrie's This Land is Your Land) This land was your land and now it's my land. From the Georgia mainland to the Oklahoma prairies. From the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River; This land was taken from you by me. As you was walking that trail of tears; I saw above you the bird of death. I saw below you those solemn footsteps; This land was taken from you by me. You were sick and hungry but forced to walk; To the dust bowls of the Oklahoma panhandle. And all around you tears were falling; This land was taken from you by me. When the cold winds blew and you was freezing; And the snow was falling and you had no shoes. As your mother was weeping a voice was chanting; This land was taken from you by me. As you was walking I saw a sign there; And on the sign it said "No Indians Allowed". In your defense I didn't say nothing; This land was taken from you by me. In the bowels of death I saw your people; In church pews I saw my own. As your's stood starving, I simply mumbled; This land was taken from you by me. Nobody dead can stop my greed; As you go dying on that trail of tears. The dead can own no land; This land was taken from you by me. By: Darlene Doll Smith