Wedding Prayer (Apache)

Now you will feel no rain,

For each of you will be shelter to the other.

Now you will feel no cold,

For each of you will be warmth to the other.

Now there is no more loneliness,

For each of you will be companion to the other.

Now you are two bodies,

But there is only one life before you.

Go now to your dwelling place

To enter into the days of your togetherness

And may your days be good and long upon the earth.

The Song of the Lenape Warriors Going Against the Enemy (Delaware)

O poor me!

Who am going out to fight the enemy,

And know not whether I shall return again,

To enjoy the embraces of my children

And my wife.

O poor creature!

Whose life is not in his own hands,

Who has no power over his own body,

But tries to do his duty

For the welfare of his nation.

O! thou Great Spirit above!

Take pity on my children

And on my wife!

Prevent their mourning on my account!

Grant that I may be successful in this attempt-

That I may slay my enemy,

And bring home the trophies of war

To my dear family and friends,

That we may rejoice together.

O! take pity on me!

Give me strength and courage to meet my enemy,

Suffer me to return again to my children,

To my wife

And to my relations!

Take pity on me and preserve my life

And I will make to thee a sacrifice.

Medicine Song of an Indian Lover (Ojibwa)

I.

Who, maiden, makes this river flow?

The Spirit-he makes its ripples glow-

But I have a charm that can make thee, dear,

Steal o'er the wave to thy lover here.

II.

Who, maiden, makes this river flow?

The Spirit-he makes its ripples glow-

Yet every blush that my love would hide,

Is mirror'd for me in the tell-tale tide.

III.

And though thou shouldst sleep on the farthest isle,

Round which these dimpling waters smile-

Yet I have a charm that can make thee, dear,

Steal over the wave to thy lover here.

The Loon Upon the Lake (Ojibwa)

I looked across the water,

I bent o'er it and listened,

I thought it was my lover,

My true lover's paddle glistened.

Joyous thus his light canoe would the silver ripples wake.-

But no!-it is the loon alone-

The loon upon the lake.

Ah me! it is the loon alone-

The loon upon the lake.

I see the fallen maple

Where he stood, his red scarf waving,

Though waters nearly bury

Boughs they then were newly laving.

I hear his last farewell, as it echoed from the brake.-

But no, it is the loon alone-

The loon upon the lake,

Ah me! it is the loon alone-

The loon upon the lake.

Dream Song (Ojibwa)

It is I who travel in the winds,

It is I who whisper in the breeze,

I shake the trees,

I shake the earth,

I trouble the waters on every land.

Prophetic Powers (Ojibwa)

1.

At the place of light-

At the end of the sky-

I,the Great Spirit,

Come and hang

Bright sign.

2.

Lo! with the sound of my voice,

The prophet's voice,

I make my sacred lodge to shake-

By unseen hands my lodge to shake,

My sacred lodge.

3.

Haih! the white bird of omen,

He flies around the clouds and skies-

He sees,-unuttered sight!

Around the clouds and skies-

By his bright eyes I see-I see-I know.

Chants to the Deity (Ojibwa)

1.

I am the living body of the Great Spirit above,

The Great Spirit, the Ever-living Spirit above,

The living body of the Great Spirit

Whom all must heed.

Heh! heh! heh! heh!

2.

I am the Great Spirit of the sky,

The overshadowing power.

I illumine earth,

I illumine heaven.

Way, ho! ho! ho! ho!

3.

Ah say!

what Spirit, or Body, is this Body?

That fills the world around,

Speak man!

Ah say!

What Spirit, or Body, is this Body?

Way, ho! ho! ho! ho!

Hawk Chant of the Saginaws (Ojibwa)

The hawks turn their heads nimbly round;

They turn to look back on their flight.

The spirits of sun-place have whispered them words,

They fly with their messages swift,

They look as they fearfully go,

They look to the farthermost end of the world,

Their eyes glancing bright, and their beaks boding harm.