Indian Reservation by jmjiloveyou

jmjiloveyou - Indian Reservation

jmjiloveyou

May 31, 2025 12:27pm

"Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)" is a song written by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Loudermilk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">John D. Loudermilk</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Reservation_(The_Lament_of_the_Cherokee_Reservation_Indian)#cite_note-Loudermilk-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[2]</a> It was first <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_recording_and_reproduction" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">recorded</a> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Rainwater" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Marvin Rainwater</a> in 1959 and released on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MGM_Records" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MGM</a> as "The Pale Faced Indian", but that release went unnoticed. The first <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hit_record" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hit</a> version was a 1968 recording by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Fardon" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Don Fardon</a> – a former member of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sorrows" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the Sorrows</a> – that reached number 20 on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_100" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hot 100</a> in 1968<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Reservation_(The_Lament_of_the_Cherokee_Reservation_Indian)#cite_note-Whiburn-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[3]</a> and number 3 on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Singles_Chart" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">UK Singles Chart</a> in 1970.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Reservation_(The_Lament_of_the_Cherokee_Reservation_Indian)#cite_note-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[4]</a>In 1971, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Revere_%26_the_Raiders" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the Raiders</a> recorded "Indian Reservation" for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Records" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Columbia Records</a>, and it topped the Hot 100 on July 24.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Reservation_(The_Lament_of_the_Cherokee_Reservation_Indian)#cite_note-Bronson-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[5]</a> On June 30, 1971, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recording_Industry_Association_of_America" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">RIAA</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_recording_sales_certification" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">gold</a> certified the record for selling over a million copies.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Reservation_(The_Lament_of_the_Cherokee_Reservation_Indian)#cite_note-Whitburn-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[6]</a> The record was later <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum_certification" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">certified platinum</a> for selling an additional million copies.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Reservation_(The_Lament_of_the_Cherokee_Reservation_Indian)#cite_note-Whitburn-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[6]</a> The song was the group's only Hot 100 number-one hit and their only Hot 100 top 20 song after they changed their name (see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Revere_and_The_Raiders" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Paul Revere and The Raiders</a>). The song was covered by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roots_Reggae" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Roots Reggae</a> and dub artists in the 1970s : in 1972, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sioux" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sioux</a> Records released two versions of the song, by Jackie Rowland and another by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funky" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Funky</a> Brown, and later, in 1977, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_%22Scratch%22_Perry" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lee "Scratch" Perry</a> released at least two vocal and dub versions of the record, recorded at the Black Ark Studios and attributed to The African Brotherhood, with the dub version appearing on the 1983 album, "Lee "Scratch" Perry* – Presents - Heart Of The Ark Vol 2."<h2>Lyrics</h2>A well-known story told by Loudermilk is that when he was asked by the Viva! NashVegas radio show about the origins of the song "Indian Reservation," he fabricated the story that he wrote the song after his car was snowed in by a blizzard and he was taken in by a small group of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cherokee</a> Indians.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Reservation_(The_Lament_of_the_Cherokee_Reservation_Indian)#cite_note-TallTale-7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[7]</a> A self-professed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prank" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">prankster</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Reservation_(The_Lament_of_the_Cherokee_Reservation_Indian)#cite_note-theguardian-8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[8]</a> he spun the tale that a Cherokee chieftain, "Bloody Bear Tooth," asked him to make a song about his people's plight on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_Tears" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Trail of Tears</a>, even going so far as to claim that he had later been awarded "the first medal of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee_Nation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cherokee Nation</a>," not for writing the song, but for his "blood."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Reservation_(The_Lament_of_the_Cherokee_Reservation_Indian)#cite_note-TallTale-7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[7]</a> He went on to fabricate the detail that on that day the tribe revealed that his "great-great-grandparents, Homer and Matilda Loudermilk" were listed on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawes_Rolls" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dawes Rolls</a> (the citizenship rolls of the Nation).<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Reservation_(The_Lament_of_the_Cherokee_Reservation_Indian)#cite_note-TallTale-7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[7]</a> Had this detail of his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_tale" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tall tale</a> been true, he would have been a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, which he was not.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Reservation_(The_Lament_of_the_Cherokee_Reservation_Indian)#cite_note-TallTale-7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[7]</a>In spite of the song's title, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Band_of_Cherokee_Indians" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians</a>, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Keetoowah_Band_of_Cherokee_Indians" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee_Nation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cherokee Nation</a> of Oklahoma are not known as "reservations",<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Reservation_(The_Lament_of_the_Cherokee_Reservation_Indian)#cite_note-Granddaughter-9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[9]</a> and singing that they may someday "return" is at odds with the fact that these Cherokee Nations still exist.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Reservation_(The_Lament_of_the_Cherokee_Reservation_Indian)#cite_note-Granddaughter-9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[9]</a>The lyrics vary somewhat among the recorded versions. Rainwater's version lacks the "Cherokee people!" chorus but includes instead a series of "Hiya, hiya, ho!" chants. Fardon's version is similar to the Raiders' through the first verse and chorus, but differs in the second verse, which includes the lines "Altho' they changed our ways of old/They'll never change our heart and soul", also found in Rainwater's version. Rainwater includes some of the elements found in the other versions in a different order, and his first verse has words not found in the others, such as "They put our <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papoose" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">papoose</a> in a crib/and took the buck skin from our rib".At the end, where the Raiders sing "...Cherokee nation will return", Fardon says "Cherokee Indian...", while the line is absent in Rainwater's version, which ends with "beads...nowadays made in Japan." In addition, Fardon sings the line: "Brick built houses by the score/ No more <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tepee" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tepees</a> anymore", not used in the Raiders' version.Cherokee people have never lived in tipis,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Reservation_(The_Lament_of_the_Cherokee_Reservation_Indian)#cite_note-CherokeeFAQ-10" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[10]</a> nor do they use the term "papoose".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Reservation_(The_Lament_of_the_Cherokee_Reservation_Indian)#cite_note-Vowel-1-11" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[11]</a> These are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotypes_of_indigenous_peoples_of_Canada_and_the_United_States" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">stereotypes and misconceptions</a>, with the reservations and tipi assumptions usually based on Hollywood portrayals of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plains_Indians" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Plains Indians</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Reservation_(The_Lament_of_the_Cherokee_Reservation_Indian)#cite_note-CherokeeFAQ-10" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[10]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Reservation_(The_Lament_of_the_Cherokee_Reservation_Indian)#cite_note-NMAI-12" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[12]</a> However, the Cherokee are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Southeastern_Woodlands" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a Southeastern Woodlands Indigenous culture</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Reservation_(The_Lament_of_the_Cherokee_Reservation_Indian)#cite_note-CherokeeFAQ-10" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[10]</a>Among the things taken away from the Cherokees include the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomahawk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tomahawk</a> and the bow and knife.