Anna Mae

From the womb of Nova Scotia
in the land of sunrise.
Use to work building cars
on the assembly line.
When she heard a warrior speak
of a better day to come.
Quit her job, traveled west
to the land of the setting sun.

Survival schools she organized
and gathered history.
Cooking food, chopping wood
for the elderly.
When she left, she left behind
two children, so young.
Asking forgiveness from
the Creator when the day was done.

Anna Mae, Anna Mae, Anna Mae, Anna Mae.
We can hear you spirit call.
Anna Mae, Anna Mae, Anna Mae, Anna Mae.
When the rain begins to fall.
We can hear your spirit call.

On the Trail of Broken Treaties
Anna Mae took a stand.
Building bunkers at Wounded Knee,
defending sacred land.
Slipping in, slipping out behind the lines
with supplies late at night.
Where the grandfather’s shielded her
from the swat man’s gunsight,

In the month of June in Oglala
the FBI did come.
On the very same day the BIA
sold the land of the setting sun.
In a firefight they killed Joe Stuntz.
This is what they said,
“Before the year is out
Anna Mae we will see you dead.”

Anna Mae, Anna Mae, Anna Mae, Anna Mae
We can hear you spirit call.
Anna Mae, Anna Mae, Anna Mae, Anna Mae
When the rain begins to fall.
We can hear your spirit call.

One hundred miles from the nearest town
a body was found.
With a turquoise bracelet on her wrist
frozen to the ground.
Standing by the FBI
could not identify,
the body of this woman, who
they hauled in one too many times.

They took the turquoise off her hand,
cut them off at the wrist.
Sent her hands to Washington,
they said for fingerprints.
The doctor said she was drunk,
fell down and simply froze.
So, the FBI buried her
by the name Jane Doe.





Anna Mae, Anna Mae, Anna Mae, Anna Mae.
We can hear you spirit call.
Anna Mae, Anna Mae, Anna Mae, Anna Mae.
When the rain begins to fall.
We can hear your spirit call.

Homicide the people cried
for their Anna Mae.
Forcing the FBI
to bring her from the grave.
What they found was a bullet hole
in the back of her head.
While the FBI put one more notch
in their gun for one more dead.

An Oglala wind blew last night
to the sound of the drum.
Heard the voice of Anna Mae
speaking in a Micmac tongue.
There’s no force made by man
that can stop the driving rain.
When people fight for their land
you will always find Anna Mae

Anna Mae, Anna Mae, Anna Mae, Anna Mae.
We can hear you spirit call.
Anna Mae, Anna Mae, Anna Mae, Anna Mae.
When the rain begins to fall.
We can hear your spirit call.

Words & music by Larry Long
Copyright Larry Long Publishing 1983; renewed 2023 | BMI