Water In The Rain (Honoring the 38 Dakota Oyate by Amos Owen Wiyohpeyata Hoksina & Larry Long)

From the Album Sweet Thunder

Ho! Tunkansidan Wakantanka Ake anpetu kin de ho uwayedo. Odowan kagapikin hena owicakiyayo.

Tunkansidan wiyohpeyata ki ya ho yewayedo. Sunkawakan oyate qa Wakinyan Oyate Kin ounkiyapo.

Qa nakun waziyata ki ya ho yewayedo. Hehaka Oyate kin ounsiundapo.
Wiyohiyanpantan ekta ki ya. Ho yewayedo. Tatanka Oyate kin hena unicidapido.

Itokagata kiya nakun ho yewayedo. Wanage Oyate kin ounsiundapo.
Mahpiyatakiya ho yewayedo. Wakantanka onsiunda miye qa ounkiyapo
Qa Ina unyaupi nakun ektakiya. Ho yewaye ousiundapo qa ounkiyapo. Ho hecetudo.

Mitakuye Oyasin. – Wiyohpeyata Hoksina

English Translation: Grandfather, I come to you this day in my humble way to offer my prayers for the thirty-eight Dakota who perished in Mankato in the year of 1862.

To the West, I pray to the Horse Nation, and to the North, I pray to the Elk People.
To the East, I pray to the Buffalo Nation, and to the South, the Spirit People.

To the Heavens, I pray to the Great Spirit and to the Spotted Eagle.

And Below, I pray to Mother Earth to help us in this time of reconciliation.
Grandfather, I offer these prayers in my humble way. To all my relations. – Amos Owen

Christmastime, think about
Those who have died, crucified
In the city of Makahto, Mankato.

Back in the year of 1862
During the Civil War,
Lincoln decreed the blacks would be freed
But they hung thirty-eight Dakota
In the city of Makahto, Mankato.

I listen to the rippling wind
Blow across the island,
I listen to the elders speak
Of the young ones dying.

Shall we die like the buffalo
We ask of you, Grandfather?
Shall we run like water in the rain
In the Land of Many Waters?

Water in the Rain!

Wabasha, Shakopee, Little Crow, Big Eagle,
A blanket pulled over their eyes
Beneath the churchyard steeple.
Twenty million acres of land
Sold for three million,
Worthless as a rope of sand
Dangling from the ceiling.

In the year of ’51
Placed on a reservation.
By the winter of ’61
Dying of starvation.
“Protect the innocent.
Punish the guilty.”
Little Crow, he declared,
“What good is this treaty?”
Once a year the government
Gives the trader our money.”
Standing outside his door,
“Eat grass if you’re hungry!”

Down upon the traders lodge
Death came without warning.
Bullets he could not dodge.
He ate grass that very morning.

Fifty years of robbery,
Fifty years of intimidation,
Fifty years of bribery,
Brought a war between nations.

Shall we die like the buffalo
We ask of you, Grandfather?
Shall we run like water in the rain
In the Land of Many Waters?

Water in the Rain!
Christmas night, voices singing,
Christmas night, behind the wall,
Christmas night, death song ringing,
“Father, please don’t let them fall.”

I can see the soldiers marching.
I can see them led outside.
With one pull of the lever
Thirty-eight Dakota died.

-Tipi Hdonica (One Who Forbids His House)
~Ptan Du-ta (Scarlet Otter)
~O-ya’-te Ta-wa (His people)
~Hin-han’-sun-ko-yag-ma-ni (One who Walks Clothed in Owl Feathers)
~Ma-za Bo-mdu (Iron Blower)
~Wa-hi’na (possibly meaning I Came)
~Sna Ma-hi (Tinkling Water)
~Hda In-yan-ka (Rattling Water)
~He-pan (Second born child, this was given to the second boy)
~Tun-kan’ I-ca’hda Ma-ni (One Who Walks by His Grandfather)
~Ka-mde’-ca (Broken to Pieces)
~He in’-kpa (The Tip of the Horn)
~Na-pe’-sni (Fearless)
~Ma-za Ku-te Ma-ni (One Who Shoots As He Walks)
~A-i’-ca-ge (To Grow Upon)
~Ho-i’-tan-in Ku (Returning Clear Voice)
~Ce-tan’ Hun-ka’ (Elder Hawk)
~Can-ka-hda (Near the Woods)
~Hda’-hin-hde (Sudden Rattle)
~O-ya’-te A-ku’ (He Brings the People)
~Ma-hu’-we-hi (He Comes for Me)
~Ti-hdo’-ni-ca (One Who Jealousy Guards His Home)
~Wa-kan Tan-ka (Great Mystery or Great Spirit)
~Cas-ke’-da (First Born Child. this was given to the first boy)
~Do-wan’-s’a (Sings a lot or Singer)
~Ta-te’ Ka-ga (Wind Maker)
~Sun-ka Ska (White Dog)
~Wa-kin’-yan-na (Little Thunder)
~Baptiste Campbell (a mixed blood)
~Wa-hpe Du-ta (Scarlet Leaf)
~Wa-si’-cun (White Man)
~I-te’ Du-ta (Scarlet Face)
~Ma-ka’-ta I-na’ (One Who Stands on Earth)
~Hypolite Auge (a mixed blood)
~Tun-kan’ Ko-yag I-na’-zin (One Who Stands Cloaked in Stone)
~Ta-te’ Hdi-da (Wind Comes Home)
~Ma-hpi’-ya A-i’-na-zin (One who Stands on a Cloud, also known as Cut Nose)

In the Land of Memory
Seldom would we travel
By day down the streets
Of Makahto.

One hundred years of bitterness
A commemoration
For the thirty-eight
For the Santee Nation

Scarlet beneath blue,
Tears came falling.
Thirty-eight eagles flew.
Thirty-eight eagles are calling.
Shall we die like the buffalo
We ask of you, Grandfather?
Shall we run like water in the rain
In the Land of Many Waters?

Water in the Rain!
Water in the Rain!
Water in the Rain!Water in the Rain!
Water in the Rain!

Words & music by Larry Long & Amos Owen (Wiyohpeyata Hoksina)
Copyright Larry Long 1987; renewed 2025 | BMI

*Placing the Mdewakantunwan Oceti Sakowin Santee Dakota Nation on reservations for the first time in 1851 was an act of cultural genocide. A mere decade thereafter, deprived of the freedom of the hunt, this ancient people stared starvation in its grim face. In August of 1862, there began a final defense of the Dakota Oyate – the long road to Wounded Knee. When the Wars of August were quelled, 303 Dakota were marked for the gallows. President Lincoln, in commuting the sentences of all but 38, paved the way for the largest mass execution in United States history. – Ron Miles

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