No One Can Take My Religion From Me: GAWEENAWIYA INDAMA KAMIGOSEEN AYZHITWAH YAHN (Honoring Lucy Begay)

From the Album The Drum Is The Center of My Life

No one can take my religion from me
No one can take it from me

My family raised me in the Ojibwe tongue
That’s how I can talk it now
Taught me how to tan deer hands
How to bead, how sew
Always there to show me how

No one can take my religion from me
No one can take it from me

Kill a deer, skin it out
Soak it until it’s soft
Takes a lot of muscle
To strip it down
Soak in brain water
Stretch it out on the frame
Smudge it until it turns brown

No one can take my religion from me
No one can take it from me

Making bells and head bands
Sewing moccasins
With beads on dresses and shirts
Bravery, honesty
Humility and truth
Wisdom and hard work

No one can take my religion from me
No one can take it from me

In the Spring maple sugar
In the summer vegetables
In the fall gather Menomin in canoes
In the winter season
When the snow is on the ground
Telling stories about WAYNABOOZHOO

No one can take my religion from me
No one can take it from me

If you want to go to the Big Drum
I can show you the way
If you want to go to the Big Drum
There comes a time to pray
No one can take my religion from me
No one can take it from me

Words & music by Larry Long
Copyright Larry Long Publishing 2015 / BMI

*Lyrics collectively written with youth from the Anishinaabe community of Lac Courte Oreilles, Wisconsin. Inspired from the life story of Elder Lucy Begay.

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