DESCRIPTION:
This song was written in 1979 by Jim Page (long-time activist- folk singer/songwriter) and is about Anna Mae a Micmac American Indian lady who dedicated her life to help Indian people during hard times. She was killed by FBI agents on the Lakota-Sioux Pine Ridge Settlement in South Dakota. Her death was done in a brutal and savage way. You can see part of her story in the movie 'Thunder Heart' and also in the documentary of Leonard Peltier 'Incident at Oglala.' Folk singer/songwrite Larry Long also has a song about Anna Mae.

Painting: Ghost Dancer
Artist: Robert Robideau

Lyrics for Anna Mae:

Anna Mae came to the plains I'm told
Blow Dakota blow
From way up east where the weather gets cold
And the cold Dakota winds they blow

And she said I hear there's been trouble down here
Blow Dakota blow
They said trouble - we've been gettin trouble every year
And the cold Dakota winds they blow

Anna Mae made a vow by the fire that night
Blow Dakota blow
That she would give her life to the peoples fight
And the cold Dakota winds they blow

Then the voice in the whispering wind did say
Blow Dakota blow
Somebodys gonna get hurt some day
And the cold Dakota winds they blow

In nineteen hundred seventy-two
Blow Dakota blow
Trouble in the Pine Ridge settlement grew
And the cold Dakota winds they blow

In nineteen hundred seventy-three
Blow Dakota blow
The trouble exploded at Wounded Knee
And the cold Dakota winds they blow

In nineteen hundred seventy-four
Blow Dakota blow
There was a backlash beatin at everybody's door
And the cold Dakota winds they blow

Then the warning passed from tongue to tongue
Blow Dakota blow
That there was trouble a-comin with a federal gun
And the cold Dakota winds they blow

They took Anna Mae off to jail one day
Blow Dakota blow
But just exactly why they never would say
And the cold Dakota winds they blow

They wanted some facts and they wanted some names
Blow Dakota blow
But Anna Mae wouldn't tell 'em a thing
But the cold Dakota winds they blow

She said you can kill me dead or lock me away
Blow Dakota blow
Cause that's what youre gonna be doin anyway
And the cold Dakota winds they blow

Then they said all right, you're free to go
Blow Dakota blow
But just don't say we never warned you so
And the cold Dakota winds they blow

Anna Mae went out for a walk one night
Blow Dakota blow
But she never lived to see the morning light
And the cold Dakota winds they blow

Its a mystery, I heard it said
Blow Dakota blow
How Anna Mae died with a bullet in her head
And the cold Dakota winds they blow

The story spread both far and wide
Blow Dakota blow
How another daughter of the people had died
And the cold Dakota winds they blow

And the people came from many a mile
Blow Dakota blow
To lay her away in traditional style
And the cold Dakota winds they blow

And the song upon the drum was sung
Blow Dakota blow
And the sky covered over and the storm did come
And the cold Dakota winds they blow

And the voice in the howling wind did say
Blow Dakota blow
Somebody's gonna pay some day
For the cold Dakota winds that blow

Chords:

Line 1- Bb Eb
2- Ab Bb
3- Eb Ab Eb
4- Ab Fm Bb

May add a Cm