Pat Bellanger
Pat Bellanger
"Awaanakwe" (Water Woman): Anishinabe Ojibwa. A matriarch of the American Indian Movement (A.I.M.) and International Treaty Council Delegate
Honoring Pat Bellanger
Awanakwe
(Honoring Pat Bellanger)
Awanakwe, Awanakwe
Water Woman is my name
Awanakwe, Awanakwe
Anishinabe Oh-Gitchee-da-Quay
To care for Mother Earth
From the moment of our birth
Awanakwe, Awanakwe, Awanakwe
So beautiful and blue
The same as me and you
To care for the water
To be a water carrier
Awanakwe, Awanakwe
Water Woman is my name
Awanakwe, Awanakwe
Anishinabe Oh-Gitchee-da-Quay
Gchimanido
Watches over me and you
Awanakwe, Awanakwe, Awanakwe
Water purifies
Keeping us alive
My Shinaabe, my dear friend
Together 'til the end
Awanakwe, Awanakwe
Water Woman is my name
Awanakwe, Awanakwe
Anishinabe Oh-Gitchee-da-Quay
Dancing in a jingle dress
To heal, to be blessed
Awanakwe, Awanakwe, Awanakwe
To live and to pray
In the old traditional way
Means everything to me
To be sovereign to be free
Awanakwe, Awanakwe
Water Woman is my name
Awanakwe, Awanakwe
Anishinabe Oh-Gitchee-da-Quay
7 generations from now
To stand on sacred ground
Awanakwe, Awanakwe, Awanakwe
Clean water to grow
For the young, for the old
There’s power in the drum
To care for those you love
Awanakwe, Awanakwe
Water Woman is my name
Awanakwe, Awanakwe
Anishinabe Oh-Gitchee-da-Quay
To care for Mother Earth
From the moment of our birth
Awanakwe, Awanakwe, Awanakwe
Music: Larry Long
Words: Larry Long with Mavis Mantila’s 7th grade class, Sanford Middle School, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
© Larry Long Publishing 2013 / BMI
All Rights Reserved for Perpetuity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UgbsoE8rEQ&feature=youtu.be