DAWNS EARLY LIGHT 

September 2016, Fort Collins, Colorado 

SOMEWHERE UP NORTH 
HORSES STAND IN THE RIVER 
HORSEPOWER AND WATER, ALL WE NEED 
BETWEEN THE GREAT DIVIDE 
LET THERE BE NO QUESTION 
WHO IS WRONG AND WHOS RIGHT 
THERE SHOULD BE NO COMPROMISE 
WILL WE STAND AND FIGHT 
IN THE DAWNS EARLY LIGHT 

A TREATY STANDS ALONE 
SWAYING IN THE COLD WILDERNESS 
TILL SOMEONE COMES ALONG 
AND REALIZES WHAT IT IS 
WHEN A TREATY FALLS IN THE FOREST 
WITH NOBODY IN SIGHT 
THERE WILL BE NO GREAT COMPROMISE 
WILL WE STAND AND FIGHT 
IN THE DAWNS EARY LIGHT 

BRIDGE 
IN THE DAWNS EARLY LIGHT 
To walk along I hunger 
What I cannot eat 
I MAY THIRST FOR EVERYTHING 
BUT I AM BECAUSE I THINK 
THERE WILL BE NO GREAT COMPROMISE 
WILL WE STAND AND FIGHT 
IN THE DAWNS EARY LIGHT 

YOU TRAVELED ACROSS IN A CARAVAN 
THROUGH THE LANDS AND THROUGH THE HILLS 
CAUSE YOU KNEW IF YOU DIDN'T DO IT 
NOBODY ELSE WILL 
STEWARD OF THE LAND 
WITH YOUR CONSIDERABLE MIGHT 
THERE WILL BE NO COMPROMISE 
WILL WE STAND AND FIGHT 
IN THE DAWNS EARLY LIGHT 
FOR THE WEALTHY AND THE POOR 
WE ARE IDLE NO MORE 
IN THE DAWNS EARLY LIGHT 

I played in bands for years, mostly electric guitar in dance bands, playing in bars and at colleges and festivals. Early in those days I wrote songs about my observations and my Native culture. At some point I decided that I mainly write about life but realistically my culture is a big part of my life. Eventually and longtime friend of mine called and asked if I would be able to play guitar with her trio. By then I was drifting away from electric music and moving more towards acoustic music. Her music was more in a direction that was where I wanted to be. She inspired me to write again and eventually I was on my own playing my songs solo. OVER the years she inspired me to write songs and this one was written on her request. 
Dawns Early Light is written for the movement to stop the North Dakota Access Pipeline. I'm not really a protest song sort of writer but this song seemed like an easy fit. It's written from my memories of growing up near the Missouri River and around my people in Montana. As a child I became familiar with our traditional music and rural life. This song may be an oversimplification of the situation but I have always felt the the honoring of a treaty, no matter when it was made is not a complex idea. History has proved this not to be the case, but I hope this time it is. Honor the treaty, simple as that.