The Land God Gave to Cain (music trad.; words by Pat and Joe Byrne and Clyde Rose) Long before the white man came To haul the shining cod When the wild and stately caribou Traversed the snow-clad sod The native man he walked these hills And he fished the silvery lakes Content with what the land would yield Not one bit more would take But soon the word it was put out To every country For to find a northern passage from The sea to the shining sea And the first to come were trappers Then the men of God who preached That they would return in hundredfold An equal share to each For years the men of Newfoundland Those fishermen so poor Sent down each year in springtime for To fish on the Labrador But soon the fish they were all gone With the fur it was the same And the native suffered silently In the land God gave to Cain The years went by, and as time passed The companies moved in For ore, and wood, and the hydro power The struggle it did begin And the working men on both sides Tried to live their lives the same And the native suffered silently In the land God gave to Cain But now it's for the future Both sides do shed a tear For the old ways they are passing like The caribou and hare And now they all are wondering If it was all in vain And the native suffers silently In the land God gave to Cain AJS apr97
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!