By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of the Pequot,
People of the fox, the Pequot.
All around them rose the forest,
Rose the free, unfettered forest,
Rose big trees and healthy grasses;
In the land called Mashantucket,
Did the Pequot people prosper,
And did hunt within their forest.
Then one day did come the settlers,
Colonists who brought diseases,
Causing headaches, coughs, and sneezes,
And much worse, including measles,
And malaria and smallpox,
Causing death among the Pequot.

The fox people soon were dying,
Yet the colonists were vying,
For more wampum, and were trying
To get fur to trade with others
Just for profit, disregarding
The Fox People who had lived there.
So a war broke out, and ended
With the Pequot being driven,
From the land that they had tended,
And their numbers now had dwindled
And continued to get smaller.

Yet one day the Pequot people
Were bestowed a reservation,
Of a couple thousand acres,
Which they stayed on and they hunted,
Many moons they spent just waiting,
As their numbers still decreasing,
Pequots left the reservation,
Until only one remaining,
Was a woman who was waning,
As the last of the Fox People.
So she called upon her grandson,
Who was named Richard "Skip" Haywood,
To hold tight the reservation,
And he called back other Pequots,
And became the tribal chairman.

He had asked federal permission
For the Pequot reservation
To become a sovereign nation.
In the later nineteen-eighties,
Indian gaming act was passing,
That would give to many Indians
A great chance with a casino,
Filled with games like craps and keno.
So the Pequots got together,
In four years, they opened Foxwoods,
As a grandiose casino.
It's among the most successful,
And they take in lots of money,
Every year around a billion.

It's an awful lot of wampum,
Which could be part of the reason
Why there suddenly is interest
In becoming tribal Pequots.
People tracing back their bloodlines,
For a prize that is worth winning.
You can't get it in casinos,
It's a government assistance,
With free services like training,
And all medical expenses.
But like most games with the Pequots,
Though the prize is quite exciting,
Odds of winning are against you.
But if you can prove your bloodline,
You can have a lot of wampum,
More than ever was in holding,
By the ancient Pequot tribe.