Wichi Tai To & Jim Pepper

I fell in love today with the late Jim Pepper. I usually do my work at home listening to In Tune With Spirit internet radio and was able to put in a request today. I had heard Wichi Tai To by Pete Wyoming Bender while I was listening in "The Empress" at the Meadview RV Park in Arizona. So I requested it today and while listening to it I googled it cause I get so fired up when I hear it. I remember it use to make me crazy back in the '70s but I had no idea where it came from.

For those of you like me who somehow missed this amazing artist, Jim Pepper was a Jazz saxaphone player (which is enough to get me turned on in the first place) who was of Creek and Kaw heritage. Most of his music was derived from songs and peyote chants he learned from his Grandfather and Elders. I found out that many boomers remember it as a camp song they chanted to bring on the thunder. Now I know why this song turns me on so much..its a water being chant! If you click on the title you will go to a blog page dedicated to Jim Pepper showing the items of his they placed in the Smithonian. I just heard from my extremely talented friend Wash-Cauh at Red Earth Art Photo Design that The Kaw in history books are the Kanza tribe and Kansas name sake. They are closely related to the Osage, Ponca, Otoe Missouria, Quapaw, Omaha, Winnebago, all part of the Siouan linguistic. Oh man what a day of inspiration..didn't get much work done but I had such a ride!

I hope these are right ..so many versions of what the lyrics are..this is from a contributor to youtube:

Witchi Tia To Gim-Mie Rah
Whoa Ron-Nee Ka
Whoa Ron-Nee Ka
Hey-Ney Hey-Ney No Wah

Water Spirit Feelings
Springin' Round My Head
Makes Me Feel Glad
That I'm Not Dead

Here is two clips from youtube ...first one audio clip and the 2nd one is from a documentary called Pepper's Pow Wow with him playing it enjoy!