I think there are more bawdy versions of this song than 'polite' ones. My grandpa played it on the fiddle, and I remember hearing the tune all my life. I learned one 'dirty' version when I was in college... too naughty for me to type.

I noticed all the versions in the DT are bawdy, but here is another set of lyrics you can sing for the family from the Albert E. Brumley book 'Songs of the Pioneers'.

Red Wing

1. There once was an Indian maid,
A shy little Indian mad,
Who sang alay,
A love song gay,
As over the plain she'd while the time away,
She loved a warrior bold,
This shy little maid of old,
But blythe and gay,
He rode one day,
To battle far away.

chorus
Now the moon shines tonight on pretty Red Wing,
The breezes sighing, the night birds crying;
While far beneath the stars her love is sleeping,
Poor Red Wing weeping, her heart away.

2. She watched through the day and night,
She kept the campfire bright,
While under the sky,
Each night she would lie,
And dream about his coming by and by,
But when the braves returned
[the next part Brumley repeats brave too many times,
so I have changed it]
The heart of Red Wing yearned,
The braves did say,
Her love that day,
Had fallen in the fray.

chorus