Colcord notes that Whall (Ships, Sea Songs and Shantys, 1930) gave a different version of the song (Colcord - )'which was the story of how a white trader courted the daughter of the famous Indian chieftain Shenandoah, and bore her away in his canoe', then quotes Whall as: '...Originally it was a song, not a shanty, and had nothing to do with salt water...'.
Just what Whall gives as the song or shanty I don't know.