The official website of Paul Revere and the Raiders, the influential garage rockers of the sixties, have announced their namesake keyboardist has died.
Ohhhh. Cherokee people! Cherokee tribe!
Over-the-top, ridiculous song - but they didn’t call us savages and seemed to show sympathy. Fare thee well, mister man. Your parents couldn’t have picked a better first and middle name. Cherokee Nation has returned.
He will always occupy a place on my record shelf between the Replacements and the Revillos (it’s alphabetical).
Was thinking about this song just yesterday after I heard a radio commercial that referenced a few Indian tribes. Was musing over the lyric “…took away our way of life, the tomahawk and the Bowie knife” and wondering if the writer ever learned that that the developer of the Bowie knife was not Native American but a white guy by the name of Jim Bowie in the early nineteenth century. 
Still, I enjoyed Paul Revere and the Raiders in their day and Paul seemed more down to earth and likable than the seemingly self-impressed Mark Lindsay. I’m sorry to hear of Paul’s passing.
The Raiders version (it was just The Raiders in 1971 when this song came out, not “Paul Revere and”) had the lyric as “the tomahawk and the bow and knife.”
Other artists who covered it had some minor lyric changes but I don’t know if any included “the Bowie knife.”
Paul was quite the showman. I remember him telling a story about being kidnapped by 2 Cherokees in North Carolina (I believe) and not being released until he promised them he would record this song. It was many years ago when I heard this, I could have details wrong. I got the sense at the time that it was a made-up story, but he enjoyed telling it.
I saw Paul Revere and the Raiders about 20 years ago. One hell of a show. That band was TIGHT.
In the 80s our band bought an ancient Peavey PA system that we later discovered (by looking at the bottoms of the units) was owned by Paul Revere and the Raiders. Can’t remember where that thing ever ended up, now that I think about.
Kicks just keep getting harder to find.
Darn you, jimbuff314, you posted while I was looking at websites and making links! 
After all that work, I’m gonna post anyways. 
I’m seeing “the bow and knife” at all the lyrics websites I checked:
The tomahawk and the bow and knife
The tomahawk and the bow and knife
The tomahawk and the bow and knife
I live 3 blocks from Route 66. Just sayin’.
Sorry dba Fred. Took this song to heart right in the middle of my imprinting years. No worries.
The Raiders recorded “Louie Louie” at about the same time and in the same studio as the Kingsmen. Both versions sailed up the charts, then the Raiders’ version suddenly stalled. Years later the Raiders, who recorded their version for Columbia Records, learned that their recording was pulled from circulation by Columbia’s A&R man, Mitch Miller, who detested rock and roll.
April of '63, I believe. That seems eerie now but maybe mundane at the time?
You know what? I think you guys are right. I just watched a video of the band performing the song and listened to a couple of others and I do believe he’s singing “bow and knife”. So, ignorance fought after lo these many years. Thanks.
Two years ago, Paul Revere and his latest batch of Raiders performed in Annapolis. My sister had an extra ticket, so I went with her to the show, held in a very small venue. Other than being waaaaaay over amplified for the tiny room, it was a fun show, and I was surprised to learn he was still rockin’ well into his 70s. Apart from him, the band member with the greatest longevity had been with him around 30 years, so none of the originals were still playing.
I wasn’t a huge fan as a teen - I liked some of their music, but they couldn’t hold a candle to the Beatles or the Monkees in my book! 
Still, I got a small taste of what I missed way back then, and despite telling really bad old jokes, he put on a good show - Paul seemed to be having a great time. How lucky that he’d been able to spend most of his life doing something he obviously loved so much!
Back in 1969, this group made some mighty fine music. I liked them a whole bunch! Real toe tapping stuff!
RIP Paul. You put in a real good showing. Yes Sir! I salute you!
John D. Loudermilk wrote the song back in 1959. He’s a Hall of Fame songwriter responsible for a number of hits. And he’s the one who made up that ridiculous story.
Not sure why Paul Revere would repeat this, especially since the song was recorded as a Mark Lindsey solo project. It was issued under the Raiders name and played heavily in concerts, but Revere didn’t have much to do with it.
The Raiders were a group like Three Dog Night, who didn’t write many of their songs but had impeccable taste in who they covered. I always liked their singles. And they had a real personality. Dick Clark made them the house band for Where the Action Is, which I watched regularly in 1965, maybe my favorite music show of the period.
Which is where I first became aware of them, at the tender age of 10. Great group. RIP, Paul. You made my early teenage years livable.
Back around 1981/1982 I took bass guitar lessons at a local music store. I was 15 years old.
One day I arrived a bit early, so I sat in a chair outside the lesson room and practiced scales on my bass. Another gentleman (customer?) was also in the store, and he said he liked my bass. ("Hey, that’s nice. Older Fender? I used to have one very similar to that.’) We talked a little while and he said he was on tour and had a show later in the evening. I asked, “You’re in a band? What band?” He replied, “I’m the bass player for Paul Revere & the Raiders. You’ve probably never heard of us.”
He was right; I was only 15, and only listened to stuff like Zeppelin and Sabbath.
Looking at the Wiki page, I’m guessing it was Ron Foos.
Thanks, Exapno. That’s almost certainly where I heard it and misremembered it as being Paul.
(Release the dogs! Someone has admitted to being incorrect on a message board!)
Those sites all seem to copy freely from each other, and the originals, whichever they are, aren’t necessarily written by native English speakers.
I always heard it as “Bowie knife”.