"Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)" is a song written by John D. Loudermilk. It was first recorded by Marvin Rainwater in 1959 and released on MGM as "The Pale Faced Indian", but that release went unnoticed. The first hit version was a 1968 recording by Don Fardon – a former member of the Sorrows – that reached number 20 on the Hot 100 in 1968 and number 3 on the UK Singles Chart in 1970. In 1971, the Raiders recorded "Indian Reservation" for Columbia Records, and it topped the Hot 100 on July 24. On June 30, 1971, the RIAA gold certified the record for selling over a million copies. The record was later certified platinum for selling an additional million copies. The song was the group's only Hot 100 number-one hit and their only Hot 100 top 20 song after they changed their name (see Paul Revere and The Raiders). The song was covered by Roots Reggae and dub artists in the 1970s : in 1972, Sioux Records released two versions of the song, by Jackie Rowland and another by Funky Brown, and later, in 1977, Lee "Scratch" Perry released at least two vocal and dub versions of the record, recorded at the Black Ark Studios and attributed to The African Brotherhood, with the dub version appearing on the 1983 album, "Lee "Scratch" Perry* – Presents - Heart Of The Ark Vol 2."
