Written and first recorded (as “Quinn the Eskimo”) by Bob Dylan (1967, officially released 1985).
Hit version by Manfred Mann (US #10/UK #1/IRE #1/GER #1 1968).
From the wiki: “‘Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)’ is a folk-rock song written by Bob Dylan and first recorded during The Basement Tapes sessions in 1967 but was not officially released until 1985. (A 1969 live recording of ‘Quinn’ by Dylan, from the Isle of Wight, was released on Self Portrait in 1970). Meanwhile, the song was picked up and recorded by the British band Manfred Mann, who released it under the title “Mighty Quinn”. Manfred Mann first heard it on a bootleg of Dylan recordings, Dylan’s White Album (said to be the ‘mother of all bootlegs’), at Feldmans Music on Charing Cross Road, London. Dylan says the song was inspired by the Eskimo in the Nicholas Ray film The Savage Innocent (1960), symbol of pure freedom on American soil.”
Manfred Mann, “The Mighty Quinn” (1968):