BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE on Creative Decolonization in a Global Village /29
"Neon Hula" -Digital art by Buffy Sainte-Marie
In this heartening episode of For The Wild, we speak to all-around inspiration, legendary artist, educator and political activist, Buffy Sainte-Marie. Buffy shares with us her story and how we can authentically grow our creativity in contemporary times. Almost 50 years after the release of her album It’s My Way!, Buffy remains an indomitable artist, advocate and disruptor. Beginning our conversation with the origins of creativity, we explore global awareness and artistic contributions, the business behind the Doctrine of Discovery, the ramifications of identity, demythologizing the power elites and more!
“Keep your nose on the joy trail, share what you can share when you can share it, don’t be afraid to take a bath and take a nap and don’t burn out!”
Portrait of Buffy Sainte-Marie
A member of the Cree First Nation, Buffy was born on the Piapot Cree Reservation in Saskatchewan, Canada. She was orphaned as an infant and moved to Massachusetts, where she would later get her degree in Eastern Philosophy from the University of Massachusetts. In the early Sixties, Buffy played the coffeehouses of Greenwich Village, where her music was so well received that her career skyrocketed to international fame soon thereafter. In 1969, she made one of the world’s first electronic vocal albums; in 1982 she became the only Indigenous person to win an Oscar; she spent five years on Sesame Street where she became the first woman to breastfeed on national television. She’s been blacklisted and silenced. She’s written pop standards sung and recorded by the likes of Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley, Donovan, Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes. She penned “Universal Soldier,” the definitive anti-war anthem of the 20th century. She is an icon who keeps one foot firmly planted on either side of the North American border in the unsurrendered territories that comprise Canada and the USA.
New Album: Power in the Blood
♫ Music includes “Native North American Child,” “Little Wheel Spin and Spin,” “My Country ‘tis of Thy People You’re Dying,” “Generation,” “Carry It On,” “God Is Alive Magic is Afoot,” and “We Are Circling” by Buffy Sainte-Marie.
For The Wild is a slow media organization dedicated to land-based protection, co-liberation, and intersectional storytelling. We are rooted in a paradigm shift away from human supremacy, endless growth, and consumerism. As we dream towards a world of grounded justice and reciprocity, our work highlights impactful stories and deeply-felt meaning making as balms for these times.