Buffy Sainte-Marie on Democracy Now

Amy Goodwin, host of Democracy Now, recently did an hour-long special interview with Buffy Sainte-Marie, Cree artist and activist. Sainte-Marie just released her 18th album, her first in 13 years. It’s called “Run for the Drum.”

I remember the first time I saw a Sainte-Marie album. It belonged to my aunt Karen. I was visiting her and the adults in the house were excited about the music. I stared at the cover graced by the artist. She was dressed in beads and leather. It was the first time I ever saw an Indian on record cover, yet alone heard one singing on album. Now, after listening to the Democracy Now interview, I’m ever more impressed with Sainte-Marie , a folk icon known around the world.

From the Goodwin interview, words from a love song written by Sainte-Marie:

You’re not a dream

You’re not an angel

You’re a man

And I’m not a queen

I’m a woman

Take my hand

We’ll make a space

in the lives

that we’d planned

And here we’ll stay

Until it’s time

for you to go

Yes, we’re different

Worlds apart

We’re not the same…

Here’s what musician Robbie Robertson had to say about Sainte-Marie’s phenonmenal success: “You have to break through. It isn’t like they got the door wide open and saying, ‘Hey, all you Indians, come on in!’ It isn’t like that in the real world, you know? So this girl had to stand up and, you know, and break through barriers. And I’m very proud that she’s done it.

Sainte-Marie said: “I always thought it was going to be over tomorrow. I never, ever thought that any of my songs would be remembered today or that I’d be sitting here at this age getting ready to go into a concert with the Winnipeg Symphony and visit reserves. But that’s the way that my life has turned out, and I’m very, very grateful for it.”

Jodi Rave