During this special repeat episode of "First Voices Radio," Anne Keala Kelly sits in for Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse. Her guest for the full hour is Academy Award-winning singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie (Cree).
Since her groundbreaking debut, It's My Way! (1964), Buffy has been a trailblazer and a tireless advocate, an innovative artist, and a disrupter of the status quo.
Buffy has spent her whole life creating, and her artistry, humanitarian efforts, and Indigenous leadership have made her a unique force in the music industry. 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.
Buffy Sainte-Marie 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.
Production Credits:
Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Founder, Executive Producer and Host, First Voices Radio
Anne Keala Kelly (Kanaka 'Oiwi), Guest Host and Audio Editor
Liz Hill (Red Lake Ojibwe), Producer
Music Selections:
1. Song Title: Tahi Roots Mix (First Voices Radio Theme Song)
Artist: Moana and the Moa Hunters
CD: Tahi (1993)
Label: Southside Records (Australia and New Zealand)
(00:00:44)
2. Medley of Buffy Sainte-Marie Songs (featuring the following songs and artists):
Indigo Girls: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee from Live at The Roxy (Vanguard Records, 1996)
Janis Joplin: Cod'ine, recorded in 1965 but was released in 1995 on This is Janis (James Gurley, Producer)
Eva Cassidy's: Tall Trees in Georgia is from Nightbird, an album posthumously released in 2015 (Blix Street). The song was recorded live at the Blues Alley, Washington, DC, Jan. 3, 1996
Jennifer Warnes and Joe Cocker: Up Where We Belong, Soundtrack to An Officer and a Gentleman (Island Records, 1982)
Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson Neil Diamond and Johnny Mathis: Until It's Time For You To Go (song from Many a Mile,1965)
Donovan: What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid, title track of Donovan's debut album Universal Soldier (Pye Records, 1965)
Buffy Sainte-Marie, Universal Soldier, It's My Way, It's My Way (Vanguard Records,1964)
3. Song Title: Now that the Buffalo's Gone
Artist: Buffy Sainte-Marie
CD: It's My Way (1964)
Label: Vanguard
(00:14:35)
4. Song Title: No No Keshagesh
Artist: Buffy Sainte-Marie
CD: Running for the Drum (2008)
Label: Appleseed
(00:26:58)
5. Song Title: It's My Way
Artist: Buffy Sainte-Marie
CD: It's My Way (1964)
Label: Vanguard Records
(00:33:00)
6. Song Title: Cripple Creek
Artist: Buffy Sainte-Marie
CD: The Best of Buffy Sainte-Marie (1987)
Label: Vanguard Records
YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvyzbZttFBE
(00:38:00)
7. Song Title: Little Rockabye, a Lullaby for Pet Adoption
Artist: Buffy Sainte-Marie
Book: From her children's book of the same title (2020)
Publisher: Greystone Books
*The song is available on digital platforms: Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and others.
(00:51:00)
8. Song Title: Carry It On"
Artist: Buffy Sainte-Marie
CD: Power in the Blood (2015)
Label: True North Records
(00:54:47)