I Vote Buffy Sainte-Marie For Woman Of The Year
Because this Indigenous woman embodies what North America we should all aspire for
I recently reviewed a narrative podcast series that chronicles the life of the folk singer-songwriter, and global icon, Buffy Sainte-Marie. I’ve seen her play live in New York City, and I’ve listened to her music over the years, but I actually had no idea how much of a sensation she is until now. Now that I know all these new facts about here, I want to shout this out to the rooftops.
Buffy was born Beverly, in 1941, on the Piapot Reserve, in the Qu’Appelle Valley, in Saskatchewan, Canada. Through a shameful and regretful failing of the Canadian Government, Beverly was “adopted out,” like thousands of other Indigenous children, sent away to live with white families in a program that would later be called the Sixties Scoop (this wasn’t formalized in the 1940s, meaning it was happening, but not accounted for and named).
Beverly, who later took on the stage name Buffy (which later became her name), was raised outside Boston, Massachusetts. She was never formally taught music. Instead, she would hide in the woods and retune her guitar to what she thought it should sound like, and write her own songs. She didn’t know it at the time, but this tinkering and playful nature would define her iconoclastic music….it just came out from inside of her, as it was meant to.
Her life with her adopted family was not straightforward. There was abuse and neglect. But Buffy found her own self through her music and thrived in the world of song.
She graduated from High School, and then went to University (exceptional for any woman at this time). She still wrote the music and learned to play famous cover tunes that audiences loved, and began to her career on the coffee house circuit.
Who else was out there on the circuit at the same time? Just all of the legends of song. She helped get Joni Mitchell her first gig. After she met Bob Dylan at a show, he suggested he call the booker at The Gaslight, the famous coffee house in Greenwich Village where so many musicians of the day got their start.
It was at The Gaslight that she got her big break. A music critic from the New York Times heard her play, gave her a great review, and called her “one to watch for.” Her career took off after this point.
I’m doing okay telling her story, but really, you should listen to this series. The story weaves personal narratives along with a political statement, written and hosted by a young Indigenous Canadian woman named Falen Johnson.
Listening to this series made me want to change the way we consume stories about women
I listen to narrative podcasts and write reviews about them for a weekly newsletter that I publish.
At the beginning of March, to recognize Women’s History Month, I made a conscious decision to spend more time focusing on stories of women, from all corners and walks of life.
But when I looked at the list of podcasts in my queue, too many of them were made by men, or about men…and if they were in the true crime category, most often they were about a woman who had been murdered.
This led me on a search to find stories that were not only about women but celebrated a woman, specifically for how and what she’s done in this world. From a quick scan of the narrative podcast marketplace, this wasn’t an easy task.
When I looked at what I had spent my own time listening to, I was a bit embarrassed. So many of the stories were about women failing, or being trapped, or being killed…or they just weren’t part of the story at all.
We must make conscious decisions to listen to stories that celebrate women
They don’t jump out to find you…there’s not enough of them available to do that…so now that I’ve found one, I want to take the time to spell out *exactly* why this story is so inspiring to other women.
When I found this narrative podcast about Buffy Saint-Marie, a 5-part podcast narrative story that celebrated her life and music, while simultaneously placing her story alongside a narrative of social justice and recognition of reconciliation, I felt inspired in a way that I hadn’t felt in a while.
I’ve grown up listening to and watching Buffy, but I had no idea just exactly how pivotal she was, in the music industry specifically, which made me look more closely at the way she has operated in this very man-centered world of music over the last forty years.
Here’s the link to the review and the interview:
I examined why I saw her as such a powerful icon
After listening to the series, I’ve landed on three different themes that appear in her music, and the story of her legacy, about why I think she’s a global icon.
1. Buffy wrote songs of protest to educate
As Buffy’s star began to rise, and she began to tour North America, she began to learn more about the injustices of the world. First, she began to realize that the American government was attempting to cover up the Vietnam War, which prompted her to write Universal Soldier.
As she learned more about the shameful and disastrous treatment of Indigenous peoples, she wrote Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee.
2. Buffy used her platform to break down barriers
As she became more famous, the more she used her platform to educate and connect. When she was invited to appear as a guest on Sesame Street, she told them she wasn’t interested…but if they wanted her there as a regular, so that people could see the Indigenous women were not “stuffed in a museum,” they made her a regular.
After she had a child, she told the producers that she should likely step back now…but instead, they said: “No, stay. And bring your family too.” This is how she came to do a bleeding edge scene where she breastfeeds her son, as she explains to Big Bird that although doctors have been pushing formula, this was actually the natural way for babies to eat when they are born.
3. Buffy spoke out against addiction
One year while recovering from a throat virus, she went to the doctor to ask about getting a prescription to help her get better before she went back on tour. The doctor said sure, and gave her a script which she filled, without asking any questions.
She said that she did recover, but then while out on tour, she still wasn’t feeling fully recovered, so she went to a doctor to ask to get her prescription refilled. When the doctor asked her why she was on this medication, she just told him what she knew: The last doctor had prescribed it for pain relating to a stubborn infection.
Then the doctor said: I don’t want to refill this, it’s for codeine, which is a narcotic. The only thing it was doing for Buffy was giving her a false sense of health.
When she learned this, she stopped taking the drug and suffered through withdrawal symptoms. The way Buffy communicates with the world is through song, so the next thing she did was write the song Cod’ine. This song went on to be covered by Janis Joplin and Courtney Love, two women who openly battled drug addiction throughout their careers.
Buffy’s music and her path through life aren’t easy; nor was it straightforward. But the fact that she always communicated in an open and honest way about her struggles — so that other people could find a voice for their challenges. The fact that she found a way to voice what oppression is, and how to change yourself inside that system, made her a global icon and an unlikely superstar.
She’s my vote for Woman Of The Year…what’s yours?
Samantha Hodder is an audio producer and writer. If you love narrative podcasts as much as I do, subscribe to my Substack Bingeworthy
