While I've become used to Buffy Sainte-Marie's use of technology in her material, "No No Keshagesh" (Greedy Guts) still took me by surprise with its sound and the amount of technology she used on it. Yet, once I adjusted to what she was doing I could hear how this music was working to make the lyrics attacking how businesses have "Got Mother Nature on a luncheon plate/The carve her up and call it real estate" that much more powerful. This isn't some whining, tree hugger song about being nice to the flowers, this a call to arms to fight back: "Mister Greed I think your time has come/I'm gonna/Sing it and pray it and/live it and say it singing/No No Keshagesh you can't do it nor more."
I watched the documentary before I listened to the CD, which is where I found out about her being taken from her family as a child and not knowing whether she was born in 1940, 41, or 42. In 1964, as her career was starting to take off, she made a trip up to the Wikwemikong pow-wow on Manitoulin Island (largest fresh water island in the world) in Northern Ontario, and began the process of trying to find her family. Unfortunately, all of the records pertaining to her adoption had been destroyed, so finding out who her birth parents were was impossible. However she was readopted by a Native family from her home reserve who she had met at the pow-wow. Her new grandfather was the son of one of signatories to Treaty 4, the treaty in which the Cree Indians of Western Canada recognized Queen Victoria as their ruler, and he was her link in the chain that reconnected her to being a member oft Cree nation.
The documentary does a really good job of telling Sainte-Marie's story from her earliest days as a folk singer in Greenwich Village in New York City, combining archival footage of some of her earliest performances with present day interviews with people like Taj Mahal, Robbie Robertson, and other contemporaries from the time. We find out that her career in the States came to an abrupt halt in the late sixties when she was blacklisted by the Johnson administration for her activism in both the anti-war movement and Native rights.
Article comments
1 - David Rachlin/Boston, USA
I have been a fan of BSM since the 70's when I discovered her music at a Canadian neighbors' home. She has been a major influence in my life as an educator, in that I insist on using First Nations/Native American literature in my classroom, and set aside the old, crusty poems we suffered with as children. I make sure my students know that native people are not a thing of the past and use her music as an example. Buffy Sainte-Marie is one of the most important gifts North America has given the world (along with corn and chocolate!), and I cherish every song she has written. This was an excellent review of Running for the Drum. It was at first hard to get used to the wide variety of styles, and I had originally hoped for the more Native sound that we got from Coincidence and Likely Stories, but every song is a true gem and deeply meaningful.Thanks!
2 - Bill R.
This doesn't seem to be available in the States. Hope Amazon et al see the error of their ways.
3 - Richard Marcus
Bill if you follow the link to Buffy's site, or to EMI Canada in my review I'm sure either one will be pleased to sell you a copy. I looked for an Amazon link, and even though they suggest an alternate search of "Running For The Drum" they don't list it yet. Good luck in getting your hands on a copy.
Richard
4 - THUNDERFIRE
HI NOW ALL THE TWO SPIRITED PEOPLE[NATIVE FOR "GAY"] COULD FINALLY HAVE THEIR FIRST DANCE SONG BY BUFFY! "WORKING FOR THE GOVERMENT" COULD BE PLAYED IN THE DANCE CLUBS-IT HAS THAT KIND OF FEEL & BEAT![ IT'S CATCHY UPBEAT BOUNCY SONG THAT MAKES U WANT TO GET UP AND DANCE!] AS USUAL I WANTED TO HEAR WHAT SHE HAD TO SAY "POLITICALLY"THRU HER SONGS AND THERE'S A COUPLE GOOD ONES HERE-STRAIGHT TO THE POINT LIKE SHE ALWAYS DOES IT-[FIRST 2 SONGS] THE QUIET ROMANTIC TYPE SONGS-THERE'S ABOUT4 HERE, THAT ARE REALLY GOOD-THE LAST SONG"THIS LOVE GOES ON AND ON"BRINGS TEARS TO MY EYES BECOUSE IT'S BEAUTIFUL!
THE DVD THAT COMES WITH IT REALLY EXPLAINS HER BACKGROUND IN DEPTH-ER LIFE/CARRER SO I'AM GLAD THAT WAS INCLUDED HERE.
I'AM GLAD WE HAVE HER IN OUR CAMP BECOUSE SHE ENCOURAGES ME BY HER EXAMPLE-TO BE PROUD TO BE NATIVE AND SHE'S A GOOD POSITIVE ROLE MODELFOR US! THANK YOU AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU BUFFY!I LOVE YOUR NEW CD!
5 - steve hayes
I can't find Running for the drum on sale anywhere in the UK - very frustrating!Has it actually been released here yet?
6 - Hoksila Isnala
I just got hold of my copy.... eBay UK. I especially appreciated the devastatingly beautiful "Easy Like the Snow Falls Down", dedicated to those affected by Alzheimer's disease. I lost my mother to this disease late last year, and she always shared my love of Buffy's music. Makes me wonder what might have prompted the veteran singer-songwriter to write such a song.... perhaps for some respected Native elder, now lost in its cruel grip? Thank you, Buffy, for this latest jewel of a CD!
7 - Passing by...
We are NOT known as "Native Canadians". We are First Nations or just plain old Indian (not East Indian). But "Indian" is more used in the States. Even better, like my Saskatchewan roots, Buffy is Cree.
8 - Passing by...
P.S. Buffy is an "artist" first, who just happens to be Cree.
9 - Passing by
Just doing my tri-annual check-up to see who else is using my handle. Please be gentle with it - it's been around for quite a while, in a variety of places.
10 - steve hayes
Finally got a copy of Running...well worth the wait. Buffy says she'll be back in uk later this year after well-received set at Cambridge folk fest. We don't get many chances to see her so fingers crossed!