Saturday, February 8, 2014

The Piney Wood Hills

Image of Buffy Ste. Marie from Magnet Magazine

And speaking of Buffy Ste. Marie, as I was yesterday, makes me think of one of my all-time favourite songs of hers, The Piney Wood Hills.

Buffy is a Cree woman from Saskatchewan. As her website says, she "virtually invented the role of Native American international activist pop star." One of her greatest works was the song Now that the Buffalo's Gone, which speaks of the slaughter of the animal that had such physical and cultural importance to the Aboriginal people of the North American plains.

As well as sustaining a long career of composing, singing and television work, Buffy Ste. Marie paints and works with her philanthropic organization, the Cradleboard Teaching Project, where she designs curriculum that uses multimedia to educate through Native American cultural perspectives.

 Forty-five years in the music business, she has spring concerts coming up in Winnipeg, Swift Current and Lloydminster.

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