*Jingle Plays*

Okay let’s dig right into this. Obviously, for the lot of you who don’t know Buffy, she’s a Cree singer, songwriter, multi- instrumentalist, educator, social activist, philanthropist, and visual artist who was born in Saskatchewan, Canada on February 20, 1941. She is known as the artist who creates love songs and interestingly, protest songs as well. So her music really focuses on Social and political issues regarding Native Americans and other minorities. Those are a lot of great qualities for one person, so where exactly did Buffy’s career begin? Okay so, After her mother’s tragic death, Buffy, being only a couple months old, was adopted by the Mi’kmaq couple, Albert and Winfred Sainte- Marie. She had always took an interest in music, specifically the piano. She was raised by them in Massachusetts and Maine until her graduation, when she boldly decided to move to New York and begin a promising music career performing in cafe’s, festivals, and Indigenous communities in Greenwich village. After becoming a star in the city, she decided to expand her fame further by singing with Vanguard Records and releasing her first album titled “In My Way” in 1964 and wow, the absolute success that album recieved was insane ladies and gentleman. Buffy actually won the Best New Artist Honour Award form Billboard Magazine for that album Alone. Get this, the songs she composed included cultural importance and also educated her fans on native topics, which is what made it so impressive. She went on to stun people worldwide with her music by releasing more albums and records specifically with her 1969 release “Illuminations”, which was the first quadraphonic electronic vocal album ever recorded. In fact, she gained so much popularity that she earned 6 JUNO Awards and was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame in 1995. And it doesn’t stop there people, she was the first and only indigenous women to win an Oscar. It’s honestly insane how deep rooted her music career was in peoples lives. Now onto the real question, how was she making a difference with her music? To start, she founded a whole charity that aims to provide indigenous children an education. As if that wasn’t enough, she inspired millions of young artists to follow her way and speak up against racism and violence. Also, This is rather crazy in a good way, but all of Buffy’s songs discussed issues and or challenges for Indigenous people and other minorities.   For example, in her song “Now That The Buffalo’s Gone”, she publicly protests about the outright theft of Indigenous People’s land. In another release titled “Cod’ine” she discusses how the healthcare system failed her and (other Native Americans) after she was addicted to codeine due to Bronchitis. Songs aren’t the only way she gets across to people though. Buffy advocates and has always been advocating for education in the Native American Community. Not just this, but The political outspokenness in her songs and actions is there. For example, she actually championed a variety of political causes in the 60’s, with her most notable movement being the American Indian Movement, which is the militant civil rights organization that was Anti-the Vietnam War. Fun fact, she was actually blacklisted by the Richard Nixon Adminstration for speaking out so much, which when I heard, it literally blew my mind. Despite the limited radio airplay she was getting, This women kept going, and never once thought of stopping and giving up. That is why I chose her for today’s podcast. Against all odds, she came from nothing and became an absolute icon. She fought back against a whole government just to spread awareness of Indigenous issues and fight against prejudice. What a human being honestly. She reached a degree of greatness that  all of us strive for today. Thank you everyone for joining me on todays podcast. Abdul is the name, and Applauding Hidden Treasures is the podcast. Lights out baby.