songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. Throughout her career in all of these areas, her work has focused on issues of indigenous peoples of the Americas. Her singing and writing repertoire also includes subjects of love, war, religion, and mysticism.
In 1997, she founded the Cradleboard Teaching Project, an educational curriculum devoted to better understanding Native Americans. She has won recognition and many awards and honours for both her music and her work in education and social activism.
Buffy Sainte-Marie was born in 1941 on the Piapot Plains Cree First Nation Reserve in the Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada. She was later adopted, growing up in Massachusetts, with parents Albert and Winifred Sainte-Marie. She attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, earning degrees in teaching and Oriental philosophy and graduating in the top ten of her class. She went on to earn a Ph.D in Fine Art from the University of Massachusetts.
In 1964, on a return trip to the Piapot Cree reserve in Canada for a powwow she was welcomed and (in a Cree Nation context) adopted by the youngest son of Chief Piapot, Emile Piapot and his wife, who added to Sainte-Marie's cultural value of, and place in, native culture.
In 1968, she married surfing teacher Dewain Bugbee of Hawaii; they divorced in 1971. She married Sheldon Wolfchild from Minnesota in 1975; they have a son, Dakota "Cody" Starblanket Wolfchild. That union also ended in divorce. She married her co-writer for "Up Where We Belong," Jack Nitzsche, on March 19, 1982. He died from a heart attack on August 25, 2000. As of 2007, she lives in Hawaii.
Although not a Bahá'í herself, she became an active friend of the Bahá'í Faith by the mid-1970s when she is said to have appeared in the 1973 Third National Bahá'í Youth Conference at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and has continued to appear at concerts, conferences and conventions of that religion since then. In 1992, she appeared in the musical event prelude to the Bahá'í World Congress, a double concert "Live Unity: The Sound of the World" in 1992 with video broadcast and documentary. In the video documentary of the event Sainte-Marie is seen on the Dini Petty Show explaining the Bahá'í teaching of progressive revelation. She also appears in the 1985 video "Mona With The Children" by Douglas John Cameron. However, while she supports a universal sense of religion, she does not subscribe to any particular religion.
Sainte-Marie claimed in a 2008 interview at the National Museum of the American Indian that she had been blacklisted by American radio stations and that she, along with Native Americans and other native people in the Red Power movements, were put out of business in the 1970s.
In a 1999 interview at Diné College with a staff writer with the Indian Country Today, Sainte-Marie said "I found out 10 years later, in the 1980s, that President Lyndon B. Johnson had been writing letters on White House stationery praising radio stations for suppressing my music" and "In the 1970s, not only was the protest movement put out of business, but the Native American movement was attacked."
As a result of this blacklisting led by (among others) Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and Nashville disc jockey Ralph Emery (following the release of I'm Gonna Be a Country Girl Again), Sainte-Marie said "I was put out of business in the United States".
Eagle Man / Changing Woman
Buffy Sainte-Marie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Red light of evening falls like rain
Rainbow's my yarn the sky is my loom
I will weave sunsets later on
Snow woman, climbing the wind
Blue light of winter fills her baskets
Changing woman
Life lovers, splitting the worlds
Healing the broken and the lame
Reach out to me, give me your hand
We close the circuits of time
Angel ranger, stay here by me
Guide my transmission of energy
Oldest religion simple and clear
Pour out a lesson into our dreams
Eagle man, climbing the skies
Red light of evening falls like rain
Rainbow's my yarn the sky is my loom
I will weave sunsets later on
The song "Eagle Man/Changing Woman" by Buffy Sainte-Marie has a very spiritual and nature-focused theme. The lyrics are contemplative and deep-reaching. The song begins with Eagle Man, who symbolizes freedom and transcendence, soaring higher and higher into the sky in search of something greater, as the red light of evening falls like rain.
Throughout the song, Sainte-Marie describes different elements of nature and how they are intertwined with the human experience. She mentions the rainbow being her yarn and the sky being her loom, signifying the connection between the natural and the human-created world. She then speaks of Snow Woman, who represents the chilly and barren aspects of winter, collecting blue light in her baskets as she climbs the wind in search of her own purpose.
With the mention of Changing Woman comes the idea of embracing change and transformation, as she dances on the weather, leaving feather marks along her trail. The song speaks of life lovers, who bridge the gap between worlds, healing the broken and the lame. The song further emphasizes the importance of joining forces to close the circuits of time and help one another to achieve greater purpose.
The song then moves onto Angel Ranger, who serves as a guide for Sainte-Marie's transmission of energy. It highlights the need for divine intervention, especially in the oldest religion, where the lessons are simple and clear. The song then ends with a repetition of the first verse, with Eagle Man still climbing the skies, and the red light of evening falling like rain, as the rainbow serves as Sainte-Marie's yarn, and the sky as her loom to weave the sunsets later on.
Line by Line Meaning
Eagle man, climbing the skies
The free-spirited Eagle man is ascending into the infinite skies
Red light of evening falls like rain
The sun is setting, filling the sky with a warm, reddish-orange glow
Rainbow's my yarn the sky is my loom
Buffy Sainte-Marie considers the vast and colorful sky her inspiration and creative outlet
I will weave sunsets later on
She will create beautiful art inspired by the natural beauty around her
Snow woman, climbing the wind
The Snow woman is venturing out into the cold and windy winter environment
Blue light of winter fills her baskets
The Snow woman is gathering the cold essence of winter in her baskets
Changing woman
A reference to a Navajo creation myth, Changing Woman represents the cyclical nature of life and the change of the seasons
Dance on the weather lightening and feather mark her trail
Changing Woman's presence is marked by lightning and feather as she dances through the changing weather
Life lovers, splitting the worlds
People who love life are bridging gaps between different cultures and parts of the world
Healing the broken and the lame
These life lovers seek to mend the damaged and vulnerable
Reach out to me, give me your hand
Buffy Sainte-Marie appeals for help and connection from others
We close the circuits of time
By coming together and supporting one another, we create a sense of continuity and connection through time
Angel ranger, stay here by me
Buffy Sainte-Marie looks to a guardian spirit to watch over her
Guide my transmission of energy
She asks the guardian spirit to help guide her in directing her creative output towards a positive and transformative purpose
Oldest religion simple and clear
The spiritual essence of the world is timeless and straightforward
Pour out a lesson into our dreams
Buffy Sainte-Marie asks for guidance and wisdom to be imparted to her through her dreams
Eagle man, climbing the skies
The Eagle man continues his journey through the inspiring and limitless sky
Red light of evening falls like rain
The sun sets, casting a beautiful and intense red glow across the sky
Rainbow's my yarn the sky is my loom
Buffy Sainte-Marie continues to find inspiration in the ever-changing and vibrant sky
I will weave sunsets later on
She will continue to use the beauty around her to create even more works of art and inspiration
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Buffy Sainte Marie
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Chuck
on Moonshot
I don’t know if this interpretation is by AI or an idiot, but it isn’t close to the mark. “Off into outerspace” isn’t an awestruck nod to space travel, but sneering at those whose minds are basically in outer space. “We wish you bon voyage” is sardonic. Welcoming back is sincere, hoping they come back to earth and realize what is here in these simple places, these cultures rooted in balance with nature and those around us. Cultures buried by the might and white-washing of American society. The anthropologist disappeared from that American society and into native culture, for which his wife is distraught viewing him as lost. But he spoke the truth and spoke it boldly and wisely as if from the heavens themselves.