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".
GENERATION
Buffy Sainte-Marie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Wrap their eyes in blindfolds and still they'll find their way
Blind their lives with pills and lies and still they find their vision
And soon they'll leave you to your yesterday
And they'll sing goodbye scars of history
And goodbye bankers' trust
Aquarius is shining and the sun is one of us
I'm gonna leave that moon alone
I just want to dance with the Rosebud Sioux this summer
Yes, yes, yes
The media is saturated but the sweetgrass still grows tall
And Jesse John Blackbear talks to God in Cleveland, O-hi-yo
And Washington is joking but the Navajos are not
And the Senecas just arrived in Arizona.
I talked to seven congressmen, their ears were filled with gold
That their grandfathers had stolen out of the Black Hills
But it really doesn't matter 'cause their children hear me well
And they will dream the dream my Mother sends to them.
Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Generation" is a tribute to the power of young people in changing the world. She recognizes that the youth have the ability to lead us to the future, even if we attempt to blindfold them with our own biases and prejudices. Sainte-Marie emphasizes that despite attempts to deceive and manipulate them, the younger generation will find their own way and ultimately leave the past behind. The lyrics convey a sense of hope and optimism that is tied to the generational change that is taking place; the scars of history can be left behind, and a new era of light and freedom can be ushered in.
Sainte-Marie points out the problems present within society, but also illustrates that progress is being made. Despite the saturation of mainstream media and the suppression of indigenous peoples, there are still pockets of resistance such as the growth of sweetgrass and Jesse John Blackbear talking to God. The Navajo and Seneca peoples are still fighting for their rights, while Washington, through its jokes, demonstrates its continued ignorance. Sainte-Marie's words here, along with the image of youth that she creates, are a powerful reminder that despite the challenges we face, young people will lead us to create a brighter, more just future.
Overall, "Generation" is a deeply moving tribute to the power of young people and a reminder that the future rests in their hands. It is a call to action, reminding the listener that they too have a role to play in shaping what is to come.
Line by Line Meaning
Kids were sent from heaven inside to lead you to the future
Children are the precious gifts from God who have the potential to lead us towards a brighter future.
Wrap their eyes in blindfolds and still they'll find their way
Even if the children are unaware of their path, they have the inherent ability to find their way.
Blind their lives with pills and lies and still they find their vision
Despite the chaos and deception around, children can maintain their clarity of vision and focus on their goals.
And soon they'll leave you to your yesterday
Children will always move towards their bright tomorrow and leave their past behind.
And they'll sing goodbye scars of history
The younger generation will say goodbye to the wounds caused by history.
And goodbye bankers' trust
The rising youth will bid adieu to the economic hegemony of the bankers.
Aquarius is shining and the sun is one of us
Aquarius, the god of water, signifies a new era of hope and positivity. We're all equal under the sun.
And me I don't wanna go to the moon
I'm gonna leave that moon alone
I just want to dance with the Rosebud Sioux this summer
Yes, yes, yes
The singer has no interest in exploring the unknown boundaries of space, instead, she wants to dance with the native tribe of Rosebud Sioux in South Dakota.
The media is saturated but the sweetgrass still grows tall
The media is flooded with news and information, but the natural beauty and simplicity of life still remain intact.
And Jesse John Blackbear talks to God in Cleveland, O-hi-yo
Jesse John Blackbear is connected with spirituality and he communicates with God from Cleveland, Ohio.
And Washington is joking but the Navajos are not
The government officials in Washington make amusing statements, but the Navajos or native tribes do not find that funny.
And the Senecas just arrived in Arizona.
The Senecas or native tribes migrated recently to Arizona.
I talked to seven congressmen, their ears were filled with gold
That their grandfathers had stolen out of the Black Hills
But it really doesn't matter 'cause their children hear me well
And they will dream the dream my Mother sends to them.
The singer met seven congressmen who were only interested in their self-gain, but their children will dream to make the world a better place, as they hear and understand the singer's message of hope and love.
Writer(s): Buffy Sainte Marie
Contributed by Maya R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Ebony Lily of Zion
Buffy speaking to my cells my blood my soul always. Chills in my bones as I sit with my medicine. Thank you again Buffy.
William inUS
Buffy is still so right. "Bye, Bye Bankers Trust...Their ears were filled with Gold that their Grandfathers had stole... I just want to dance with the Rosebud Sioux this Summer."
Eva Mühlbauer
This song makes me feel so powerful and hopeful! I'm listening to it a lot and singing along
gaetan landry
Great album, awesome song
Daniel Duhaime
this is fantastic
Várvara V.
Great song!
Max Alberts
Uncanny genius. Thank you, Ms. Buffy Sainte Marie.
G
Buffy I just found out my mom lied and I am Apache and Hopi
It's in my dna
My art all my life was native
My relationship with plants and animals
There was no hiding it
My art
Mario Caffari
May your great * SPIRIT * always be with you and also be a part of this planet
Ebony Lily of Zion
Yes sister your medicine walks with you. Keep walking with it. Noone can take that away from you, I understand you. Bless you.