1. (People get really excited when they know you're coming to town, especially around here.) A musical career that spans forty years is ... not easy. In the sixties, did you imagine -back then- that you'd be creating and having an audience for this long?
Thanks for the good words. No I didn't think I'd last in show biz more than a week, but I expected the songs might, and I deliberately tried to make certain songs that would cross languages and generations. The songs were about classic human themes, including the ones about specific Aboriginal issues. You can see lyrics and hear some of them (like Universal Soldier, Until It's Time for You to Go, Up Where We Belong, and No No Keshagesh) at my website: http://www.buffysainte-marie.com
2. You produced 15 albums from 1964 - 1976, 2 in the 1990s and a collection this year. Of course, you released 'running for the drum' in 2009. At any time, did you wonder if that was it - that you weren't going to get any new music out there?
I create songs for "in here" more than for "out there". I record all the time at home. But creating a collection of songs is not the same as releasing them, marketing them as if they were tomatoes or tires or any other product in the marketplace. There would have been no sense in releasing “Running for the Drum” while George Bush was in office and record companies stood between artists and audiences, supporting some and shelving others. Anybody can release an album now on the internet.
3. You've received and honorary doctorate from the University of Regina in 1996. What did you think when you'd received the news?
I thought it was really nice, especially since it was a Doctor of Laws degree, which is their highest honour; and for them to give me this particular degree represented sort of a wonderful milestone in Regina, which has so many times been associated with systemic racism. Also because they are a sister university to the (then) brand new First Nations University in Regina it meant a lot to me, as I too support FNU. The acceptance speech I gave focused on ‘Whose heritage is it anyway?’ I love interacting with universities. In a way they are the most conservative but also the most liberating of institutions, and I do like to offer a unique approach to whatever they're already doing, whether I'm working with them on the arts, Aboriginal issues, multimedia, education, Native science curriculum, whatever. I hated high school but loved university. It saved my life and I recommend university to anybody who can possibly get there.
4. You said in your acceptance (broadcast on channel seven) speech that "the teachers who taught me best were people who never had the ghost of a chance to go to university. So I take great delight in sharing this honour you give me with them." You then named them. Have people come forward to speak to you, or thank you for this?
Oh gosh, people come up to me after every concert, every speech, and I know so many people in Regina. And people in Regina particularly are used to me being grateful to family and community people, and yes they express their thanks to me for the little things I do too. In the last few months I've done the Aboriginal Achievement Awards, the Regina Folk Festival, and a couple of weeks ago the commemoration and symphony concert for Chief Paipot, so there's been a lot of thanks and pride going around. We all acknowledge each other, express thanks and gratitude a lot, not just me, everybody. It's kind of a family tradition.
5. Indigenous knowledge has been making inroads into universities and high school for a while now. But Indigenous Canadians still have trouble getting through standard schooling. If you could imagine a Native child's school experience, what would it include?
It varies with grade level, but generally sciences, government, social studies, their own language, their own band/tribal history, indigenous culture studies, Canadian and world history, English/French, math, geography, art, music, sports. Certain books like “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,” “Indian Givers,” “Native Roots,” “Morning Girl,” and books by Aboriginal authors like Louise Erdrich, Tom Highway; long list, short answer.
6. You've received more since then, from Waterloo, OCAD, Emily Carr Institute, and Carleton (I'm hoping I didn't miss any...). I've only been to one Convocation so far - but I know that the honoured person speaks to the crowd. Do you ever feel a little overwhelmed at the number of awards?
Eight honorary doctorates
University of Regina - 1996
Lakehead University - 2000
University of Saskatchewan 2003
Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design - 2007
Carleton University – 2008
University of Western Ontario – 2009
Ontario College of Art and Design – Toronto 2010
Wilfred Laurier University, Ontario – 2010
Yeah, that is a little overwhelming. Most people don't actually know what an honorary degree is. A university gives an honorary degree to someone who, in the considered opinion of a judging panel, has done their Ph.D work off-campus that would usually have been done on campus. A Master's degree means that you have mastered the material. A Ph.D (doctorate) means that you have added something new to the field, like published new information or discoveries. There are stiff rules that universities use or their accreditation would be questioned.
7. Did you think back then that you'd receive honorary doctorates from so many universities?
No. I never expected to receive any award for anything! I thought I was going to India to study Music and the Sacred at Shantiniketan University. Instead I wound up in show business, with a philosophy degree and a teaching certification nobody knew about.
8/9. You also have worked in education and for communities. Can you say a little about the Nihewan foundation and the cradleboard teaching project for our readers?
In the 1960s I was a young singer with lots of airplane tickets and lots of money. I used my concert airplane tickets to spend my down time in indigenous communities, often where I already knew people but sometimes not. I saw lots of people who had no idea how to go to college. I used concert monies and founded/sustained my Nihewan Foundation to help Native people go to college, and later expanded it also to support non-Indian students in Aboriginal studies. I see that exchange of knowledge as a two-way door.
In the mid-1970s I initiated the Cradleboard Teaching Project, an extension of the same philosophy, but designed to serve kids in grades 3-12 and teacher’s college. I designed it both to provide accurate, engaging curriculum in science and other subjects through Aboriginal cultural perspectives; and also to connect Aboriginal classes with non-Indian classes as they study our curriculum together as study partners. While I'm on the road, we do not operate the partnering program, but the curriculum is online and free at www.cradleboard.org for elementary, middle and high school students. Go to: http://www.cradleboard.org
10. Our magazine is sent out to Indigenous students, faculty, their families, community members, and friends. But this magazine also goes out to potential students - straight from high school and also through access programs. (I fall into the last category) Is there something you'd like to say to those people that would help them on their future journey?
I hated high school (really needed to get out of town), but I loved university. It changed my life big time. My advice: if there's any way, give it a try. Try it semester by semester. If you hate it, you can discontinue. But every semester you get more great subjects to choose from. Interesting things you choose yourself from a very delicious catalog, subjects that high school never mentioned. You don't have to choose a career, just go get educated. You'll have a roof over your head for four great growing up years and come out the other side with a degree and a head full of experiences.
11. Finally, is there anything else you'd like me to mention or anything else you'd like to say?
Only that it sure feels good to travel all over the world knowing that if I can't sing for awhile I have that degree in my pocket and won't starve. I travel with my band, three hot Aboriginal guys from Winnipeg, and we all value our post-high school education in filmmaking, music, philosophy and art. Riding around in a van with a rock n roll band can be very, very smart: some great conversations. Hear our music and see our Tour Photo Gallery at my website: http://www.buffysainte-marie.com
