Speak Truth to Power: Music and the American Indian Movement | Buffy Sainte-Marie

[Editor’s Note – November 3, 2023: Recent investigative reports have brought Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Indigenous heritage into question. Sainte-Marie has stated that she is uncertain of her biological heritage and affirms her formal adoption into and identification with the Cree nation.]

Explore how Buffy Sainte-Marie used her songs and platform to raise awareness and foster support for issues facing indigenous communities, including her involvement in the American Indian Movement in the 1960s and 1970s, in this video from the American Masters film about her life, Carry It On. The resource begins with Buffy Sainte-Marie and then moves students toward thinking about ways in which songs can be used as activism then and now.