Calgary Olympic boycott: Buffy to sing for Lubicon cause

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The battle for the Lubicon's land claim will take to the stage at the Calgary Jubilee Auditorium, Oct. 23 when Buffy Sainte-Marie and Peggy Ward perform in a fund raiser for that cause.

The Last Stand of the Lubicons will be highlighted by Sainte-Marie, a cree folk singer from the Piapot reserve in Saskatchewan, who now makes her home in Hawaii.

"I think this is a real issue," said Sainte-Marie, in a telephone interview from her island home. "I think the band is doing the right thing in protesting this issue."

But Sainte-Marie is hesitant about the Olympic boycott. "I think the Olympics are pure, a global endeavour with no side issues," she said.

She does however support the Lubicon's boycott of the Glenbow's Native art exhibit The Spirit Sings.

"I love museums. But I am ashamed the museum doesn't actively participate in the Lubicon's battle," she said. "I think the museum is missing an important opportunity. A museum must be more than just a collection of the past. It must be a living museum dealing with the issues of today."

Like Sainte-Marie, Peggy Ward, a Calgary musician actively involved in many underprivileged homes, also defends the Lubicon's stand.

"I agree with the Lubicon's boycott," said Ward. "But this is not just about a boycott, this is about some 400 lives."

Ward will be performing the song she wrote for the Lubicons, People Belong to the Land.

Ward's inspiration for the song was an old Native woman she met on the West Coast. "She told me that white men strip and rape the land," explained Ward. "Then they put a fence around it and say this land belongs to me. They don't understand that the people belong to the land."

Ward will also perform a variety of other songs ranging from jazz to country and western.

Sainte-Marie has not yet decided on an itinerary for her show but does plan to perform some of her well known protest songs.

For her future, Sainte-Marie is working on a couple of albums but has net yet decided on their content.

"I have a wealth of material which would fall into the top 40 category," said Sainte-Marie. "But I also have a wealth of material that is just Native. "We haven't yet decided if we are going to combine the material or make two separate albums.

Some of her new songs may be heard at the concert which starts at 7:30, Oct. 23. Tickets are $10.50 and $12.50 and are available from BASS or by calling the Committee Against Racism at 284-1165.