ANNA MAY has been on the road to Dakota and she's still right at home on Highway 395...and she's ready to be guest Juice-ician at The Lyme Juice Company on Saturday, September 24th - at The Lyme Farmers' Market. Anna is a twenty-one year old traditional folk musician, singer and songwriter whose voice mixes in jazz with an American twist but her French stuff will make you wilt too. Anna's music is inspired by the people in her life and their stories, the places she has traveled to and the coastal town in CT where she grew up.
Anna doesn't sit around hiding behind walls and closed doors waiting for life to happen to her. She's out there living and breathing, responding to all that she experiences and lucky for us, she's creating beautiful lyrics and melodies. Here's proof - check out her song Highway 395.
She's just back from an eye-opening journey to North Dakota in support of the Lakota people and Sacred Stone in protest against The Dakota Access Pipeline. Here is a link to Anna singing Acadia's Song, a song which holds a special connection to this cause. [See below for lyrics].
Anna was christened into the world of activism with guidance from songwriter and activist, Jen Taylor, and musician/aerialist Dani Bobbi Lee. After a long and arduous car ride through the MidWest, they pitched a tent at the Rosebud Camp on the Missouri River and began their work offering music, massage, and conversation as well as helping in the community kitchen at the children's school. They took part in indigenous drum and dance circle and even said hello to Joan Baez {OMG. Right??!!]. The Om Fly Circus from East Haddam CT topped things off with an acrobatic circus jam on the grounds of Rosebud Camp. Anna May says that the experience was "bright, joyous and that the Lakota people are resilient despite dire circumstances."
For more pictures and a first hand account of their experience, click here to read Jen's account of their journey to Dakota.
Pictured below: The wonderful children they met and played with; hooping silhouette at sunset; the view from the Missouri River bank from the Standing Rock Sioux Rosebud Camp, looking out from the tent at the main Red Warrior camp with the tipi of the Elders Council in view and horses drinking at the water's shore.
The Sacred Stone Camp website explains why it's so important for all of us to pay attention to what's going on out there:
"The Spirit Camp is called Iŋyaŋ Wakháŋagapi Othí, translated as Sacred Rock, the original name of the Cannonball area. The Spirit Camp is dedicated to raising awareness and stopping the Dakota Access pipeline, the dangers associated with pipeline spills and the necessity to protect the water resources of the Missouri river. It rejects the appropriation of the name “Dakota” in a project that is in violation of aboriginal and treaty lands. The word Dakota means “the People” in the Dakota/Lakota/Nakota language and was never intended to be used in a project which violates traditional ceremonial areas...
The Dakota Access threatens everything from farming and drinking water to entire ecosystems, wildlife, and food sources surrounding the Missouri. The nesting of bald eagles and piping plovers as well as the quality of wild rice and medicinal plants like sweet grass are just a few of the species at stake here. We ask that everyone stand with us against this threat to our health, our culture, and our sovereignty. We ask that everyone who lives on or near the Missouri River and its tributaries, everyone who farms or ranches in the local area, and everyone who cares about clean air and clean drinking water stand with us against the Dakota Access Pipeline."
The message is clear and Anna wants to help spread the word and build awareness: "Water is Life. A pipeline that threatens to contaminate a clean water supply should not be built. The Lakota people need HELP NOW in order to make it through what will surely be a very harsh winter." Visit Sacred Stone Camp to see what supplies you can donate.
Always On The Road - Anna May pictured here with friends on a different road trip.