Raven Mitraska-White Buffalo Woman

Raven Mitraska-White Buffalo Woman
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Andy Caffrey
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This was at the 1989 Earth First! Round River Rendezvous in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico on June, 24, 1989.

After the first set was over, as the dinner break commenced, this guy Raven, who had played at a couple of campfires the previous couple of nights, went up on stage, joined with a couple of stragglers, and began a beautiful set of his original indigenous eco-warrior rock before a smattering of a few dozen stragglers.

He immediately grabbed my FULL attention with his first campfire rendition of this song, "White Buffalo Woman." This dude was serious. This guy was deep. I wanted to check this guy out. So I did.

What I noticed most was that he was the most ego-free person I had ever seen. Probably during the hour before this set, I approached him and started singing praises for his music. He told me that he was half Mexican and half Apache, I think. He lived in this region of New Mexico, so was local.

He wasn't some New Age new-shaman type. He was the real thing. He grew up with traditionals. He had no bravado, he was deadly serious about the tasks ahead.

Mostly, he was keeping his own company on the outskirts of the clusters of friends in the fields throughout the days of the rendezvous, but I noticed he was very friendly and laid back with people who approached him.

He and I hit it off right away. He gave me a home edited selection of a bunch of his songs, but later asked for it back and gave me another hand copied tape with even more songs.

We then planned to do an Earth First! road show together with his music and my Earth First! videos and, I think, a presentation on ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest.

We talked by phone a few times, but in the end he had to remain home to homeschool his son.

My life got crazy. My Earth First! group got car bombed, then I lost everything in the Oakland Firestorm, followed by five years of homelessness. So I lost touch.

But if you have heard of Raven Mitraska, or can help me find him, please let me know. I'd like to reconnect.



Video by Andy Caffrey