At A Glance
Born: February 20, 1941
Where: Piapot Reserve, SK
Interesting Note:
A digital artist since 1984, her digital paintings were the first large scale (8x9 feet) works to appear in major museums, including the Glenbow Museum in Calgary and the Institute for American Indian Arts Museum in Santa Fe.
Notable Achievements:
Order of Canada in 1998 an Academy Award in 1982, received a medal from Queen Elizabeth II
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Born on the Piapot Reserve in Saskatchewan's Qu'Appelle Valley, Buffy
Sainte-Marie was a writer of protest and love songs that became classics in
the 1960s, and were recorded by such artists as Barbara Streisand, Elvis
Presley, Neil Diamond, and Janis Joplin.
Buffy was adopted and raised in Maine and Massachusetts. By the age of 24,
Sainte-Marie had toured all over Europe, Canada, Australia and Asia.
Billboard magazine named her "Best New Artist" for her debut album. During
the Lyndon Johnson administration, Buffy was blacklisted along with Eartha
Kitt and Taj Mahal, due to her honest, outspoken protestations.
An extremely well educated talent, Buffy holds a PhD in fine arts and
degrees in oriental philosophy and teaching. She has recorded 17 albums and
has had three television specials. Sainte-Marie is also a renowned pioneer
in the field of digital music and art. Among her projects is the CD-ROM
“Science Through Native American Eyes," an engaging interactive production
that she filmed, directed and produced.
Buffy has travelled worldwide working hard to preserve the intellectual
property of all indigenous peoples. She currently heads the Nihewan
Foundation for Native American education and has also created a scholarship
fund for Native American study.
Buffy Sainte-Marie's accomplishments are extraordinary. She has received a
medal from Queen Elizabeth II and an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the
University of Regina. She has won numerous awards, including a Juno, a
Gemini and an Academy Award for the song "Up Where We Belong," the theme
song from the movie, "An Officer and a Gentleman." She had a five-year stint
on Sesame Street with her son, Dakota Wolfchild Starblanket, where they
taught youngsters that "Indians still exist."
In 1976, Sainte-Marie quit recording to raise her son and to continue as a
student of experimental music. In 1993 she returned to music and recorded
"Coincidence and Likely Stories." That same year, she helped establish a
new Juno Awards category for aboriginal music. 1993 continued to be a
banner year for her as she headlined a concert of indigenous artists in
Lapland. The program was televised in Germany, Sweden, Norway and Finland.
France named her best international artist for 1993, and the United Nations
asked her to proclaim the International Year of Indigenous People.
Her most recent album was a performance, "Live at Carnegie Hall." Now a
resident of Hawaii, Sainte-Marie was inducted into the Juno Hall of Fame in
1995, and named an officer in the Order of Canada in 1997.
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Inductees
