FEBRUARY 20, 1941

CREE FOLK MUSICIAN BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE BORN

Born in Saskatchewan, adopted and raised in New England, Buffy was influential in Greenwich Village and Toronto folk music scenes for her song Universal Soldier and album It’s My Way (1964).  By 1969, she was blacklisted for her political views.  From 1975-81, on Sesame Street with her infant son, she taught youngsters about Native Americans.  In 1983, Buffy won JUNO, BAFTA, Gemini, Golden Globe, and Academy Awards for Up Where We Belong, co-written for the movie An Officer and a Gentleman.  In 1993, she was France’s Best International Artist and proclaimed the International Year of Indigenous People for the U.N.  Receiving the Polaris Music Prize, Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, Juno Awards, Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, and honorary degrees, she’s a member of Canadian Music, Canadian Country Music, and JUNO Halls of Fame, Canada’s Walk of Fame, and an Officer in the Order of Canada (1997).  She currently heads the Nihewan Foundation for Native American education.  

Sources:  “Buffy Sainte-Marie,” Canada’s Walk of Fame.  Retrieved 6/8/2019, https://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/inductees/1998/buffy-sainte-marie.  Andrew McIntosh, Jeff Bateman, Steve McLean, “Buffy Sainte-Marie,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 9/2/2008.  Retrieved 6/8/2019, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/buffy-sainte-marie/
Photo:  NBC Television, “Then Came Bronson,” 1/16/1970.  Public domain in U.S. since published without a copyright notice.  It may still be subject to copyright in Canada.