Buffy Sainte-Marie

Buffy Sainte-Marie

Lifetime (1998)

Academy Award-winning singer and songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie was born on the Piapot First Nation in Saskatchewan. In the 1960’s, her music won international acclaim when her song “Universal Soldier” struck a chord with the peace movement. In 1964, she was named Billboard Magazine’s Best New Artist of the Year. She received the Academy Award in 1982 for her song, Up Where We Belong, from the movie, An Officer And A Gentleman. She has recorded 15 albums, and composed music for several films. Her song, Until It’s Time for You to Go has been recorded by more than 200 artists in 16 languages. Ms. Sainte-Marie earned a Bachelor of Education, and later a Ph. D. in Fine Arts, from the University of Massachusetts. She was a regular for five years on the television show, Sesame Street, and was instrumental in creating a new category for the Juno Awards, The Best Music of Aboriginal Canada. She received the Order of Canada, and has been voted to the Juno Hall of Fame. She’s been awarded a Juno for Best Music of Aboriginal Canada, a Gemini Award, an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Regina, the Louis T. Delgado Award for Native American Philanthropist of the Year, and France’s Best International Artist. Ms. Sainte-Marie currently teaches art at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, and continues to work for her Nihewan Foundation for American Indian Education and the Cradleboard Teaching Project.