Winner of 3 JUNO Awards, 2 nominations
Few artists have created a musical legacy that has achieved long-standing international success and touched a nation’s consciousness the way Buffy Sainte-Marie has.
Born on a reservation near Regina and raised in Maine, Sainte-Marie’s career was launched in New York’s legendary Gerdes Folk City club, home to fellow folk singers such as Bob Dylan. “I arrived with a pair of spike-heeled shoes, a sexy little dress from Fredrick’s mail-order catalogue and a pawn shop guitar,” recalls Sainte-Marie.
In 1965, one of her first songs “Universal Soldier,” became a huge success for British singer Donovan. Sainte-Marie’s debut album, It’s My Way, propelled her to the top of the music scene and soon artists such as Glen Campbell and Bobby Darin were lining up to record her gorgeous ballads.
“My heart was really in the 50′s- that whole flashy thing with sequins, yet I was becoming a folk star,” she explains.
Sainte-Marie’s heart and music found their home on native reservations across North America, where the singer was spending an increasing amount of time and energy. Songs such as “Now That Buffalo’s Gone,” and the powerful “My Country ‘Tis of Thy People You’re Dying” were born out of Sainte-Marie’s experiences on the reserves. “Starwalker,” dedicated to the American Indian Movement, became an anthem for native people worldwide.Sainte-Marie’s efforts took place in an era that blacklisted solo performers who spoke out about their human rights views. “On the Tonight Show I was told not to sing anything about Indian people,” she recalls.
By 1976, Sainte-Marie had recorded 12 albums and established herself as an international star and successful cross-over artist with several Nashville recordings. Illuminations, her sixth album, was the first quadraphonic electronic synthesizer record and years ahead of its time.
From this point onwards, Sainte-Marie’s remarkable career took several interesting turns.
Living in Hawaii, she appeared on Sesame Street with her young son, Dakota. For five-and-a-half years, she educated Big Bird and a generation of North American children about Native people and issues. Sainte-Marie also continued to tour, performing on reservations and assisting the native movement with benefit concerts for political prisoners such as Leonard Peltier. In 1980, she won an Oscar for “Up Where We Belong,” the hit song from the An Officer and a Gentleman movie soundtrack, which she wrote with Jack Nitzsche and Will Jennings. Two years after this achievement, Sainte-Marie returned to the recording industry after a lengthy break to create her 14th album, Coincidence and Likely Stories.
Sainte-Marie continues to work as a strong advocate of native issues. She encourages CARAS to acknowledge the contributions of aboriginal artists and last appeared on the Junos in 1993 to announce the creation of a new awards for the best music of aboriginal Canada, which was first presented in March 1994.
From her solo performance in Paris before a crowd of 90,000, to her dedication to native peoples throughout the world, Sainte-Marie is truly an outstanding artist and individual.
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