Buffy Sainte-Marie was born on Feb.20/1941 in the Qu'Appelle Valley. She attended the University of Massachusetts where she earned a Bachelor of Arts and a PhD in teaching and Oriental philosophy. In her early twenties, Sainte-Marie started touring alone performing in various concert halls, folk festivals and Native American reservations across Canada and the United States. Many of her songs were covered and often were turned into chart topping hits. Between 1976 and 1981 she appeared regularly on Sesame Street. In 1992, after a sixteen year recording hiatus, Buffy released the album "Coincidence and Likely Stories." She founded the Cradleboard Teaching Project in October of 1996 which is a project that introduces kids to new curriculum via and Electric Powwow.

Awards

In 1997 Buddy won a Canadian Gemini Award for her variety special, "Up Where We Belong"
In 1984 the song "Up Where We Belong" from the movie "An Officer and a Gentleman" won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for Best Original Song.
In 2010, she received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award.