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Buffy Sainte-Marie

Buffy Sainte-Marie

American musician
Singer/songwriter whose career spanned folk, country, rock, activism, and children's television.
BornFebruary 20, 1941
HometownStoneham, Massachusetts, United States
Net worth$3 million
Height5'1" (1.54m)
SpouseJack Nitzsche
ChildrenDakota 'Cody' Starblanket Wolfchild
ParentsWinifred Sainte-Marie, Albert Sainte-Marie
Profile

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Cree musician Buffy Sainte-Marie, 80, is still creating and speaking out

Buffy Sainte-Marie is an award-winning singer and songwriter, Indigenous-rights activist, children's-book author, former Sesame Street star, mother, teacher and mixed-media digital artist. Now 80, the Cree icon is still creating, performing and speaking out, knows how she'd like people to think of her: as an innovator. "I've always kind of tried to cover the base that nobody else is covering," she tells Yahoo Life.  Sainte-Marie, who lives in Hawaii, is uncertain of her origins, though believes she was born in 1941 on the Piapot First Nation reserve in Saskatchewan, taken from her biological parents when she a toddler, and adopted by a couple in Massachusetts. Growing up there, she faced many challenges, including bullying and sexual abuse, she says — and the messages, through school, that she "couldn't be Indigenous, because there aren't any anymore around here," and that she "couldn't be a musician" because she was unable to read European notation. Sainte-Marie went on to teach herself guitar and become a successful folk singer and activist, getting her start in the '60s coffeehouse scene, becoming known for her anti-war anthem "Universal Soldier" and releasing her first of nearly 20 albums, It's My Way!, in 1964, and always speaking out about indigenous issues. "I'm working with little kids right now in Canada, where we're facing all this bad, bad, bad, bad news about the bad, bad, bad, bad residential schools," she says, noting that she's working to also counteract the awful news with some good through her role on the board with the indigenous-awareness Downie & Wenjack Fund in Canada. "We're making a series of one-minute videos that are some little piece of wisdom. And the part that I wanted to contribute … was to offset [the tragic news] with that of our contributions about what we've given to the world," she says, citing team sports, syringes and more. "You only hear about either our victimization or the problems of white people stealing our land," she stresses. "You only hear those two terrible stories, but there's a lot of good news."
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MOVIES & TV SHOWS

Broken Rainbow
Broken Rainbow
1h 10min
1985
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World
1h 43min
2017

Albums

Up Where We Belong
Up Where We Belong
1996
Running for the Drum
Running for the Drum
2008
Coincidence and Likely Stories
Coincidence and Likely Stories
1992
Sweet America
Sweet America
1976
Changing Woman
Changing Woman
1975
Native North American Child: An Odyssey
Native North American Child: An Odyssey
1974
Quiet Places
Quiet Places
1973
Moon Shot
Moon Shot
1972
She Used to Wanna Be a Ballerina
She Used to Wanna Be a Ballerina
1971
Best of Buffy Sainte-Marie, Vol. 2
Best of Buffy Sainte-Marie, Vol. 2
1971
Illuminations
Illuminations
1970
Best of Buffy Sainte-Marie
Best of Buffy Sainte-Marie
1970
I'm Gonna Be a Country Girl Again
I'm Gonna Be a Country Girl Again
1968
Fire & Fleet & Candlelight
Fire & Fleet & Candlelight
1967
Little Wheel Spin and Spin
Little Wheel Spin and Spin
1966
Many a Mile
Many a Mile
1965
It's My Way!
It's My Way!
1964
Power in the Blood
Power in the Blood
2015
Documentary: A Multi-Media Life
Documentary: A Multi-Media Life
2014
Pathfinder: Buried Treasures
Pathfinder: Buried Treasures
2010
Buffy/Changing Woman/Sweet America
Buffy/Changing Woman/Sweet America
2008
Vanguard Visionaries
Vanguard Visionaries
2007
Live At Carnegie Hall
Live At Carnegie Hall
2004
Best of the Vanguard Years
Best of the Vanguard Years
2003
Moonshot
Moonshot
1972
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