Artist Profile Buffy Sainte-Marie

Buffy Sainte-Marie
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Background information
Born on the 20th February 1941 at Piapot Reserve Canada, Buffy Sainte-Marie was thereafter adopted only a few months old after her parents died (McIntosh, Bateman & Mclean, 2019). As an orphan, she was brought up in Massachusetts by her foster parents Albert Sainte-Marie and Winfield. Burry is a nickname by friends with her real name known as Beverly Sainte-Marie. She began her love of music at a young age and by three she began learning to the piano and writing her poems (Warner, 2016). The learning of tuning of musical instruments such as guitar and piano provided her with an opportunity to have a successful career in music. During her teenage years, she researched her birthright and became associated with her Cree community in Piapot Reserve. She studied philosophical studies at the University of Massachusetts to understand different cultures. Being American-Indian, she made plans to explore India and understand more about Indian culture. While at school, she was persistent in writing different song lyrics and poems.
She has committed a large part of her life in offering the right content to her audience. According to McIntosh, Bateman, and Mclean (2019) she graduated in 1983 with honors at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and acquired an honorary doctorate in the same institution. Fine art and philosophical studies provided her with an opportunity to understand indigenous cultures. She founded a philanthropic non-profit fund for indigenous and mainstream school children in 1969. She performed in concerts in Canada, the US, and Europe communicating about native communities and social issues.
Kind of Music
She integrated pop and indigenous music to grab the interest of the target audience. As McIntosh, Bateman, and Mclean (2019) observe, pop music by the artist provided crucial information about the current issues affecting the community. She is fearless in advocating for native population issues in her life and music. The evolving music industry required her to apply modern approaches to make sure that people understand pop music. The creativity of the artist made it possible for her to actively engage in different social and political issues in the US. She released songs about social justice to increase community welfare. Her song “Up Where We Belong” earned Golden Globe and an Academy Award for the Best Original Song (Simon, 2018). She became actively involved in her work in the 1960s and 1970s before retiring from the music profession to take care of her son before taking to a recording contract in 1992 (McIntosh, Bateman & Mclean, 2019).
Her music and albums provide crucial information about social events. An example of her 1960s albums includes “my country of thy people you’re dying (Britannica, 2020).” One of the albums for the 1970s is “Sweet America (Britannica, 2020).” In 1992 she returned to record an album named “Coincidence” followed by “Up Where We Belong” in 1996, “Running for the Drum” in 2008, “Power in Blood” in 2015, and “Medicine Songs” in 2017 (Britannica, 2020). Her protest son...