Buffy Sainte-Marie

Buffy Saint-Marie is a symbol of the free expression movement of the 1960s and her powerful songs inspired countless people seeking hope and change. Her life has been one of transitions; from songwriter to famous intellectually-oriented folk and protest singer, to country and western and rock and roll musician, to social activist, mother, script-writer, actress, digital artist, philanthropist, childrenrs"s educator, and "medicine woman." Within all these roles, and throughout her incredibly diverse and engaging, though private, life, Buffy Sainte-Marie has cultivated her unique vision for achieving collective beauty and purpose in an often lonely world. In this ambitious biography of an international cultural icon, Blair Stonechild seeks to bring together the many facets of a remarkable life, and to develop a sense of the woman behind it all. In doing so, Stonechild also traces some of the tumultuous history of the Cree people, and offers a fascinating, and challenging, view into the impoverished Saskatchewan reserve where Sainte-Marie was born, and an exploration of the story and context of a Native culture which Buffy continues to inspire today.

Dr. Blair Stonechild is a member of the Muscowpetung First Nation in Saskatchewan. He co-authored (with Dr. Bill Waiser) Loyal Till Death: Indians and the North-West Rebellion, which won the Saskatchewan Book Award and was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award in 1997. His book on First Nations post-secondary policy, The New Buffalo: Aboriginal Post-Secondary Policy in Canada (2006), Was a finalist for the Saskatchewan Book Award.