Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Jean Santamaria; February 20, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and social activist.Sainte-Marie’s singing and writing repertoire includes subjects of love, war, religion, and mysticism. She has won recognition, awards, and honors for her music as well as her work in education and social activism. In 1983, her co-written song “Up Where We Belong”, for the film An Officer and a Gentleman, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 55th Academy Awards. The song also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song that same year.Since the early 1960s, Sainte-Marie has said she has Indigenous Canadian ancestry, but a 2023 investigation by CBC News concluded that she was born in the United States and is of Italian and English descent. Some Indigenous musicians and organizations have since called for awards she won while falsely claiming an Indigenous identity to be rescinded, including her 2018 Juno Award for Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year.
In her work, she has focused on issues facing Indigenous peoples of the United States and Canada.
In 1997, she founded the Cradleboard Teaching Project, an educational curriculum devoted to better understanding Native Americans.
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