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Delegates to CUPE National Convention will hear renowned singer, songwriter, teacher and artist Buffy Sainte-Marie.

Eighteen recordings, three TV specials, five years on Sesame Street, numerous exhibitions, a PhD and several other degrees, a son, countless concerts and lectures later, Sainte-Marie is still busy.

One of her fairly rare speaking engagements will be the morning of Oct. 16 at CUPE’s national convention in Toronto.

Sainte-Marie was born on a Cree reservation in Qu’Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan but like many aboriginal children of her generation, was adopted away from her birth nation, and grew up in the northeastern US.

By the time she was in her early 20s she was writing songs - about both love and politics - that became classics of the era.

An activist, an artist, singer, songwriter, and educator, Sainte-Marie’s work is a reflection of her own life - extremely varied and unique - and her special skill is in joining seemingly unrelated ideas: A pacifist and a general. First Nations people and computers. Electronic art and aboriginal realities.

Read her full biography