In the 1970 film entitled "The Strawberry Statement", starring Bruce Davison and Kim Darby, the title song was sung by Buffy Sainte-Marie.

Question 1 - Who wrote the song?
Question 2 - Who was she writing about and why?

Wow..finally a Canadian question!

The song is a Joni Mitchell composition. As you say here, sung by Buffe Sainte-Marie, another great Canadian singer.

Joni wrote this song in response to one written earlier by Neil Young called 'Sugar Mountain'.

Young's song is about a young boy growing up and feeling sad about the end of his teenage years.
Anyway, Mitchell took up the idea in Young's song, and continued the idea in 'The Circle Game' where the boy now looks to new dreams, as he enters adulthood.

There is probably no connection between the song and Margaret Atwood's book of poetry, 'The Circle Game'

I must add though, that all four people here, Sainte-Marie, Mitchell, Young and Atwood are,in my opinion, among this country's greatest writers.

Colin, in my enthusiasm to post an answer, I forgot to add that Young was writing about himself, and so Mitchell, was in her reply, writing about him!

I recently got a CD titled Odyssey by the teen-aged New Zealander, Hayley Westerna, and one of the cuts was Joni's Both Sides Now. Hayley has a great voice and interprets the song well.

Wow, dance girl!
Yes, you got it, and threw in the part about them all being from Canada as a bonus. Very well done.
I used to have an old tape of a live concert by James Taylor and Joni Mitchell where she told the story behind these two songs and why they'd been written. Here's her explanation:

http://www.thrasherswheat.org/jammin/jammin_more.htm#joni

Hi Colin,
Just want to add that was a great question. Trivia qustions are always way more interesting when there are links between people to be discovered.
We have a free magazine they give out here at movie theatres, and in it is a trivia section called "Sex Degrees of Separation", a variation on the Six Degrees idea.
In this, you get to see how one movie star 'links' to others through relationships. All gossip of course! Thanks. dg

Follow-up question: When Buffy Sainte-Marie recorded her version of 'The Circle Game' for the film (which was subsequently released as a sibngle in France at least) one line was different from the version Joni recorded on her 'Ladies of the Canyon' album. What was the line that was different and what were the two versions?

PS I'll look out for Hayley Westerna, bab; it's not a name I know

No one yet?
Clue: It's just as the guy in the song reaches 20.

Nobody? Buffy started out the third verse by singing;
"So the boy who dreams tomorrow now is 20"
whereas Joni's version was:
"So the years spin by and now the boy is 20".

I had one of these two versions stuck to my wall on "fiches Bristol" index cards in Marseille, France, when I was a student. Twenty-five years on from the date the songs were originally released, naturally.