The Governor General has revoked singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie’s appointment to the Order of Canada, as announced in the Canada Gazette. The termination was enacted by an ordinance signed by Gov. Gen. Mary Simon on January 3.
This decision follows a 2023 CBC investigation that questioned Sainte-Marie’s Indigenous heritage, presenting a birth certificate indicating her birth in 1941 in Massachusetts. Family members in the U.S. informed CBC that Sainte-Marie was not adopted and lacks Indigenous ancestry.
Throughout her career, Sainte-Marie’s association with Indigenous culture was central to her identity, leading to accolades such as multiple Juno Awards and the Polaris Music Prize in 2015. Her official website previously stated she was “believed to have been born in 1941 on the Piapot First Nation reserve in Saskatchewan and taken from her biological parents when she was an infant.”
As an adult, Sainte-Marie was adopted into a Cree family after oral history connected her to the First Nation. She has contested the CBC report, asserting it contained inaccuracies and omissions, and maintains that she has never misrepresented her identity.
Source: Swifteradio.com
