Buffy Sainte-Marie has had her Canadian music awards revoked after acknowledging she is not a Canadian citizen. Both the Juno Awards and the Polaris Music Prize announced Friday that they were rescinding the honors she received over the years. This decision follows Sainte-Marie’s recent return of her Order of Canada, stating she has always been an American citizen and had “made it completely clear” she is not Canadian.
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS), which oversees the Juno Awards, justified the move based on eligibility requirements. Sainte-Marie had won seven Juno Awards throughout her career. CARAS emphasized that while the decision does not reflect on her artistic contributions, the organization must uphold its mandate to honor Canadian artists.
Polaris also cited eligibility criteria, stating Sainte-Marie “does not meet Polaris Music Prize’s rules and regulations.” The singer won the 2015 Polaris Music Prize for Power In The Blood and received a 2020 Polaris Heritage Prize for It’s My Way. Despite rescinding her honors, Polaris confirmed it will not seek to reclaim the $50,000 prize money.
Sainte-Marie’s removal from Canadian honors follows a CBC investigation in October 2023 that questioned her Indigenous ancestry claims. Documents uncovered by CBC’s The Fifth Estate suggested she was born in 1941 in Massachusetts, contradicting her long-standing assertion that she was born Cree on the Piapot First Nation in Saskatchewan. Sainte-Marie has maintained that she was adopted as a young adult by a Cree family and has lived with uncertainty about her parentage.
Despite the controversy, she expressed “love and gratitude to Canada” and appreciation for being able to contribute to the music industry.
Source: Swifteradio.com
