Buffy Sainte-Marie loses major Canadian awards over revelations over true identity
Folk singer and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie has been stripped of multiple awards and accolades, including her membership in the Order of Canada, following revelations surrounding her nationality and ethnicity.
Rising to prominence during the 1960s, Sainte-Marie’s music and social activism often focused on issues faced by First Nations and Indigenous people in Canada and the United States. She sang about the historical oppression of these groups and the challenges faced in their communities in the modern age.
At the time, the singer claimed an Indigenous Canadian identity and ancestry, but that has since been disputed. During a 2023 investigation by CBC News, it was found that the folk singer was born in the United States and is of European descent – namely, English and Italian.
Sainte-Marie has claimed to have ties to various different First Nations over the years, including Algonquin, Mi’kmaq, and Piapot Cree. She has also claimed, without evidence, to have been adopted by a Piapot family during her childhood, although she has also claimed to have been born on a Piapot reservation. Despite this, her birth certificate dictates that she was born to white parents in Stoneham, Massachusetts.
Last month, the musician was stripped of her Order of Canada, which was awarded to her in 1997, in light of the fact that she is not Canadian. In response, Sainte-Marie claimed to be “proud of my Indigenous-American identity, and the deep ties I have to Canada and my Piapot family,” adding that allegations of her Indigenous ties being fabricated are “beyond traumatic.”
In addition to her Order of Canada being recinded, Sainte-Marie has further been stripped of two Polaris Music Prize awards given to her in 2015 and 2020, respectively, as well as multiple Juno Awards, and her place in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. These awards are given exclusively to Canadian artists, and so Sainte-Marie does not fit their criteria, thanks to revelations about her identity.
In a statement last week when she handed back her Order of Canada, Sainte-Marie shared, “I’ve never treated my citizenship as a secret, and most of my friends and relatives in Canada have known I’m American, and it’s never been an issue.”
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