CBC says legendary musician and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie鈥檚 birth certificate, other documents and details from family members contradict her claim that she is Indigenous.
Sainte-Marie, 82, said ahead of the Friday report that she doesn鈥檛 know who her birth parents are or where she鈥檚 from. She called herself 鈥渁 proud member of the Native community with deep roots in Canada.鈥�
鈥淭o those who question my truth, I say with love, I know who I am,鈥� she said Thursday in a statement.聽
CBC located her birth certificate, which says Sainte-Marie was born in 1941 in Stoneham, Mass., to Albert and Winifred Sainte-Marie. The document lists the baby and parents as white and includes a signature of an attending physician.
CBC said Sainte-Marie鈥檚 marriage certificate, a life insurance policy and the United States census corroborate the information on the birth certificate.
Sainte-Marie鈥檚 claim to Indigenous identity was forefront as her fame began to increase throughout the 1960s. Her debut record, 鈥淚t鈥檚 My Way!,鈥� featured several notable tunes, including "Now That the Buffalo's Gone," a protest song linked to the loss of Indigenous lands.
She brought First Nations culture to 鈥淪esame Street鈥� and is credited with being the first Indigenous person to win an Oscar. She won best original song in 1982 for co-writing 鈥淯p Where We Belong,鈥� the ballad from the movie 鈥淎n Officer and a Gentleman.鈥�
Sainte-Marie has also received many notable Canadian awards, including the $50,000 Polaris Music Prize in 2015 and its heritage award in 2020. The organization said it was not considering rescinding the awards in light of the recent report.
But the story of her birth, childhood and identity shifted throughout her decades-long career in the public eye.
CBC cites news articles from the 1960s in which she identifies as Mi鈥檏maq, then as Algonquin and later as Cree.
Her 2018 authorized biography says there鈥檚 no official record of her birth. It says she was probably born Cree on Piapot First Nation in Saskatchewan in the early 1940s. Sainte-Marie was adopted through Cree traditions into the Piapot family in her early 20s.
The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network also obtained a copy of the birth certificate. APTN says Sainte-Marie鈥檚 team did not deny it was her birth certificate, but the document could not be relied on.聽
Sainte-Marie said Thursday that her 鈥済rowing-up mom,鈥� Winifred Sainte-Marie, told her she was adopted and may have been born 鈥渙n the wrong side of the blanket,鈥� meaning born out of wedlock.
Conflicting stories about her adoption have also been published, some saying she was an infant, others that she was a toddler when she was taken by an American family. Some say her birth parents died or her mother was killed in a car crash.聽
Sainte-Marie provided an affidavit from her former lawyer, who was tasked with looking into her Indigenous heritage. It says oral history from Saskatchewan explained Sainte-Marie was born north of Piapot to a single woman 鈥渨ho could not care for her.鈥�
Family members in the U.S., including Sainte-Marie鈥檚 younger sister, told CBC that Sainte-Marie was not adopted and does not have Indigenous ancestry.
The CBC report includes an article from 1964, when a man claiming to be Sainte-Marie鈥檚 uncle told the paper that she is not Indigenous and specifically not Cree. CBC says family members did not speak out further about her identity because they feared the singer would take legal action.
Sainte-Marie maintained that she does not know her birth parents, where she鈥檚 from or 鈥渉ow I ended up a misfit in a typical white Christian New England home.鈥�
鈥淚 realized decades ago that I would never have the answers," she said Thursday.
Sainte-Marie recently retired from touring, citing her health. She has received numerous accolades including a Gemini, a Golden Globe and the Governor General鈥檚 Performing Arts Award. She was also named to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1995.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2023.
Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press
