Following a CBC 2023 investigation, the Canadian government has stripped legendary singer Buffy Sainte-Marie of her Order of Canada appointment. The Canada Gazette published the announcement on Saturday, February 8 following the investigation that alleged that Sainte-Marie lied about her heritage.
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"Notice is hereby given that the appointment of Buffy Sainte-Marie to the Order of Canada was terminated by Ordinance signed by the Governor General on Jan. 3, 2025," Ken MacKillop, Secretary General of the Order of Canada, wrote in the published notice in the Canada Gazette.
While not specifying a reason for the decision, it is quite clear that it stems from the CBC's investigation. Said investigation, from CBC's Fifth Estate, alleges that Sainte-Marie actually fabricated her heritage. Reporters revealed through a birth certificate that Buffy Sainte-Marie was born in Stoneham, Massachusetts. Reportedly, her birth name was Beverly Jean Santamaria.
According to PEOPLE, this contradicted Sainte-Marie's claims that she was born near Craven, Saskatchewan, with her calling herself "Cree Indian." Sainte-Maria later stated that she was adopted by Albert and Winifred Santamaria from Massachusetts.
Sainte-Marie Addressed The Controversy
Following the CBC investigation, Buffy Sainte-Marie has addressed the controversy and denied the claims against her. She published a video and a
statement on her Facebook page, dated October 6, 2023. She has not posted since."I am proud of my Indigenous-American identity, and the deep ties I have to Canada and my Piapot family," Sainte-Marie wrote in the statement. According to Sainte-Marie, it was her part Mi'kmaq mother that she learned about her Indigenous ancestry.
"My mother told me many things, including that I was adopted and that I was Native, but there was no documentation as was common for Indigenous children born in the 1940's," Sainte-Marie continued.
"Later in my life, as an adult, she told me some things I have never shared out of respect for her that I hate sharing now, including that I may have been born on "the wrong side of the blanket". This was her story to tell, not mine."
Family
She would later state that she was adopted by Emile Piapot and Clara Starblanket Piapot as a young adult. Emile was the son of Chief Piapot and Clara was the daughter of Chief Starblanket. She would describe them as "kind, loving, and proud to claim me as their own."
Sainte-Marie would then say that she has always struggled with questions about who she was. She also tried to learn more about her background. "Through that research what became clear, and what I've always been honest about, is that I don't know where I'm from or who my birth parents were, and I will never know," she said.
According to Sainte-Marie, the CBC relied on the fabricated accounts of her family members, including her brother Alan. Sainte-Marie said that Alan sexually abused her, and called CBC's investigation traumatizing as she had to relieve those memories when asked about the alleged abuse.
