Buffy Sainte-Marie should lose 2018 Juno, Indigenous group says

A group of Indigenous women is calling for Buffy Sainte-Marie to lose her Juno Award for Indigenous album of the year, after a CBC story raised doubts about the singer’s ancestry.

“We invite the Juno Awards Committee to revisit this 2018 category and explore ways of righting a past wrong. All Indigenous artists in this 2018 category … should be reconsidered for this rightful honour,” the Indigenous Women’s Collective said in a statement late Sunday. 

The Indigenous Women’s Collective, which describes itself as a group of mothers, grandmothers, academics and activists advocating to stop colonial violence against Indigenous women, said it reviewed CBC’s story and watched “The Fifth Estate” piece, released on Friday. It said it believes Sainte-Marie deceived the public about her origin as an “Indigenous Scoop survivor.”

It said the deception allowed her to benefit from a false narrative that misled thousands of Indigenous people.

“We acknowledge that Buffy Sainte-Marie was traditionally adopted into the Piapot family 60 years ago under the sacred Cree laws of Wahkotowin. We respect the privacy of her family, friends, colleagues and fans, and their decision to remain supportive and loving toward her,” the collective said in the statement. 

“We understand that traditional adoption comes with great responsibilities, it does not provide anyone permission to falsely claim Indigenous origin identity. Being adopted into an Indigenous family and community does not authorize anyone to speak on behalf of our all of our people.”

CBC obtained Sainte-Marie’s birth certificate, which says she 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’s marriage certificate, a life insurance policy and the United States census corroborate the information on the birth certificate.

Family members in the U.S., including Sainte-Marie’s younger sister, also told CBC that the musician was not adopted and does not have Indigenous ancestry.

Sainte-Marie, 82, said in a statement the day before CBC’s story that she doesn’t know who her birth parents are or where she’s from, but called herself “a proud member of the Native community with deep roots in Canada.”

The singer also provided an affidavit from a former lawyer tasked with looking into her Indigenous heritage. It says oral history from Saskatchewan explained Sainte-Marie was born north of Piapot First Nation to a single woman “who could not care for her.”

Sainte-Marie has long and intimate ties with what she says is her home community of Piapot, northeast of Regina. Members from the community have said Sainte-Marie is family and dismissed CBC’s presentation of the singer’s U.S. birth certificate as “colonial record-keeping.”

The Junos did not respond to a request for comment Monday but said last week that it had not seen “The Fifth Estate” show and had “nothing to provide.”

Sainte-Marie has also received many other notable awards, including the Order of Canada in 1997 and a Gemini, now known as the Canadian Screen Awards.

The Office of the Secretary to the Governor General said in a statement that it’s aware of the report about Sainte-Marie’s ancestry but does not comment on the possibility of honours being revoked. 

“The Order of Canada advisory council reviews nominations and makes appointment recommendations to the Governor General. This same council can also make a recommendation to terminate an appointment.”

The Canadian Screen Awards did not provide an immediate response. 

— With files from Kelly Geraldine Malone in Saskatoon

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2023.