Buffy Sainte-Marie stripped of her Order of Canada by Governor General

The Governor General’s bureau has terminated singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Order of Canada.

The determination was announced successful the Canada Gazette, the national government’s authoritative paper successful which it publishes the substance of caller laws, regulations and different notices and decisions.

The determination comes aft a CBC study successful 2023 questioned Sainte-Marie’s Indigenous heritage, saying it recovered a commencement certificate that indicated she was calved successful 1941 successful Massachusetts and listed that some her and her parents arsenic white.

“Notice is hereby fixed that the assignment of Buffy Sainte-Marie to the Order of Canada was terminated by Ordinance signed by the Governor General connected January 3, 2025,” a abbreviated message, published connected the Gazette website connected Feb. 8, read.

Family members successful the U.S., including a younger sister, told CBC that Sainte-Marie does not person Indigenous ancestry, nor was she adopted.

Sainte-Marie, 83, pushed back against the CBC probe soon aft it made nationalist headlines, saying the outlet’s The Fifth Estate occurrence was afloat of omissions and mistakes.

“Being an ‘Indian’ has small to bash with sperm tracking and colonial grounds keeping: it has to bash with community, culture, knowledge, teachings, who claims you, who you love, who loves you and who’s your family,” Sainte-Marie said successful a written connection to The Canadian Press astatine the time.

She besides said she “will not stoop to respond to each mendacious allegation” and that she’d “heard from countless radical with akin stories who bash not cognize wherever they are from and consciousness victimized by these allegations.”

Sainte-Marie besides posted video to her societal media accounts up of the CBC’s reporting, saying she has shared her communicative for 60 years and called herself a “proud subordinate of the Native assemblage with heavy roots successful Canada.”

“But determination are besides many things I don’t know, which I’ve ever been honorable about. I don’t cognize wherever I’m from, who my commencement parents are oregon however I ended up a misfit successful a emblematic achromatic Christian New England home,” she said successful the video.

“I realized decades agone that I would ne'er person the answers.”

Sainte-Marie’s authoritative website erstwhile said she was “believed to person been calved successful 1941 connected the Piapot First Nation reserve successful Saskatchewan and taken from her biologic parents erstwhile she was an infant.”

Ntawnis Piapot, the great-granddaughter of Emile Piapot and Clara Starblanket, some deceased, who adopted Sainte-Marie, told Global News astatine the clip that the assertion Sainte-Marie has nary Indigenous ancestry has nary bearing connected her belonging to a Cree family.

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“The adoption process, it took years — it took days and months and years of getting to cognize each different and trusting each different and going to ceremonial and getting her Indian sanction (from my mushum) to yet look astatine her and beryllium like, I admit you arsenic my daughter, you’re officially portion of our family.”

It was done successful Cree custom, Piapot said, and portion Sainte-Marie didn’t assertion impervious of humor relations, she is accepted arsenic kin due to the fact that of that ceremony.

“It’s truly insulting that idiosyncratic would question my large grandfather’s prime and close to follow Buffy arsenic his daughter,” Piapot told Global News.

“No 1 has the authorization to question our sovereignty, we are a sovereign nation, we are sovereign radical and our adoption practices person been intact since clip immemorial.

“Having idiosyncratic question the validity of that adoption… it’s hurtful, it’s ignorant, it’s colonial, and rather frankly it’s racist.”

Sainte-Marie’s Indigenous civilization was a cardinal portion of her individuality arsenic she roseate to fame successful the 1960s, and she has won awards including aggregate Junos and the Polaris Music Prize successful 2015.

Among her galore accolades, Sainte-Marie won an Oscar successful 1983 for champion archetypal song, starred connected six seasons of Sesame Street, influencing the show’s storylines, and founded the Nihewan Foundation — an enactment dedicated to improving acquisition of and astir Indigenous radical and cultures.

She retired from performing successful 2023, citing wellness reasons.

Global News has reached retired to her publicist for comment, but did not instantly perceive back.

— With files from Global News’ Melissa Ridgen and The Associated Press