Indigenous ancestry row tarnishes singer's legacy

Allegations in a documentary that the popular American folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie misrepresented her Indigenous roots have rattled First Nations communities in Canada, where she claims to have been born, highlighting the complex legacy of an artist whose decades-long career is defi ned by advocating for Indigenous rights.

- Leyland Cecco

 

Sainte-Marie describes herself as a “Cree singer-songwriter” and has long traced her identity to the Piapot First Nation reserve in Saskatchewan, where she claims she was born in 1941. Sainte-Marie says she was taken from her biological mother as an infant and raised by a white family in the US.

But last month, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation released a documentary calling into question that narrative and her claims to have Indigenous roots.

Its report left communities in disbelief, and threatens to tarnish SainteMarie’s reputation as a cultural icon who fought tirelessly for social justice movements during a career in which she won an Oscar, numerous industry accolades and four honorary doctorates from Canadian universities.

Delia Opekokew, Sainte-Marie’s former lawyer, who is Cree, has disputed the claims and recently signed an affi davit that concludes Sainte-Marie was probably born in Saskatchewan and soon after was given up for adoption to an American family .