Buffy Sainte-Marie, a musician known for decades of Indigenous activism, says she91裸聊视频檚 always been honest that she doesn91裸聊视频檛 know the identity of her birth parents, as a CBC report was expected to question her First Nations ancestry.
91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 know where I91裸聊视频檓 from or who my birth parents were, and I will never know. Which is why to be questioned in this way today is painful,91裸聊视频� Sainte-Marie said Thursday in a statement.
91裸聊视频淭o those who question my truth, I say with love, I know who I am.91裸聊视频�
Sainte-Marie, who91裸聊视频檚 in her early 91裸聊视频�80s, said she was contacted last month by CBC and called allegations about her identity 91裸聊视频渄eeply hurtful.91裸聊视频�
CBC91裸聊视频檚 investigative show 91裸聊视频淭he Fifth Estate91裸聊视频� is scheduled to air an episode titled 91裸聊视频淢aking an Icon91裸聊视频� on Friday. A description of the episode does not name Sainte-Marie but says an icon91裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频渃laims to Indigenous ancestry are being called into question by family members91裸聊视频� and its investigation includes genealogical documentation and historical research.
Chuck Thompson with CBC said in an email Thursday, 91裸聊视频淏eyond what91裸聊视频檚 in the program description, we have nothing more to add.91裸聊视频�
Sainte-Marie also posted a video on social media addressing the upcoming episode, saying she has shared her story for 60 years. She called herself 91裸聊视频渁 proud member of the Native community with deep roots in Canada.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淏ut there are also many things I don91裸聊视频檛 know, which I91裸聊视频檝e always been honest about. I don91裸聊视频檛 know where I91裸聊视频檓 from, who my birth parents are or how I ended up a misfit in a typical white Christian New England home,91裸聊视频� she said in the video.
91裸聊视频淚 realized decades ago that I would never have the answers.91裸聊视频�
Sainte-Marie Sainte-Marie became popular in the 1960s for her singing and songwriting, and used her fame to elevate Indigenous issues at a time when they weren91裸聊视频檛 receiving much attention. Her debut record, 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 My Way!,91裸聊视频� featured several notable songs, including 91裸聊视频淯niversal Soldier,91裸聊视频� written about the individual responsibility for war.
The musician also appeared on 91裸聊视频淪esame Street91裸聊视频� and is credited with being the first Indigenous person to win an Oscar. She won for best original song in 1982 for co-writing 91裸聊视频淯p Where We Belong,91裸聊视频� the ballad from the movie 91裸聊视频淎n Officer and a Gentleman.91裸聊视频�
Other accolades include a Gemini, a Golden Globe and the Governor General91裸聊视频檚 Performing Arts Award. She was also named to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1995.
Sainte-Marie has repeatedly spoken about her adoption, saying she is First Nations from Canada but was raised by Albert and Winifred Sainte-Marie, the latter who identified as part Mi91裸聊视频檏maq, in Massachusetts.
Her 2018 authorized biography says there91裸聊视频檚 no official record of her birth. It says she was probably born Cree on Piapot First Nation in the Qu91裸聊视频橝ppelle Valley in Saskatchewan in the early 1940s. Named Beverly, she was nicknamed Buffy in high school.
91裸聊视频淭o be born Cree in the 1940s in Canada was to be a person who was not always counted, at least not in a formal and legal fashion,91裸聊视频� the biography says. 91裸聊视频淏irth records from the time, particularly on reserves, were spotty, and there are countless reports of records being lost or destroyed.91裸聊视频�
The biography says Sainte-Marie was adopted for reasons that are unclear.
Delia Opekokew, the musician91裸聊视频檚 former lawyer, was tasked with delving into Sainte-Marie91裸聊视频檚 Indigenous identity.
Opekokew said in an affidavit that she conducted interviews with First Nations people of the area at that time, including Noel Starblanket, a former national chief of the National Indian Brotherhood, which is now the Assembly of First Nations.
Starblanket shared oral history saying family had explained that Sainte-Marie was born north of Piapot to a single woman91裸聊视频渨ho could not care for her,91裸聊视频� and then gave the baby to an American family who happened to be in the area, the affidavit said.
Sainte-Marie said Thursday that her 91裸聊视频済rowing-up mom,91裸聊视频� Winifred Sainte-Marie, told her she was adopted and may have been born 91裸聊视频渙n the wrong side of the blanket,91裸聊视频� meaning born out of wedlock.
Accounts of her life say Sainte-Marie searched for answers about her birth family early in her career, which led her to a Saskatchewan couple 91裸聊视频� Emile Piapot, grandson of then-chief of the Piapot reserve, and Clara Starblanket, daughter of the chief of the File Hills reserve.
The biography says the couple 91裸聊视频渞eportedly had a daughter taken from the reserve around the time Sainte-Marie was born.91裸聊视频� Other accounts say the couple had other children who died. About 1964, Sainte-Marie was adopted as an adult through Cree traditions into the Piapot family.
91裸聊视频淏ut we never have known whether I91裸聊视频檓 a (biological) relative or not,91裸聊视频� Sainte-Marie says in the book.
Sainte-Marie, who announced she was retiring from live performances earlier this year, referred to her relationship with Piapot in a podcast earlier this month, calling parts of the story an urban legend.
Throughout her career, conflicting stories about her adoption have been published. Some say she was an infant, others that she was two to three years old when she was taken by the American family. Some say her birth parents died, and her mother was killed in a car crash.
91裸聊视频淚 was adopted into the Piapot family, not I was adopted out of Piapot reserve. That makes a big difference.91裸聊视频�
The Piapot family said in a statement that allegations against Sainte-Marie are 91裸聊视频渉urtful, ignorant, colonial 91裸聊视频� and racist.91裸聊视频� They said the singer was adopted in the traditional way.
91裸聊视频淲e claim her as a member of our family and all of our family members are from the Piapot First Nation. To us, that holds far more weight than any paper documentation or colonial record keeping ever could,91裸聊视频� the family said.
CBC has reported on numerous notable people who have claimed to be Indigenous, including acclaimed film director Michelle Latimer, former judge Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond and former University of Saskatchewan professor Carrie Bourassa.
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