EDITORIAL – Shed no tears for Buffy Sainte-Marie over her fall from grace

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

BEVERLY JEAN SANTAMARIA is no longer a member of the Order of Canada. Better known as Buffy Sainte-Marie, she has been stripped of Canada’s highest civilian honour because she has lived her entire life under false pretenses.

She is a talented singer, song writer, activist and entertainer but she’s not who she claimed to be. In October of 2023 a CBC Fifth Estate program revealed that she was born in Stoneham, Mass. Her race is stated as “white.” CBC says that’s backed up by other documents including a marriage certificate, life insurance policy and the U.S. census, as well as interviews with family members.

The recording artist’s official biography has consistently claimed she was born on the Piapot Cree First Nations Reserve in Qu’Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, though she has claimed she didn’t actually know where she was born. But she’s been steadfast in insisting she’s indigenous.

See also: EDITORIAL – Have we lost a hero in Buffy Sainte-Marie?

The Order of Canada decision wasn’t announced until this past Friday, and provided no details on the reasoning but obviously it was brought on by the false claims.

Sainte-Marie’s website makes no mention of the termination of her Order of Canada but does say she has decided, “with regret,” to do no further concert tours. It also no longer makes the claim about the Piapot birth.

But in the wake of the Fifth Estate revelations, she claimed she was “proud of my Indigenous-American identity, and the deep ties I have to Canada and my Piapot family.” Her supporters condemned CBC’s reporting, calling it “racist” and “colonialist,” and she has been allowed to retain her many Juno and other music awards. She’s also in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. She was even featured on a Canada Post commemorative stamp in 2021.

One can regret this once much-loved and revered icon has ended her career in disgrace. But it’s hard to sympathize with someone who lied to us about herself on such a important issue.

She isn’t the first to indulge in indigenous cultural misappropriation but she may be the most famous person to have been caught at it. The fact she has yet to own up to her lie, to seek forgiveness from those who have admired her for so long, does ongoing harm.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.