Oscar-winning singer Buffy Sainte-Marie has been stripped of another major honour as the fallout continues from explosive claims that she misrepresented her Indigenous ancestry. 💔
The 85-year-old musician, who became famous for powerful anti-war songs and decades of advocacy connected to Indigenous rights, has had her honorary Doctor of Law degree revoked by the University of Toronto. The degree was originally awarded in 2019, when the university praised her achievements in music, the arts and her work championing dignity and human rights.
But on Wednesday, the university’s governing council voted to rescind the honour following a petition, marking the latest blow to Sainte-Marie’s legacy after a 2023 CBC investigation raised serious questions about her long-standing claims of Indigenous identity.
The decision adds to a growing list of honours the singer has lost since the controversy erupted. Sainte-Marie, who won an Academy Award for co-writing Up Where We Belong, had for decades described herself as having Indigenous roots and belonging to the Cree community. Her public identity was closely tied to stories of adoption, displacement and Indigenous survival — themes that shaped both her music and her activism. 🌹
During her rise to fame in the 1960s and 1970s, Sainte-Marie became known for songs including Universal Soldier and Now That the Buffalo’s Gone. Her work resonated deeply with audiences, particularly those who saw her as a fierce voice for Indigenous people, peace movements and social justice.
However, the CBC investigation claimed that Sainte-Marie was born Beverly Jean Santamaria in Massachusetts to white parents, contradicting the identity she had presented publicly for decades. The report cited a birth certificate and interviews with family members, while alleging that her claims of being a Cree woman from Saskatchewan’s Piapot First Nation were not supported by the evidence.
Sainte-Marie has strongly denied lying about her identity. She has said she was told by the mother who raised her that she had been adopted and was Native, and that her understanding of her background came from what she was told growing up, as well as later research.
In an emotional defence, Sainte-Marie accused the investigation of relying on fabricated evidence and accounts from estranged relatives, including a brother she has alleged sexually abused her. She said the scrutiny had been deeply re-traumatising and painful, insisting: “I have never lied about my identity.” ✨
The singer has also said she had never seen the birth certificate published by CBC before the investigation and did not know the family members listed on it. She maintained that she does not know exactly where she is from or who her birth parents are, saying that uncertainty has been part of her life for decades.
But despite her denials, the consequences have been severe.
Last year, Sainte-Marie was stripped of her Order of Canada award, one of the country’s highest honours. She had received it in 1997 in recognition of her work, including her advocacy for Indigenous causes. Earlier this year, Dalhousie University in Halifax also rescinded an honorary degree after questions were raised about keeping the honour in place.
Now the University of Toronto has followed suit, making Sainte-Marie only the second person to have an honorary degree rescinded since the school created a Standing Committee on Recognition in 2023.
The other revoked honour belonged to Duncan Campbell Scott, a poet and former Canadian official whose legacy is deeply tied to the country’s brutal assimilation policies against Indigenous people. Scott worked in the Department of Indian Affairs and supported the expansion of residential schools, institutions now widely recognised for the immense harm they caused Indigenous children and families.
For critics, the decision to revoke Sainte-Marie’s degree is about accountability, truth and the harm caused when Indigenous identity is allegedly claimed without rightful connection. Columbia University professor Audra Simpson, who is Kanien’keha:ka from Kahnawa:ke, told CBC she believed the University of Toronto’s move was long overdue and called the revocation a “just consequence.”
The case has sparked intense debate far beyond Sainte-Marie herself. At its heart are painful questions about identity, adoption, documentation, family trauma and the long history of Indigenous children being removed from their communities. It is a deeply sensitive subject, and one that has left many people hurt, angry and conflicted. 💔
For Sainte-Marie’s supporters, the story is tragic — a revered artist now facing the collapse of honours built across a lifetime. For critics, the issue is not simply personal confusion but the possibility that a powerful career was strengthened by an identity they say was not hers to claim.
Either way, the damage is undeniable. A woman once celebrated as a trailblazing Indigenous voice is now seeing major institutions withdraw their recognition one by one.
And as more honours are revoked, Buffy Sainte-Marie’s legacy — once defined by music, activism and cultural pride — is being rewritten under the shadow of one painful question: who gets to tell Indigenous stories, and what happens when the truth is challenged?
