Buffy Sainte-Marie, an icon of Canadian music, has released a statement about her Indigenous heritage ahead of an investigative report that apparently calls into question her Native identity. The report comes from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s documentary series The Fifth Estate. The description for the episode, expected to air tomorrow (Friday, October 27) is: “An icon’s claims to Indigenous ancestry are being called into question by family members and an investigation that included genealogical documentation, historical research and personal accounts.”

In an email to The Canadian Press, CBC Services’ head of public affairs wrote, “Beyond what’s in the program description, we have nothing more to add.”

According to the biography on her official website, “Buffy Sainte-Marie is believed to have been born in 1941 on the Piapot First Nation reserve in Saskatchewan.” As an infant, she was adopted by an American family and raised in New England. In her newly released statement, Sainte-Marie elaborated, “What I know about my Indigenous ancestry I learned from my growing up mother, who was part Mi’kmaq, and my own research later in life. My mother told me many things, including that I was adopted and that I was Native, but there was no documentation as was common for Indigenous children born in the 1940s.”

The musician continued, “As a young adult, I was adopted by Emile Piapot (son of Chief Piapot, Treaty 4 Adhesion signatory), and Clara Starblanket Piapot (daughter of Chief Starblanket, Treaty 4 signatory), in accordance with Cree law and customs. They were kind, loving, and proud to claim me as their own. I love my Piapot family and am so lucky to have them in my life.”

Sainte-Marie, whose website also calls her a “Cree singer-songwriter,” reiterated the bulk of her statement in a video message, stating that she is “a proud member of the Native community with deep roots in Canada.”

Sainte-Marie spoke about her heritage in a recent podcast interview, saying, “I’m always trying to clarify the urban legend stories because some of them are just not true and others are confusing. I think there’s been confusion regarding my Piapot adoption, for instance. I was adopted into the Piapot family—not I was adopted out of Piapot Reserve. That makes a big difference.”

In a statement published by The Globe and Mail, descendants of Chief Piapot defended Sainte-Marie, calling her “a beloved member of the Piapot family and community.” They wrote:

We spent our entire lives together with Buffy as a family, decades together, and we will continue to love and support one another. She has been committed to our family and community and has worked tirelessly to inspire, support, uplift our family, and share our community knowledge and ways and those of other Indigenous Peoples all over the world.

We grew up knowing that Buffy and our grandparents [Emile and Clara Starblanket Piapot] adopted each other and how deeply committed and loving they were to one another. We heard from older family about how my grandmother cried when she had to leave after an extended family visit on our homelands or after the pow-wow.

Buffy is our family. We chose her and she chose us. We 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.

Buffy Saint-Marie released her debut album, It’s May Way!, in 1964 and became a prominent voice for Indigenous people through her music and activism. She became the first Indigenous person to win an Academy Award when “Up Where We Belong” won Best Original Song in 1983. Three decades later, in 2015, she won the Polaris Music Prize for Power in the Blood. Earlier this year, Saint-Marie, now 82 years old, announced her retirement from performing, citing her arthritis and a shoulder injury among the reasons she will no longer take the stage.

Buffy Saint-Marie:

My Truth as I Know It

It is with great sadness, and a heavy heart, that I am forced to respond to deeply hurtful allegations that I expect will be reported in the media soon. Last month, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, contacted me to question my identity and the sexual assault I experienced as a child.

To relive those truths, and revisit questions I made peace with decades ago, has been beyond traumatic. But I know I owe it to those I love, and those who support me, to respond.

I am proud of my Indigenous-American identity, and the deep ties I have to Canada and my Piapot family.

What I know about my Indigenous ancestry I learned from my growing up mother, who was part Mi’kmaq, and my own research later in life. My mother told me many things, including that I was adopted and that I was Native, but there was no documentation as was common for Indigenous children born in the 1940’s. Later in my life, as an adult, she told me some things I have never shared out of respect for her that I hate sharing now, including that I may have been born on “the wrong side of the blanket”. This was her story to tell, not mine.

As a young adult, I was adopted by Emile Piapot (son of Chief Piapot, Treaty 4 Adhesion signatory), and Clara Starblanket Piapot (daughter of Chief Starblanket, Treaty 4 signatory), in accordance with Cree law and customs. They were kind, loving, and proud to claim me as their own. I love my Piapot family and am so lucky to have them in my life.

I have always struggled to answer questions about who I am. For a long time, I tried to discover information about my background. Through that research what became clear, and what I’ve always been honest about, is that I don’t know where I’m from or who my birth parents were, and I will never know. Which is why, to be questioned in this way today is painful, both for me, and for my two families I love so dearly.

My Indigenous identity is rooted in a deep connection to a community which has had a profound role in shaping my life and my work. For my entire life, I have championed Indigenous, and Native American causes when nobody else would, or had the platform to do so. I am proud to have been able to speak up for Indigenous issues. I have always tried to bridge gaps between communities and educate people to live in love and kindness.

This is my truth. And while there are many things I do not know; I have been proud to honestly share my story throughout my life.

Painfully, the CBC has also forced me to relive and defend my experience as a survivor of sexual abuse which I endured at the hands of my brother, as well as another family member — whom I have never publicly named.

I could never forget these violations. It is something I have lived with all my life. Speaking about my experience is difficult, and although I have shared privately, I have rarely done so publicly. I’ve spoken up because I know others cannot, and to have this questioned and sensationalized by Canada’s public broadcaster is appalling.

While these questions have hurt me, I know they will also hurt hose I love. My family. My friends. And all those who have seen themselves in my story. All I can say is what I know to be true: I know who I love, I know who loves me. And I know who claims me.

I may not know where I was born, but I know who I am.

Buffy Saint-Marie