Buffy Saint-Marie’s Order of Canada designation has been rescinded, according to a statement published yesterday (February 8) in the Canada Gazette, the Canadian Government’s official newspaper. It reads: “Notice is hereby given that the appointment of Buffy Sainte-Marie to the Order of Canada was terminated by Ordinance signed by the Governor General on January 3, 2025.”
Saint-Marie, who rose to prominence in the 1960s as a singer-songwriter and early electronic music innovator, was originally Officer of the Order of Canada in 1997, and promoted to the title of Companion in 2017. However, a 2023 documentary series and report released by the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) called Saint-Marie’s Indigenous heritage into question when a birth certificate obtained by CBC listed her parents as a white couple from Massachusetts. She had previously claimed she was born on the Piapot First Nation reserve in Canada’s Saskatchewan province.
In response, Saint-Marie shared multiple video and print statements. “I have always struggled to answer questions about who I am,” she wrote in November 2023. “For decades, I tried to find my birth parents and information about my background. Through that research what became clear, and what I’ve always been honest about: I don’t know where I’m from or who my birth parents are, and I will never know. Which is why, to be questioned in this way is painful, both for me, and for my two families I love so dearly.” Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Saint-Marie for comment.
