The scandal broke out over a year ago. In a documentary on the Canadian TV channel CBC, it was questioned whether Buffy Sainte-Marie really came from Canada's indigenous people, as she had claimed – and which has always been a big part of her musical identity.
According to the artist, she was adopted by a white family. But in the documentary, information emerged that she was actually born into a white family of Italian origin in the American state of Massachusetts.
Buffy Sainte-Marie denied the allegations when they broke out in November 2023.
"Being 'Indian' has very little to do with sperm tracking and colonial population registration. It's about belonging, culture, history, knowledge, who you belong to, who you love, who loves you, and who is your family", she said then in a statement.
But now the Canadian government is withdrawing the artist's Order of Canada, the country's finest award, which she received in 1997, reports CBC.
Buffy Sainte-Marie, 83, broke through in the early 1960s with songs like "Universal soldier" and "Soldier blue". During her career, she has worked with artists such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Joni Mitchell. Her music has been sung by, among others, Elvis Presley and Barbra Streisand.
Her song "I'm gonna be a country girl again" became a big hit in Sweden as "Är det konstigt att man längtar bort någon gång" with Lena Andersson in 1971.
