Buffy Sainte-Marie pushes back against CBC investigation contradicting claims to Indigenous ancestry

Buffy Sainte-Marie is pushing back on a recent CBC News investigation that questions her Indigenous heritage, maintaining she has never lied about her identity.

The iconic singer, songwriter and activist says the story by CBC's The Fifth Estate was full of mistakes and omissions. In her first public statement since it was published on Oct. 27, Sainte-Marie calls the story an attack on her character, life and legacy.

"Being an 'Indian' has little to do with sperm tracking and colonial record keeping: it has to do with community, culture, knowledge, teachings, who claims you, who you love, who loves you and who's your family," said Sainte-Marie, 82, in a written statement to The Canadian Press.

Chuck Thompson, a spokesman for CBC, said in an email Wednesday the broadcaster stands by the story and that the evidence was fairly presented.

CBC reported in October that it found Sainte-Marie's birth certificate, which says she was born in 1941 in Massachusetts. The document lists the baby and parents as white and includes a signature of an attending physician — information CBC says is corroborated by Sainte-Marie's marriage certificate, a life insurance policy and the United States census.

Family members in the U.S., including Sainte-Marie's younger sister, also told CBC that Sainte-Marie was not adopted and does not have Indigenous ancestry.

Sainte-Marie said she "will not stoop to respond to every false allegation."

However, she said it was common for birth certificates to be "created" after Indigenous children were adopted or taken away from their families. She said she used a birth certificate throughout her life that was the only document she had.

She has never known if it was real, she said.

"I've heard from countless people with similar stories who do not know where they are from and feel victimized by these allegations," she said. "Most importantly, this is my life — I am not a piece of paper."

Thompson said CBC was assured by a town clerk in Stoneham, Mass., that its document on file is an original live birth certificate and it's not possible another was inserted after the fact.

Sainte-Marie also said CBC interviewed two estranged family members whom she doesn't know. She accused them of perpetuating a story fabricated by her alleged childhood abuser.

CBC obtained a letter from 1975 that Sainte-Marie and her lawyers sent to her brother, who has since died. CBC's report said family recollections and other written correspondence show the brother received the letter after he informed someone from PBS that Sainte-Marie was not Indigenous.

In it, Sainte-Marie writes that if the brother tried to hurt her, she would tell his family, employer and police about the alleged abuse.