Buffy Sainte-Marie's official website no longer mentions she is a Cree woman "likely" born on the Piapot First Nation in Saskatchewan in her biography.Shortly after CBC published its investigation on October 27, which raised doubts about the well-known singer's decades-long assertion of Cree heritage, changes were made on Buffysainte-marie.com.In her first response to CBC News since the investigation was published, Sainte-Marie explained she removed content from her website to reduce the "criticism, threats and abuse" that her supporters, who had been defending her publicly, had been experiencing since the investigation came out."I have an obligation to protect them," said Sainte-Marie. "And it is for that reason alone that I have limited my public engagement and removed facts from my website that you are now trying to use to build more controversy.”CBC discovered her birth certificate, which states that she was born on February 20, 1941, to Albert and Winifred Santamaria in Stoneham, Massachusetts. This American family is the one Sainte-Marie has previously claimed adopted her from Piapot as an infant.On her website, her biography previously described her as a "Cree singer-songwriter” and "is believed to have been born in 1941 on the Piapot First Nation reserve in Saskatchewan and taken from her biological parents when she was an infant.” These claims have been removed.The biography previously stated she was "the first indigenous person ever to win an Oscar for writing the hit song, Up Where We Belong from An Officer and a Gentleman and "received the Native Americans in Philanthropy's Louis T. Delgado Award for Native American Philanthropist of the Year." These claims have been removed.
Buffy Sainte-Marie's official website no longer mentions she is a Cree woman "likely" born on the Piapot First Nation in Saskatchewan in her biography.Shortly after CBC published its investigation on October 27, which raised doubts about the well-known singer's decades-long assertion of Cree heritage, changes were made on Buffysainte-marie.com.In her first response to CBC News since the investigation was published, Sainte-Marie explained she removed content from her website to reduce the "criticism, threats and abuse" that her supporters, who had been defending her publicly, had been experiencing since the investigation came out."I have an obligation to protect them," said Sainte-Marie. "And it is for that reason alone that I have limited my public engagement and removed facts from my website that you are now trying to use to build more controversy.”CBC discovered her birth certificate, which states that she was born on February 20, 1941, to Albert and Winifred Santamaria in Stoneham, Massachusetts. This American family is the one Sainte-Marie has previously claimed adopted her from Piapot as an infant.On her website, her biography previously described her as a "Cree singer-songwriter” and "is believed to have been born in 1941 on the Piapot First Nation reserve in Saskatchewan and taken from her biological parents when she was an infant.” These claims have been removed.The biography previously stated she was "the first indigenous person ever to win an Oscar for writing the hit song, Up Where We Belong from An Officer and a Gentleman and "received the Native Americans in Philanthropy's Louis T. Delgado Award for Native American Philanthropist of the Year." These claims have been removed.
