Buffy Sainte-Marie speaks after the unveiling of a Canada Post stamp honouring her legacy as a singer-songwriter, in Ottawa, on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Upset and Frustrated

Year in Review: The Real Story of Buffy Sainte-Marie and the frustration from Indigenous people

Dec 28, 2023 | 8:00 AM

As 2023 draws to a close, paNOW is taking a look back on the most important and impactful stories of the year, as selected by our reporters and editorial staff.

It was a story that shocked Indigenous people across the country.

Back in November, the CBC released an investigative piece into artist Buffy Sainte-Marie and how she lied about her past. This included her claims of being Indigenous and not knowing her birth family.

This revelation caused a huge uproar across the country. The one lie that garnered a lot of attention was her claim of being a Sixties Scoop survivor.

paNOW spoke to an actual Sixties Scoop Survivor who shared their story.

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Norine Tourangeau and her siblings were taken from her parents and put into the foster care system. The one thing she remembers vividly to this day is the racism she faced.

For her, seeing someone lie about experiencing this was infuriating.

“She definitely profited from the trauma,” Tourangeau said. “She used it to gain opportunities that other Indigenous people should have had.”

When CBC shared its story, Prince Albert’s Krysta Alexson took to social media to share her frustration with Sainte-Marie.

She spoke to paNOW about her father, who was not a Sixties Scoop survivor but a residential school survivor, and how her lies made it tougher for actual victims to get people to believe them.

“He was like ‘You have to say something, this is totally inappropriate,’” she said. “It was totally inappropriate, there was no need for that.”

Since the story broke, Sainte-Marie has maintained she never lied.

“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,” she said in a written statement to The Canadian Press.

Despite her statement, the CBC continues to stand by its story and the evidence it presented.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow