Oscar-winning folk singer Buffy Saint-Marie has been stripped of her honorary degree as controversy over her claim to Native American ancestry continues to grow.
The University of Toronto announced Wednesday that it is revoking the singer-songwriter’s honorary Doctor of Laws degree, which she received in 2019 for her work in music, the arts and social advocacy.
A university spokesperson said the move had been approved by the school’s governing council following a confidential review process.
The decision comes two-and-a-half years after CBC’s “The Fifth Estate” released its findings in October 2023 regarding Sainte-Marie’s indigenous identity claims.
The report cites a birth certificate showing Sainte-Marie was born in Massachusetts to Italian-American parents, contradicting decades of biographical and media reports that described her as Algonquian, Mi’kmaw, and later Cree.
Last year, St. Marie told The Canadian Press that she is an American citizen with a U.S. passport and was adopted by a Cree family in Saskatchewan when she was young.
Sainte-Marie became a huge folk music star in the 1960s, often performing music related to what she claimed was her Cree heritage.
She went on to appear on “Sesame Street,” and in 1983 won an Oscar for co-writing “Up Where We Belong” in “An Officer and a Gentleman,” making her the first Indigenous person to win the award.
Sainte-Marie has announced that she will retire from live performances in August 2023, citing health concerns and physical challenges associated with touring.
The University of Toronto has announced that only two honorary degrees have been revoked since the school established its accreditation review board in 2023. The other case belonged to Mr. Duncan Campbell Scott.
Columbia University professor Audra Simpson, a Kanien’kehaka from Kahnawake, said the decision was premature.
“It’s a natural outcome for both him and her, who have acted on the imperatives of settler colonialism in different ways and at different times,” Simpson told CBC.
“I hope the message gets across.”
Toronto’s move comes just months after Dalhousie University stripped Sainte-Marie of another honorary degree in January following questions raised by Mi’kmaw students.
Sainte-Marie has received about 15 honorary doctorates over the years from schools including the University of British Columbia, the University of Regina and Carleton University, and her academic honors are under new scrutiny.
After the CBC investigation aired in 2023, Sainte-Marie slammed the allegations of misrepresenting her Native American ancestry, calling the report “traumatic and unfair.”
“This is incredibly re-traumatizing for me and unfair to everyone involved,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
“The attacks on my character are full of errors and omissions,” she said.
Sainte-Marie also accused her estranged brother Alain, whose claims were the subject of an investigation, of sexual abuse.
“It was heartbreaking to know that the letter I sent to protect me from further abuse from my brother had made my estranged family fearful of me and consider such lies,” she said.
