{"id":2231,"date":"2026-05-15T08:55:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T08:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/buffy-sainte-marie-stripped-of-university-of-toronto-honorary-degree-over-indigenous-claims\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T08:55:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T08:55:31","slug":"buffy-sainte-marie-stripped-of-university-of-toronto-honorary-degree-over-indigenous-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/buffy-sainte-marie-stripped-of-university-of-toronto-honorary-degree-over-indigenous-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"Buffy Sainte-Marie stripped of University of Toronto honorary degree over Indigenous claims"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/crop-8935341_a86b10.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Oscar-winning folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie has been stripped of an honorary degree as the fallout over her disputed Native American ancestry claims keeps growing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The University of Toronto <a href=\"https:\/\/governingcouncil.utoronto.ca\/secretariat\/page\/governance-bodies\/committee-honorary-degrees\/de-recognition-honorary-degrees?fbclid=IwdGRjcARy4KxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeSuMM9BjCUh5ZpatMUSxpBblcKe7eJFUy5w3TO4CIFO4lsE6VGB282vNtv2s_aem_HVqwzCmkiFtybGxRbI0aQg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announced Wednesday<\/a> it has rescinded the singer-songwriter\u2019s honorary Doctor of Laws degree, which she received in 2019 for her work in music, the arts and social advocacy.<\/p>\n<p>A university spokesperson said the move followed a confidential review process that ended with approval from the school\u2019s governing council.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Buffy Sainte-Marie receives an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Dalhousie University on April 17, 2018. <span class=\"credit\">Alamy Stock Photo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The decision comes two and a half years after CBC\u2019s \u201cThe Fifth Estate\u201d published an investigation into <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/11\/15\/entertainment\/folk-singer-buffy-sainte-maries-indigenous-roots-questioned\/\">Sainte-Marie\u2019s Indigenous identity claims<\/a> in October 2023.<\/p>\n<p>The report cited a birth certificate showing Sainte-Marie was born in Massachusetts to Italian-American parents, contradicting decades of biographies and press coverage describing her as Algonquin, Mi\u2019kmaw and later Cree.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Last year, Sainte-Marie told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecanadianpressnews.ca\/entertainment\/buffy-sainte-marie-says-she-never-denied-u-s-citizenship-has-returned-order-of-canada\/article_08ece12f-9091-57a4-a885-7c2a4a95cb1d.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Canadian Press<\/a> she is an American citizen with a US passport who was adopted as a young adult by a Cree family in Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n<p>Sainte-Marie became a <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/11\/16\/entertainment\/oscar-winning-folk-singer-buffy-sainte-marie-5-things-to-know-about-the-pretendian\/\">major folk music star in the 1960s<\/a> and frequently performed music tied to her claimed Cree heritage.<\/p>\n<p>She later appeared on \u201cSesame Street\u201d and won an Oscar in 1983 for co-writing \u201cUp Where We Belong\u201d from \u201cAn Officer and a Gentleman,\u201d becoming the first Indigenous person to win the award.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Sainte-Marie accepts the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media at the Toronto International Film Festival, September 11, 2022. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Sainte-Marie <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Cvf6ECdri6F\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announced her retirement<\/a> from live performances in August 2023, citing health concerns and physical challenges related to touring.<\/p>\n<p>The University of Toronto said only two honorary degrees have been revoked since the school created its recognition review committee in 2023. The other belonged to Duncan Campbell Scott.<\/p>\n<p>Columbia University professor Audra Simpson, who is Kanien\u2019keh\u00e1:ka from Kahnaw\u00e0:ke, called the decision overdue.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Folk 60s icon Sainte-Marie with a sitar, May 27, 1966. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cA just consequence for both him and for her, who have both acted on the imperatives of settler colonialism in different ways and in different time periods,\u201d Simpson told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/indigenous\/u-of-t-revokes-honorary-degree-buffy-sainte-marie-9.7199956\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope it sends a message.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Toronto\u2019s move comes just months after Dalhousie University stripped Sainte-Marie of another honorary degree in January following questions raised by a Mi\u2019kmaw student.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Sainte-Marie at the Americana Music Association Honors and Awards on September 16, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. <span class=\"credit\">Rick Diamond<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>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 \u2014 putting more of her academic honors under renewed scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p>After the CBC investigation aired in 2023, Sainte-Marie <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/11\/25\/news\/oscar-winning-folk-singer-buffy-sainte-marie-slams-investigation-into-indigenous-ancestry\/\">blasted the allegations she faked her Native American ancestry<\/a>, calling the report \u201ctraumatizing and unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis has been incredibly re-traumatizing for me and unfair to all involved,\u201d she told The Hollywood Reporter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe attack on my character is full of mistakes and omissions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Sainte-Marie also accused her estranged brother Alan \u2014 whose claims were featured in the investigation \u2014 of sexually abusing her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt hurts me deeply to discover that my estranged family grew up scared of me and thinking these lies because of a letter I sent intended to protect me from further abuse from my brother,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/05\/15\/celebrity-news\/buffy-sainte-marie-stripped-of-university-of-toronto-honorary-degree-over-indigenous-claims\/\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oscar-winning folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie has been stripped of an honorary degree as the fallout<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/crop-8935341_a86b10.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}