Buffy Sainte-Marie has been eliminated from an exhibition at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights due to questions surrounding the statements of the identity of the first nations of the folk singer and activist of the first nation.
The National Museum based in Winnipeg said in a statement to Radio-Canada on Tuesday that has eliminated a Sainte-Marie profile of an exhibition dedicated to human rights defenders.
The decision occurs more than a year after a CBC’s investigation The fifth estate Sauded questions about the indigenous ancestry of Sainte-Marie.
For many years, Sainte-Marie said that he was born in the first nation of Piapot near Regina and is of CREE descent, contradites claims for genealogical documentation, including his own birth certificate, historical research and personal accounts, according to CBC’s investigation.
The fifth estateThe investigation, which was issued at the end of 2023, found a birth certificate that shows that he was born in 1941 in Massachusetts, listing her already her parents as whites. The information about the certificate was corroborated by other documents.
Robert-Falcon Ouellette, a professor based in Winnipeg at the University of Ottawa and former member of Parliament, said he was surprised that he took so long to eliminate Sainte-Marie from the exhibition of the Human Rights Museum after the revelations came to light.
“She lied continuously,” Ouellette said. “Not only a little, not a misunderstanding, but created a fog around his identity.”
The museum said that the elimination of Sainte-Marie profile took place in December, after consultations with advisors, colleagues and the elderly.
The exhibition, which is located in the “Rights today” gallery of the museum, exhibited the career of Sainte-Marie and its use of music to advocate for change, he said.
Ouellette said the exhibition was very elaborate, but that it was full of falsehoods that the museum and the rest of the world had accepted as truth.
“The exhibition [had] This photo of its song to a crowd. The crowd is non -indigenous peoples, “he said.
“It became essentially the ‘person of the first nations’, the ‘indigenous person’ that the United States and Canada wanted … Sometimes, yes, you could have truth to say. But at the same time, she took the place of another person.”
Sainte-Marie has been invited in the museum over the years, and even acted during her opening ceremony in 2014.
He Fifth property He informed that his background and identity changed throughout his career, saying that he identified himself as Algonquin and Mi’kmaw before saying later saying what he was believed, adopted from a mother in Saskatchewan.
Sainte-Marie said that shortly after the report transmitted, the story was full of errors and omissions.
Governor General Mary Simon ordered the termination of the order of Canada de Sainte-Marie in January. The decision was made public earlier this month.
Ouellette said that the incident should give the museum the opportunity to address the issue of stolen indigenous identity, suggesting that the museum could replace it with something that explores those who intend to be indigenous for financial gains or other benefits.
“When someone appears and takes those truths and pretensions to be more expert than indigenous peoples, it is extremely harmful not only for indigenous peoples, but also for Western society,” he said.
“It makes it more difficult for us later repairing that, because there is less confidence.”
