Buffy Sainte-Marie has been stripped of her Order of Canada appointment. First reported in the National Post [1]
If you are new to the story, for more context, I recommend watching the original 2023 CBC investigation by The Fifth Estate [2]
And counterbalancing that by reading Michelle Cyca's article "What's the Point of 'Pretendian' Investiations?" [3]
[1] https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/buffy-sainte-marie-order-of-canada
Buffy Sainte-Marie has now also been stripped of her Polaris Music Prize, her five Juno Awards, and her induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
Sainte-Marie recently confirmed that she is an American citizen, not a Canadian citizen. Questions remain around her Indigenous identity. Apparently, the awards have been stripped because she doesn't meet eligibility requirements.
Earlier this week, Buffy Sainte-Marie returned her Order of Canada: “It was very lovely to host the medals for awhile, but I return them with a good heart,” she says.
She stated that she is an American Citizen, and has always "made it completely clear" to the federal government she was not Canadian.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/cp-buffy-returns-order-of-canada-1.7474435
Which, evidently, were not prizes for accomplishments that still stand.
I still have the saved video of "Starwalker" that celebrated her career with many covers.
This is why you record off-the-air, and save the MPG file yourself. No doubt, "Starwalker" will also be erased from streaming and go into the Orwellian Memory Hole.
@RoyBrander I think it is complicated.
Many people - myself included - will continue to appreciate her musical accomplishments and the leading role she played in raising awareness of Indigenous issues. I have lots of her records and I've seen her perform twice.
But I am working to fit those accomplishments along side uncomfortable stories about her family and identity that are hard to ignore. That changes the way I hear her now and indeed, it may affect how Canadians hear Indigenous music.
I don't know a damn thing about Mike Oldfield's background or personal life. I don't know if he ever married.
I just have all his records, every one, listened to them all hundreds of times, he's my music guy.
I just never thought to follow him personally.
So I guess I find him easy to ignore, except when he's making records.
Just saying it's possible.
@RoyBrander I think it's a different situation when you are talking about an artist whose identity and political activism are so fully integrated into their music. Indigeneity is one of the main themes of her music.
In 2015, she released one of her best albums in years, titled Power in the Blood - and that's the album that won the Polaris Prize in 2015. That song is actually a cover, but her identity is indelibly woven through that album and much of her music.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_in_the_Blood_(Buffy_Sainte-Marie_album)
