Her story was tied to the “Sixties Scoop,” a dark chapter in Canadian history where Indigenous children were forcibly taken from their families and placed with non-Indigenous adoptive parents.
Sainte-Marie has long stated that she does not know where she was born and has never had her birth certificate. However, she was formally adopted into the Piapot First Nation in her early 20s.
Pretendian Allegations
The Fifth Estate investigation, a Canadian equivalent of 60 Minutes, claims to have uncovered evidence that Sainte-Marie is of Italian-American descent. And it is alleged she pressured family members to conceal this information when she launched her music career in the 1960s. Several of her relatives were interviewed as part of the investigation.
The report has deeply divided public opinion. While some dismiss the allegations, others argue that, regardless of the truth, Sainte-Marie has done significant good through her activism.
On October 26, 2023, Sainte-Marie issued a statement titled My Truth as I Know It in response to the Fifth Estate report. She described the allegations as “deeply hurtful” and reiterated, “I have always struggled to answer questions about who I am.”
