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Last month, CBCsThe Fifth Estatedocumentary episode concluded that Sainte-Marie was born to a white Italian family in Massachusetts.
The singer-songwriter previously defended her Indigenous backgroundon Facebook.
In a lengthy new statement obtainedbyThe Hollywood Reporter, Sainte-Marie maintained that she has never lied about my identity.
This has been incredibly re-traumatizing for me and unfair to all involved, she said.
Being an Indian has little to do with sperm tracking and colonial record keeping, she said.
Original story published October 27, 2023 follows.
Sainte-Marie has said she was unsuccessful in attempts to find her birth certificate and alleged it had been destroyed.
Her lawyer also disputed the Massachusetts birth certificate to the CBC.
But the CBC report also found many discrepancies in how Sainte-Marie claimed her identity throughout her career.
But in early interviews, Sainte-Marie oscillated between claiming Algonquin, Mikmaq, and Cree ancestry.
Sainte-Marie was later adopted into the Piapot family, after visiting the reservation.
However, members of the Massachusetts family Sainte-Marie grew up in questioned her Indigenous claims.
Records, including a 1945 life-insurance policy and the 1950 census, list Sainte-Marie as white.
Sainte-Marie reportedly made legal threats against her family over questioning her background.
Sainte-Marie retired from performing earlier this year due to arthritis and a shoulder injury.
In an independent statement, Sainte-Marie emphasized her own uncertainty of her background.
I have always struggled to answer questions about who I am, she said.
For a long time, I tried to discover information about my background.
