Arts·Commotion

Celebrating Buffy Sainte-Marie is more complicated now

A new documentary about Buffy Sainte-Marie’s life just won an International Emmy, after a CBC report raised questions about her Indigenous identity.

A documentary about the musician won an International Emmy Award last week

A woman with a bright red streak in her dark hair, wearing a studded leather jacket, smiles widely.
Iconic musician Buffy Sainte-Marie is shown. (Matt Barnes)

Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On, a career-spanning documentary directed by Madison Thomas about the musician's life, won an International Emmy award last week. The work was the only Canadian nominee this year across 14 categories.

But, the accomplishment has been complicated by the fact that Sainte-Marie's claims to Indigenous identity were called into question recently following a report by CBC's The Fifth Estate.

Journalist and member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation Michelle Cyca gets into the questions that this win has raised with host Elamin Abdelmahmoud. 

LISTEN | Today's episode on YouTube:

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.


Interview with Michelle Cyca produced by Jess Low.