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Investigation into indigenous Canadian icon Buffy Sainte-Marie reveals European heritage

Buffy Sainte-Marie attends the TIFF Tribute Awards at Fairmont Royal York Hotel during the Toronto International Film Festival. (Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)
Buffy Sainte-Marie attends the TIFF Tribute Awards at Fairmont Royal York Hotel during the Toronto International Film Festival. (Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)

Singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie is considered an indigenous icon in Canada. Sainte-Marie has long claimed she has Cree Nation ancestry. But a new investigation into her roots shows she was born in Massachusetts in a family with European ancestry.

We speak to The Washington Post’s correspondent in Toronto Amanda Coletta.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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