Buffy Sainte-Marie speaks out regarding questions of Cree ancestry, Oct 2023

[MerlinFalcon]

Its ok to disagree. JMO it sounds like someone’s personal vendetta.

It's not a vendetta. She has built a career on lies and now it's coming home to roost. So many of us were ticked off at CBC for doing this story but after watching it and seeing so much proof, we see things differently.

I wonder how and when she got Canadian citizenship. Was it because of her Indigenous claims? The 2 biggest things with her here in Canada was being Indigenous and Canadian and now we're finding out she may be neither. She had received so many honours including a stamp with her image and the highest category of the Order of Canada. I am hoping there will be further investigation.

 

[MistyWaters]

Something to remember

It's not a vendetta. She has built a career on lies and now it's coming home to roost. So many of us were ticked off at CBC for doing this story but after watching it and seeing so much proof, we see things differently.

I wonder how and when she got Canadian citizenship. Was it because of her Indigenous claims? The 2 biggest things with her here in Canada was being Indigenous and Canadian and now we're finding out she may be neither. She had received so many honours including a stamp with her image and the highest category of the Order of Canada. I am hoping there will be further investigation.

I think too much time has passed since the ‘60s, most of the people involved are no longer alive. But it could may well be that the Piapots and other aboriginal folks perceived so strongly that BSM belonged to their community that she came to believe that was her heritage too. I think it’s important to remember in the 60s the attitude toward adoption was much different than it is today, the matter of adoption often withheld from the adopted child. In all ways that adopted child was considered part of the family, DNA didn’t matter as it wasn’t known about yet.

I’m just not seeing any intentional deception nor that she took advantage of FN that warrants such animosity toward her. Quite the opposite, she devoted her life to promoting awareness. If the FN intends to continue to support her, IMO that’s who most appropriately makes the call.

https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/buffy-sainte-marie-speaks-out-regarding-questions-of-cree-ancestry/

“In the late 70s and early 80s, Sainte-Marie hired Cree lawyer Delia Opekokew to research her history “for the purposes of assessing her rights to Indian status and Canadian citizenship,” according to an affidavit signed by Opekokew and provided to APTN by Sainte-Marie’s publicist.

In the affidavit, Opekokew writes that her research in Piapot unearthed oral history that says Sainte-Marie “…was born north of Piapot to a single woman who could not care for her, and that she gave Buffy as a baby to an American family who happened to be in the Piapot area.”

Opekokew also adds: “There was consistency in the witnesses to Buffy Sainte-Marie’s identity. The oral history is therefore trustworthy.”

The affidavit also briefly touches on the subject of a birth certificate.

“At no point during my investigation did I form any knowledge or belief that Buffy Sainte-Marie’s birth certificate from the United States was a representation of Buffy Sainte-Marie’s identity and origins,” writes Opekokew. “Many First Nation individuals have experienced difficulties accessing information to their original identities as a result of harmful colonial practices and the application of non-Indigenous perspectives to Indigenous children and families.

“It is my perspective and belief that these general practices corroborate and are not inconsistent with the oral history evidence I received about Buffy Sainte-Marie’s origins from Noel Starblanket.”….”

 

[BeachSky]

I’d like to know WHY she started down this road…but she will probably take that with her.
JMO

 

[Frodosdojo]

Its ok to disagree. JMO it sounds like someone’s personal vendetta.

So when a liar is called out, you think it's a personal vendetta ?

I believe in holding people accountable for what they steal and what their lies cost others. I don't care how old they are. There are plenty of criminals who have been caught in their twilight years and lived seemingly normal and productive lives. It doesn't matter. We should all pay for our crimes and bad behavior.

 

[MistyWaters]

I’d like to know WHY she started down this road…but she will probably take that with her.
JMO

It would be interesting. I’m sure there some psychologist out there who we will hear from.

The nature of BSM’s childhood in Mass is not clear nor the reason she’s be compelled to distance herself from it although she did allege sexual abuse had occurred (not saying that’s believed, we don’t know), Just imaging, the Piapot family who adopted her gave her everything she had missed out on - love, comfort, security, and more importantly a true sense of peace and she truly came to feel she belonged to their community. So in turn she devoted her entire life to honouring the indigenous people, her way of showing her thankfulness. That’s not a bad thing.

JMO

 

[Lexiintoronto]

Something to remember


I think too much time has passed since the ‘60s, most of the people involved are no longer alive. But it could may well be that the Piapots and other aboriginal folks perceived so strongly that BSM belonged to their community that she came to believe that was her heritage too. I think it’s important to remember in the 60s the attitude toward adoption was much different than it is today, the matter of adoption often withheld from the adopted child. In all ways that adopted child was considered part of the family, DNA didn’t matter as it wasn’t known about yet.

I’m just not seeing any intentional deception nor that she took advantage of FN that warrants such animosity toward her. Quite the opposite, she devoted her life to promoting awareness. If the FN intends to continue to support her, IMO that’s who most appropriately makes the call.

https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/buffy-sainte-marie-speaks-out-regarding-questions-of-cree-ancestry/

“In the late 70s and early 80s, Sainte-Marie hired Cree lawyer Delia Opekokew to research her history “for the purposes of assessing her rights to Indian status and Canadian citizenship,” according to an affidavit signed by Opekokew and provided to APTN by Sainte-Marie’s publicist.

In the affidavit, Opekokew writes that her research in Piapot unearthed oral history that says Sainte-Marie “…was born north of Piapot to a single woman who could not care for her, and that she gave Buffy as a baby to an American family who happened to be in the Piapot area.”

Opekokew also adds: “There was consistency in the witnesses to Buffy Sainte-Marie’s identity. The oral history is therefore trustworthy.”

The affidavit also briefly touches on the subject of a birth certificate.

“At no point during my investigation did I form any knowledge or belief that Buffy Sainte-Marie’s birth certificate from the United States was a representation of Buffy Sainte-Marie’s identity and origins,” writes Opekokew. “Many First Nation individuals have experienced difficulties accessing information to their original identities as a result of harmful colonial practices and the application of non-Indigenous perspectives to Indigenous children and families.

“It is my perspective and belief that these general practices corroborate and are not inconsistent with the oral history evidence I received about Buffy Sainte-Marie’s origins from Noel Starblanket.”….”

Since that article came out APTN has updated their views because they obtained her birth certificate.

“Some of the questions regarding Sainte-Marie’s identity stem from a Massachusetts birth certificate for Beverly Jean Santamaria, a certified copy of which APTN has obtained. The birth certificate has the same birthdate of Buffy Sainte-Marie, the same given name for Buffy (Beverly Jean), as well as the same given names of the parents who raised her (Winifred and Albert).

At the same time, Palmater said there remain some serious issues Sainte-Marie needs to set the record straight on.

“There’s a lot of very specific issues that we have to parse out and I think the most important one for all of this is what did she know, when did she know and has she been honest?””

https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/first-nations-professors-say-sainte-marie-story-raises-valid-questions-about-artists-indigeneity/

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I prefer to try and understand the reason why people do things.

I've never been into hounding anyone, even if I think they may have done something I think is wrong.
It's not for me to judge them. Or express hatred towards them.

I don't believe there is a person alive who hasn't lied about something and sometimes there are very complex reasons behind it. It's all part of being human.

Not everything is always as it seems.

 

[x_files]

except they should have deleted or questioned the info in the first paragraph under personal life that they took from her personal bio where she claimed to be a residential school survivor stolen from her Indigenous family

because she wasn't - because at the age of 2 or 3, it would've been 1942/43 and that travesty started in the mid 50's - so that has been all a hoax too

If she was told this info and trusted her adoptive parents then how was she lying? We had very little info back in the 40-60's and even now.
Did she lie on purpose or believe the story her adoptive parents told her?

 

[x_files]

This Globe and Mail article is very thoughtfully written.

There’s nothing simple about questioning Buffy Sainte-Marie, an icon of mythic proportions

A CBC investigation into Sainte-Marie’s heritage has sparked confusion and controversy but her legacy within the First Nations community is unparalleled

www.theglobeandmail.com

“An important part of the discussion is: Who is Indigenous and who isn’t, and who can make that assessment? There are few things more personal to a person and a people than their identity and culture. Many say identity is a community issue. Who has more authority to best judge who is in our family and who isn’t? The Piapot family has taken great pains to point out they adopted Sainte-Marie back in the early 1960s. Because of that, she is a treasured and loved member of the family. Nobody is arguing that, I believe. In the First Nations community, family is family is family….

…..On Twitter/X, many have argued that Sainte-Marie is in her eighties, a respected and honoured elder whose work for the Indigenous people of Turtle Island cannot be forgotten. It would take at least a dozen or more brilliant Indigenous artists combined to make it halfway up Mt. Buffy. So, they argue, the good people of CBC should let it and her pass. The world is a much better place with Buffy in it.

Others argue pretendians are “trying to erase us by replacing us.”

As I mentioned, this is all so complex.

To understand the true scope of Buffy’s Indigenous appeal, I remember reading about an encounter with her in David Suzuki’s autobiography. Back in another century, he was putting together a massive concert to promote the old-growth forest in British Columbia’s Stein Valley. All types of musical celebrities were there including Buffy Sainte-Marie. He writes about the how the audience, a substantial amount who were Indigenous, just went crazy when she took stage. It was then he understood the impact this woman had upon the people of the land. They were enthralled. There was no other word for it other than a complete and shared love.…”

If they adopted her then she is rightfully part of their culture. I will respect their decision.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I think what is being said is that she was not adopted and was a natural born child of her parents along with her siblings.

 

[MistyWaters]

Since that article came out APTN has updated their views because they obtained her birth certificate.

“Some of the questions regarding Sainte-Marie’s identity stem from a Massachusetts birth certificate for Beverly Jean Santamaria, a certified copy of which APTN has obtained. The birth certificate has the same birthdate of Buffy Sainte-Marie, the same given name for Buffy (Beverly Jean), as well as the same given names of the parents who raised her (Winifred and Albert).

At the same time, Palmater said there remain some serious issues Sainte-Marie needs to set the record straight on.

“There’s a lot of very specific issues that we have to parse out and I think the most important one for all of this is what did she know, when did she know and has she been honest?””

https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/first-nations-professors-say-sainte-marie-story-raises-valid-questions-about-artists-indigeneity/

I didn’t get the impression the birth certificate was just recently discovered, did you? It seems it was explained away by some (unlikely) story the state of Mass issued birth certificates to parents of adopted children.

The APTN is so rife with internal conflicts lately, I’m not sure what’s going on there or who they actually represent anymore. However the Piapot reserve proclaims it to be a sovereign nation, so if I were asked who has the right to claim BSM as one of their own I’d say that’s who.

 

[dotr]

2022

Buffy Sainte-Marie: ‘I didn’t know I was ahead of the pack at the time’

The groundbreaking singer-songwriter discusses government surveillance, her Indigenous identity and a revealing new documentary

www.theguardian.com

''Now, thanks to a comprehensive new documentary titled Carry It On, viewers can see just how effective Sainte-Marie has been in her eight decades of life. The documentary delineates most, but not all, of the “firsts” in her career, making clear how far ahead of the pack she was in the fields of music, film, television, technology and politics. At the same time, the film covers disturbing issues in her personal life, from sexual abuse by multiple family members to manipulation and confinement by a later romantic partner, to memos and calls made by people associated with various US administrations meant to discourage radio stations from playing her music in the 60s and 70s.

Sainte-Marie only found out about the government’s interference in her career years after it occurred. “They don’t tell you, ‘hey, you’re under surveillance,’” the singer said with a laugh. “I found out about it on a radio show in the 80s.”

The parents who raised her in New England were supportive, especially her mother who was part Mi’kmaq Indian. Her father was Italian-American. As a result, she said, her family “was more The Sopranos than Dances with Wolves”.

''Though Sainte-Marie said her father was loving, “there were pedophiles in his family”, she said. She alleges that two relatives sexually abused her, including her brother who also bullied and consistently humiliated her. The singer’s parents didn’t know the full extent of the abuse, though she said they tended to downplay what did know about as just “boys being boys”. What’s more, her father didn’t understand why a girl would want to go to college. Thankfully, her mother, an editor at Houghton Mifflin, well understood Sainte-Marie’s intellectual curiosity and took out a government loan to finance her higher education.''

 

[Lexiintoronto]

I prefer to try and understand the reason why people do things.

I've never been into hounding anyone, even if I think they may have done something I think is wrong.
It's not for me to judge them. Or express hatred towards them.

I don't believe there is a person alive who hasn't lied about something and sometimes there are very complex reasons behind it. It's all part of being human.

Not everything is always as it seems.

I agree with you and think that’s how I hope to look at this. But before you can be forgiven for something you have to acknowledge it and own it, imo. I’d have nothing more to say about this if Buffy acknowledged the obvious truth the CBC uncovered. Instead this will likely use up more resources and media coverage as more people work to straighten this all out.

This is what Jessica Krug said once it was discovered she was faking her race:

“Krug set the internet ablaze last week when she seemingly confessed that she had "assumed identities within a Blackness I had no right to claim."

Krug set the internet ablaze last week when she seemingly confessed via a post on Medium that she had “assumed identities within a Blackness I had no right to claim.” She labels herself a coward, a liar, “the refuse of non-Black societies” and a “cultural leech.” But ultimately, she positions herself as a truth-teller confessing her wrongdoings — a white Jewish woman from the suburbs of Kansas City posing as North African and then Afro-Latina.


“I gaslit you,” she wrote, in what is meant to sound more remorseful than triumphant. She suggests we cancel her as punishment, after explaining that cancel culture is a “righteous tool of those with less power to wield against those with more power.””

Jessica Krug, Rachel Dolezal and America's white women who want to be Black

Before we move on to the next spectacle, we should consider what about our society produces and craves such imposters while ignoring more complex portrayals of Blackness.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[TootsieFootsie]

The parents who raised her in New England were supportive, especially her mother who was part Mi’kmaq Indian. Her father was Italian-American. As a result, she said, her family “was more The Sopranos than Dances with Wolves”.

Thanks I'll watch that tomorrow!

It seems she did own up to the Italian American part.

 

[dotr]

Reminded of this book by P. Roth..

The Human Stain - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

''Zuckerman's version of the story starts when Coleman Silk is a light-skinned black boy in East Orange, New Jersey. Coleman becomes a straight-A student and, in defiance of his father, a quick and clever boxer. A boxing coach suggests that he pass as a Jew. During World War II he drops out of Howard University and joins the Navy, listing his race as white.

After the war he studies at New York University and lives in Greenwich Village. When he introduces a white girlfriend to his family and they realize he is "passing", his brother cuts him off from the family. Silk marries Iris, a non-religious Jewish woman, and has four children. His wife and children are unaware of his ancestry; he invents a Jewish background and tells them he's unable to get in touch with his few living relatives.

A successful academic career in classics leads to his position of dean, where he raises the faculty's standards by forcing out less academically accomplished professors. Decades later, he returns to teaching and is accused of racism as described above.''

 

[Lexiintoronto]

I didn’t get the impression the birth certificate was just recently discovered, did you? It seems it was explained away by some (unlikely) story the state of Mass issued birth certificates to parents of adopted children.

The APTN is so rife with internal conflicts lately, I’m not sure what’s going on there or who they actually represent anymore. However the Piapot reserve proclaims it to be a sovereign nation, so if I were asked who has the right to claim BSM as one of their own I’d say that’s who.

Buffy has repeatedly said her birth certificate either didn’t exist or was burned in a fire in the records department. (No fire happened.) But the Fifth Estate showed she provided it when she got married.

The birth certificate is in the correct numerical sequence that you’d expect for her date of birth and it matches the corresponding hospital records that recorded her birth in a hospital in Massachusetts.

If she had been adopted, the birth certificate would have been back-dated. But most important is the corresponding hospital records of her birth—and the parents who raised her are listed as her biological mother and father. They also had a statement from the doctor involved.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I'm kind of reminded of the Merle Oberon story.
She lied for years about her ancestry.

Merle Oberon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Parentage. For most of her life, Merle protected herself by concealing the truth about her parentage, claiming that she had been born in Tasmania, Australia, and that her birth records had been destroyed in a fire.

Some lies are more than justified.

 

[MistyWaters]

I think what is being said is that she was not adopted and was a natural born child of her parents along with her siblings.

The Piapot family claim she was adopted by them, not to be confused with the Piapot reserve. I have to wonder if the issue is that in the 60s an aboriginal adoption was more ceremonial in nature than filing of paperwork? Or perhaps the broader philosophical question, do adopted children have the right to take on their adopted family’s heritage or are they forever a family outcast because of their different blood?

‘We claim her, end of story’: Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Piapot family hurt by allegations | Globalnews.ca

Indigenous icon Buffy Sainte-Marie's identity was brought into question by a CBC investigation, her Piapot family says the accusations are "ignorant, colonial -- and racist."

globalnews.ca

 

[MistyWaters]

Buffy has repeatedly said her birth certificate either didn’t exist or was burned in a fire in the records department. (No fire happened.) But the Fifth Estate showed she provided it when she got married.

The birth certificate is in the correct numerical sequence that you’d expect for her date of birth and it matches the corresponding hospital records that recorded her birth in a hospital in Massachusetts.

If she had been adopted, the birth certificate would have been back-dated. But most important is the corresponding hospital records of her birth—and the parents who raised her are listed as her biological mother and father. They also had a statement from the doctor involved.

I agree, it seems there’s no denying she was initially born to this Mass family.

 

[Lexiintoronto]

I agree, it seems there’s no denying she was initially born to this Mass family.

Phew. Thank you. I was about to break out in hives. lol.