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

[MistyWaters]

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

Ha, sorry, it’d make me feel bad to be responsible for that!

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Buffy is 82.

The Piapot family are said to have adopted her 6 decades ago, so she would have been in her 20's then.
After 6 decades of being family, I can see why they wouldn't want to just toss her out.

I'm just trying to sort it out in my head

 

[MistyWaters]

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.

It does matter. What needs to be considered is what can motivate good people to do bad things and specifically I’m referring to BSM. Maybe it was due to the relationship with the Piapots that she decided to use her talent and fame to better the lives of FN’s people?

Maybe people don’t realize how extensively she contributed to the plight of the indigenous well beyond some songs because I have to say much of what’s in the article surprised me. It seems to me she gave at least a hundred times over compared to what she took back. JMO

Buffy Sainte-Marie’s unique activism changed perceptions of Indigenous people | American Masters | PBS

The Red Power Movement was a time of profound social change and progress for American Indians in the United States and Canada.

www.pbs.org

 

[LaborDayRN]

Revelations about Buffy Sainte-Marie’s ancestry are having a devastating impact on Indigenous communities across Canada

The CBC report on iconic singer Buffy Sainte-Marie’s ancestry is having deep impact in multiple ways across Indigenous lands across Canada.

theconversation.com

Just sharing because I haven't seen this article posted.

There are very few Indigenous peoples who have reached the stardom that Buffy Sainte-Marie has attained over her career. Because of this, she has been an inspiration to generations of Indigenous peoples.
Her fame and success made many of us believe that our goals and aspirations were possible at a time when there was very little representation for Indigenous folks like us. Over her career, many Indigenous peoples, communities and families built reciprocal relationships with Buffy — in particular, members of Piapot First Nation in Saskatchewan.

"No warning, no sensitivity​

Suddenly, this story broke and everything we believed about her was called into question. There was no warning and no sensitivity to the impact it would have on Indigenous peoples. This is not how reconciliation is done."

...More at link

 

[JDG]

Buffy is 82.

The Piapot family are said to have adopted her 6 decades ago, so she would have been in her 20's then.
After 6 decades of being family, I can see why they wouldn't want to just toss her out.

I'm just trying to sort it out in my head

Buffy was adopted, by Cree cultural rules years ago.

That adoption does NOT make her a blood FN person.

That adoption is NOT what is being investigated.

Its the fabrication about being a blood FN person, for profit and for fame that is being investigated.

In the 1960s folksingers were very popular, in much demand etc partly because of the Viet Nam War. Think counter culture songs, anti war protests etc.

Being a folksinger was very groovy, being a Native or the ONLY Native folksinger likely gave her a cachet (yes it did) which led to fame & fortune, more than anyone could have imagined.

BSM could have been a successful folksinger, helped the Native communities, been a protester etc, all without the pretending.

How many indigenous people were stifled due to BSM theft of identity?

IMO, MOO

 

[mickey2942]

I don't understand people who want to deny their own background and heritage. So many people do this...it really needs more research, and possibly a new DSM diagnosis as a pathological condition. Hilara Baldwin, Rachel Dolezal, Elizabeth Warren...they all adopted a different heritage.

 

[x_files]

I don't understand people who want to deny their own background and heritage. So many people do this...it really needs more research, and possibly a new DSM diagnosis as a pathological condition. Hilara Baldwin, Rachel Dolezal, Elizabeth Warren...they all adopted a different heritage.

They may NOT feel accepted in their own families and by their own race. Everyone seeks a tribe or a community they feel they belong to.

 

[MistyWaters]

They may NOT feel accepted in their own families and by their own race. Everyone seeks a tribe or a community they feel they belong to.

It’s also important to note DNA and genetics involving whose blood was flowing through each person’s veins didn’t become a big thing until the mid 90s. Prior to that there was only cultural identity.

I’m not certain that genetics should always takes priority. It’s not a simple black and white issue. JMO

 

[JDG]

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

Fame & fortune?

 

[otto]

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

The investigation into the ancestry of Buffy Sainte Marie was conducted by Indigenous People of Canada, who were unsettled by her claims of having Algonquin, Mi'kmaq, and Cree ancestry. As Indigenous people, they knew that no one makes the mistake of being born on the East Coast, Ontario/Quebec and prairies. The false claim of being a survivor of the Sixties Scoop added to their concerns, since she was too old when that started.

During the past 5-10 years, several prominent Canadians who built their careers on false Indigenous ancestry have been investigated by the Indigenous People of Canada.

One reason that non-Indigenous people have claimed to be Indigenous for decades is to benefit and profit from the many generous programs and opportunities in Canada to promote, fund and support Indigenous people in their arts, education theory, culture preservation, philosophy and ways. Buffy Sainte Marie is not the first, and she will not be the last. It was just her turn to have her conflicting stories investigated.

Here are a few examples of prominent false Indigenous people:

• Vianne Timmons: president of Memorial University of Newfoundland
• Joseph Boyden: award-winning author of fiction/ non-fiction about First Nations Canadians
• Michelle Latimer: filmmaker, Inconvenient Indian, awards
• Carrie Bourassa: Canada’s leading indigenous health scientist
• Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond: former judge, scholar, another recipient of the Order of Canada

"In all of these cases, the Pretendians not only faked their First Nations ancestry – they based their entire careers, and often their lives, around their purported indigenous connections.

These Pretendians would probably not exist were it not for Canada’s racialised affirmative-action policies. There are clear rewards – in the form of jobs with six-figure salaries, grants, awards and prestige – that encourage some people to pretend to be from a minority group. Affirmative-action programs incentivise white Canadians to play at being Indian."

Spiked Online

 

[otto]

It does matter. What needs to be considered is what can motivate good people to do bad things and specifically I’m referring to BSM. Maybe it was due to the relationship with the Piapots that she decided to use her talent and fame to better the lives of FN’s people?

Maybe people don’t realize how extensively she contributed to the plight of the indigenous well beyond some songs because I have to say much of what’s in the article surprised me. It seems to me she gave at least a hundred times over compared to what she took back. JMO

Buffy Sainte-Marie’s unique activism changed perceptions of Indigenous people | American Masters | PBS

The Red Power Movement was a time of profound social change and progress for American Indians in the United States and Canada.

www.pbs.org

People with European ancestry pretending to be Indigenous represent the "good indian", who is perceived as making an outstanding contribution to the image and perception of Indigenous people. The only problem is that the image is false.

"Perhaps most importantly, Pretendians represent the 21st-century version of the ‘good Indian’. Actual indigenous people often have diverse opinions and may have trouble relating to elite members of Canadian society. Most inconveniently of all, they might not be willing to massage the Canadian elite’s white-saviour complex. Pretendians, on the other hand, can be relied on to parrot the official narrative promoted by the political establishment and the media. This holds that ‘white settler’ society and ‘racism’ are responsible for the ongoing oppression of indigenous people. ...

The Canadian establishment has a long history of sponsoring ‘good Indians’, in fact. Meanwhile it casts out those who do not affirm the elites’ self-image as white parents to a childlike race. White fraudsters have been complicit in this, coming to embody the idea of the ‘noble savage’. ...

Littlefeather was the ideal ‘good Indian’ of the time. She was good-looking, polite, insistent but still meek. Most importantly, she was able to lecture ordinary Americans on behalf of the elite. However, after her death last year, her sisters told the press that she had no Native American ancestry whatsoever."

Spiked

The Curious Case of Gina Adams: A “Pretendian” Investigation - Macleans.ca

She was hired by Emily Carr University in an effort to recruit Indigenous faculty. Then questions arose about her identity.

macleans.ca

 

[otto]

Revelations about Buffy Sainte-Marie’s ancestry are having a devastating impact on Indigenous communities across Canada

The CBC report on iconic singer Buffy Sainte-Marie’s ancestry is having deep impact in multiple ways across Indigenous lands across Canada.

theconversation.com

Just sharing because I haven't seen this article posted.

There are very few Indigenous peoples who have reached the stardom that Buffy Sainte-Marie has attained over her career. Because of this, she has been an inspiration to generations of Indigenous peoples.
Her fame and success made many of us believe that our goals and aspirations were possible at a time when there was very little representation for Indigenous folks like us. Over her career, many Indigenous peoples, communities and families built reciprocal relationships with Buffy — in particular, members of Piapot First Nation in Saskatchewan.

"No warning, no sensitivity
Suddenly, this story broke and everything we believed about her was called into question. There was no warning and no sensitivity to the impact it would have on Indigenous peoples. This is not how reconciliation is done."

...More at link

I think it's more likely that everything people, who looked up to Buffy Sainte Marie, believed about themselves came into question. Suddenly, the woman whom they embraced as the embodiment of their ancestry and values is discovered to be a dishonest woman of European ancestry who perpetrated a fraud on them.

 

[Susikatze]

The investigation into the ancestry of Buffy Sainte Marie was conducted by Indigenous People of Canada, who were unsettled by her claims of having Algonquin, Mi'kmaq, and Cree ancestry. As Indigenous people, they knew that no one makes the mistake of being born on the East Coast, Ontario/Quebec and prairies. The false claim of being a survivor of the Sixties Scoop added to their concerns, since she was too old when that started.

During the past 5-10 years, several prominent Canadians who built their careers on false Indigenous ancestry have been investigated by the Indigenous People of Canada.

One reason that non-Indigenous people have claimed to be Indigenous for decades is to benefit and profit from the many generous programs and opportunities in Canada to promote, fund and support Indigenous people in their arts, education theory, culture preservation, philosophy and ways. Buffy Sainte Marie is not the first, and she will not be the last. It was just her turn to have her conflicting stories investigated.

Here are a few examples of prominent false Indigenous people:

• Vianne Timmons: president of Memorial University of Newfoundland
• Joseph Boyden: award-winning author of fiction/ non-fiction about First Nations Canadians
• Michelle Latimer: filmmaker, Inconvenient Indian, awards
• Carrie Bourassa: Canada’s leading indigenous health scientist
• Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond: former judge, scholar, another recipient of the Order of Canada

"In all of these cases, the Pretendians not only faked their First Nations ancestry – they based their entire careers, and often their lives, around their purported indigenous connections.

These Pretendians would probably not exist were it not for Canada’s racialised affirmative-action policies. There are clear rewards – in the form of jobs with six-figure salaries, grants, awards and prestige – that encourage some people to pretend to be from a minority group. Affirmative-action programs incentivise white Canadians to play at being Indian."

Spiked Online

Dont forget Sacheen Littlefeather. American, not Canadian, but also always claimed to be indigenous but she was in fact born to Mexican immigrant parents. Well, Mexicans do have have a sizeable amount of Mesoamerican Native genetics but it is not what Sacheen claimed.

Edit: just saw someone just mentioned her a few posts above.

 

[MistyWaters]

Interesting article from CBC containing various well-thought indigenous perspectives. I think they’ll survive it.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/buffy-sainte-marie-reaction-piapot-1.7011149

 

[otto]

Interesting article from CBC containing various well-thought indigenous perspectives. I think they’ll survive it.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/buffy-sainte-marie-reaction-piapot-1.7011149

The couple that adopted the 23 year old woman from Massachusetts in 1964, after she told them a whopper, must be close to 100 years old today. Are they still alive, or is this community support based on having had a "good indian" icon for their community? Have generations of people from their community since 1964 adopted Buffy Sainte Marie as the embodiment of their Indigenous values and, without her, they have no cultural icon and compass?

Truth and Reconciliation has to mean "truth"; not accepting fraud as truth because it feels convenient or has cultural significance in a community.

 

[Irishknit]

People with European ancestry pretending to be Indigenous represent the "good indian", who is perceived as making an outstanding contribution to the image and perception of Indigenous people. The only problem is that the image is false.

"Perhaps most importantly, Pretendians represent the 21st-century version of the ‘good Indian’. Actual indigenous people often have diverse opinions and may have trouble relating to elite members of Canadian society. Most inconveniently of all, they might not be willing to massage the Canadian elite’s white-saviour complex. Pretendians, on the other hand, can be relied on to parrot the official narrative promoted by the political establishment and the media. This holds that ‘white settler’ society and ‘racism’ are responsible for the ongoing oppression of indigenous people. ...

The Canadian establishment has a long history of sponsoring ‘good Indians’, in fact. Meanwhile it casts out those who do not affirm the elites’ self-image as white parents to a childlike race. White fraudsters have been complicit in this, coming to embody the idea of the ‘noble savage’. ...

Littlefeather was the ideal ‘good Indian’ of the time. She was good-looking, polite, insistent but still meek. Most importantly, she was able to lecture ordinary Americans on behalf of the elite. However, after her death last year, her sisters told the press that she had no Native American ancestry whatsoever."

Spiked

The Curious Case of Gina Adams: A “Pretendian” Investigation - Macleans.ca

She was hired by Emily Carr University in an effort to recruit Indigenous faculty. Then questions arose about her identity.

macleans.ca

Excellent attached read. Thank you for posting.

 

[JDG]

I loved Buffy Sainte-Marie. Now, like many Indigenous people, I feel betrayed by her

A CBC investigation that raised questions about the singer’s Indigenous ancestry has roiled the Indigenous community and beyond

www.thestar.com

 

[otto]

I loved Buffy Sainte-Marie. Now, like many Indigenous people, I feel betrayed by her

A CBC investigation that raised questions about the singer’s Indigenous ancestry has roiled the Indigenous community and beyond

www.thestar.com

I'm curious whether Buffy Sainte Marie has Canadian citizenship and, if so, how that was obtained. Several awards, such as Companion of the Order of Canada, Officer of the Order of Canada, Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee Medal are awarded to Canadian citizens. Did the Canadian government rely on her lies to grant citizenship, or is she not a Canadian citizen but granted Canadian honours and awards based on fraudulent claims?

"Earlier this week, the Piapot family in Saskatchewan publicly shared a letter confirming that Buffy Sainte-Marie has been adopted into their family. Of course, I agree with what they say: each Nehiyaw family and First Nation has the right and sovereignty to determine who their members are. This doesn’t require a blood or genetic connection, but it doesn’t confer official/legal benefits either.
...

Buffy is an honourary member of the Piapot family — which is indeed a tremendous honour, but she grew up with a white family and white privilege, which allowed her to shine and develop her tremendous creative talent from a young age."

from your link

 

[otto]

I hope that each of these organizations rescinds the award presented to Buffy Sainte Marie, and presents the award to the runner up. For each of these 16 awards, there is an Indigenous person who was cheated by Buffy Sainte Marie.

2018 – Indigenous Music Award for Best Music Video (“The War Racket”)
2018 – Indigenous Music Award for Best Folk Album (Medicine Songs)
2018 – JUNO Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year (Medicine Songs)
2016 – JUNO Awards for Aboriginal Album of the Year (Power in the Blood)
2015 – Americana Music Association’s Spirit of Americana/Free Speech in Music Award
2010 – The Governor General’s Performing Arts Award
2010 – Aboriginal Peoples’ Choice Music Award for Best Music Video (“No No Keshagesh”)
2009 – JUNO Award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year (Running for the Drum)
2009 – Canadian Aboriginal Music Award for Best Album of the Year (Running for the Drum)
2009 – Canadian Aboriginal Music Award for Best Songwriter
2009 – Canadian Aboriginal Music Award for Best Female Artist
2009 – Canadian Aboriginal Music Award for Best Song Single (“No No Keshagesh”)
2009 – Aboriginal Peoples’ Choice Music Award for Best Folk/Acoustic CD (Running for the Drum)
2009 – Aboriginal Peoples’ Choice Music Award Lifetime Achievement Award
2008 – Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award
1997 – JUNO Award for Best Music of Aboriginal Canada Recording (Up Where We Belong)

Each of these honourary degrees from Canadian universities should also be re-evaluated. An honourary doctor of laws granted to someone who committed a decades long egregious fraud against the Indigenous People of Canada is an oxymoron.

2019 – University of Toronto – Honorary Doctor of Laws
2018 – Dalhousie University – Honorary Doctor of Laws
2017 – University of Lethbridge – Honorary Doctor of Laws
2016 – Vancouver Island University – Honorary Doctor of Laws
2012 – University of British Columbia – Honorary Doctor of Letters
2010 – Wilfrid Laurier University – Honorary Doctor of Letters
2010 – Ontario College of Art and Design – Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts
2010 – Brandon University – Honorary Doctor of Music
2009 – University of Western Ontario – Honorary Doctor of Music
2008 – Carleton University – Honorary Doctor of Laws
2007 – Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design – Honorary Doctor of Letters
2003 – University of Saskatchewan – Honorary Doctor of Humanities
2000 – Lakehead University – Honorary Doctor of Letters
1996 – University of Regina – Honorary Doctor of Laws

Buffy Sainte Marie bio

 

[MistyWaters]

The couple that adopted the 23 year old woman from Massachusetts in 1964, after she told them a whopper, must be close to 100 years old today. Are they still alive, or is this community support based on having had a "good indian" icon for their community? Have generations of people from their community since 1964 adopted Buffy Sainte Marie as the embodiment of their Indigenous values and, without her, they have no cultural icon and compass?

Truth and Reconciliation has to mean "truth"; not accepting fraud as truth because it feels convenient or has cultural significance in a community.

No, the couple who adopted BSM are no longer alive. It’s the Piapot grandchildren and other family members who have spoken in support of her.

I don’t think it’s up to us to decide what they should want or who has the right to share and promote their heritage. Isn’t that what colonialism was all about?

JMO