Author Topic: Buffy Sainte-Marie denies she misled public about Indigenous ancestry  (Read 5619 times)


Offline ska

  • Posts: 162
Re: Buffy Sainte-Marie denies she misled public about Indigenous ancestry
« Reply #1 on: October 31, 2023, 12:23:26 pm »
"Indigenous Women's Collective calls for Buffy Sainte-Marie's 2018 Juno to be rescinded after CBC investigation"

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/buffy-saint-marie-mislead-indigenous-people-indigenous-women-s-collective-1.7012847

Offline Defend the Sacred

  • Global Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 3288
Re: Buffy Sainte-Marie denies she misled public about Indigenous ancestry
« Reply #2 on: November 03, 2023, 07:55:06 pm »
CBC Documentary with original birth certificate, family photos and home movies and, in her own words, many clips and signed statements from Sainte-Marie over the decades showing her changing backstory as well as confirming she is actually an Italian-American woman, born Beverly Santamaria, raised by her birth parents in Massachusetts.

Investigating Buffy Sainte-Marie’s claims to Indigenous ancestry - The Fifth Estate

Non-Natives and those unfamiliar with the reasons for boycotting commercial DNA tend to immediately demand a DNA test. Well, she doesn't need to take one. Her son took one, as did her sister. The tests confirmed her son is her "adopted" sister's nephew - which confirms the paper trail - Buffy/Beverly was not scooped or adopted as a child. She is the biological child of the same Italian/English couple in suburban Massachusetts who raised her. The sister is her biological sister. Family members tried to tell people, but she threatened them with lawsuits and worse.

This article by Acee Agoyo goes into the DNA, and other details:

Canadian documentary focuses on ‘Icon’ who based career on Native identity

I have seen the sister's gedcom results. "Ethnicity percentages" results are not reliable for detecting Native ancestors, as the companies have very few samples from Native American donors, and much of what they have was taken unethically. What they mark as "Amerindian" can also be misread Central Asian or Indigenous from other parts of the world. There is no way to confirm they are Native American markers unless the person also matches as a relative on those chromosomes with Native relatives whose full ancestral makeup is known beyond any doubt.

That said, the sister's "Amerindian" percentage varied from .41% to .53%. Results of less than 1% are regarded as "background noise" by most companies. They are not a reliable indicator of Native ancestry, even if any legitimate community did go by the one drop rule (and they don't).

I only mention this tiny bit as some are grasping at straws so hard they're claiming that this dubious, potential,  less than one drop makes her Native. It doesn't. That's just not how it works. Or that the Piapot adoption does. All the adoption does is make her a member of that family, it doesn't change who her ancestors and birth family are,  what the first 20 years of her life were like, or the fact that Piapot couple were lied to, and led to believe she was a returning member of their community. That adoption of a famous person took place under limited information and false pretenses. While I think most everyone respects the rights of the current Piapot community to decide what that means now, I think we all know the context needs to be kept in mind.

Adding print version of CBC investigation, which has copies of birth certificate and other images:

Who is the real Buffy Sainte-Marie?
Buffy Sainte-Marie’s claims to Indigenous ancestry are being contradicted by members of the iconic singer-songwriter’s own family and an extensive CBC investigation.
By Geoff Leo, Roxanna Woloshyn and Linda Guerriero
« Last Edit: November 03, 2023, 08:02:37 pm by Defend the Sacred »

Offline Sparks

  • Posts: 1412
Re: Buffy Sainte-Marie denies she misled public about Indigenous ancestry
« Reply #3 on: November 03, 2023, 08:09:29 pm »
Singer calls allegations ‘deeply hurtful’ after documentary questions ‘shifting narrative’ surrounding her Cree roots

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/27/buffy-sainte-marie-indigenous-ancestry-canada-documentary

This is a long article related to the documentary referred to above:

https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/buffy-sainte-marie

Quote
Who is the real Buffy Sainte-Marie?
Buffy Sainte-Marie’s claims to Indigenous ancestry are being contradicted by members of the iconic singer-songwriter’s own family and an extensive CBC investigation.
By Geoff Leo, Roxanna Woloshyn and Linda Guerriero — Oct. 27, 2023

WATCH | The full Fifth Estate documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMsqCWNCUc4
[Investigating Buffy Sainte-Marie’s claims to Indigenous ancestry - The Fifth Estate] (43 minutes)
[Edit: While I was typing, this link was being published by Defend the Sacred.

During the week that has passed since these two links were published, hundreds if not thousands of news articles, Facebook and Instagram announcements, and YouTube videos have appeared, both Pros & Cons.

In her Wikipedia article these developments are referred to in the Personal life and Indigenous identity paragraphs:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_Sainte-Marie

Offline educatedindian

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 4740
Re: Buffy Sainte-Marie denies she misled public about Indigenous ancestry
« Reply #4 on: November 04, 2023, 12:17:14 am »
It's completely clear she lied consistently. It's also clear that, like Cruz/Littlefeather or DaCorta/Iron Eyes, this is 50-60 years too late to be of any use. It's much like when the feds make a big show of prosecuting long retired mobsters. The time for anyone to investigate or for family members to come forward was very long ago.

Santamaria (we should only use her real name, just like we do for spiritual frauds) is 82 and retired. Hasn't been a big figure in pop music since the early 70s. Since then she played almost entirely for NDNs, which is no doubt why it hurts so much to be deceived.

CBC sat on this story for over a year, just for ratings. Indianz did much better, a 2 day investigation uncovering almost the same facts. The pain and deceit are both very real and raw. Like Sparks points out, we could fill dozens of threads just with all the talk about this in a short time. The fact that these revelations are far too late to do much good is part of why.

Offline Sparks

  • Posts: 1412
Re: Buffy Sainte-Marie denies she misled public about Indigenous ancestry
« Reply #5 on: November 27, 2023, 04:23:31 pm »
Like Sparks points out, we could fill dozens of threads just with all the talk about this in a short time. The fact that these revelations are far too late to do much good is part of why.

The endless commentaries in every possible channel world wide has continued, and whatever one chooses to  report on is just a drop in the ocean. However, today I received a news letter which I'll quote briefly from:

Quote
Late Thursday, her publicist shared her acceptance of the Emmy that contained a response to critics that questioned her Indigenous roots. Native News Online has chosen to publish the entire statement:
[…]
The attack on my character is full of mistakes and omissions. While I will not stoop to respond to every false allegation, I feel it is important to clarify two things.

First, the central proof used to question my identity is a story fabricated by my abuser and repeated by two members of my estranged family I don’t even know. This has been incredibly re-traumatizing for me and unfair to all involved. It hurts me deeply to discover that my estranged family grew up scared of me and thinking these lies because of a letter I sent intended to protect me from further abuse from my brother. I want to be clear, I do not blame them. They, of course, want to believe their father. I have evidence I was sexually abused by my brother, but I can’t tolerate discomforting his children even more. I wish them only the best and hope they move forward from this and find peace, as I am trying to do.

The second is my “birth certificate”. As many Indigenous people know, and the National Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation of Canada has stated, it was common for birth certificates of Indian children to be “created” by western governments after they were adopted or taken away from their families. So it was quite shocking to me to hear a city clerk say she had 100% confidence in its authenticity. I have never known if my birth certificate was real. I have used it because it was the only document I’ve had my whole life. I’ve heard from countless people with similar stories – who do not know where they are from and feel victimized by these allegations and one-sided reporting as I do.

How credible is that second part? — Read it all here:
https://nativenewsonline.net/arts-entertainment/buffy-sainte-marie-accepts-emmy-and-responds-to-her-critics-who-question-her-indigenous-roots

Offline Laurel

  • Posts: 150
Re: Buffy Sainte-Marie denies she misled public about Indigenous ancestry
« Reply #6 on: November 28, 2023, 10:33:17 am »
At least in the USA, adopted people do have fake birth certificates.

The Canadian government didn't change her DNA, though.

Offline ska

  • Posts: 162
Re: Buffy Sainte-Marie denies she misled public about Indigenous ancestry
« Reply #7 on: December 01, 2023, 04:02:56 pm »
Saskatchewan First Nation chief says Buffy Sainte-Marie should take DNA test


"The chief of a Saskatchewan First Nation that has been thrust into the controversy over Buffy Sainte-Marie’s ancestry says the legendary singer and songwriter should take a DNA test to provide an answer about her heritage. “I do believe that we deserve a definitive answer from her,” Piapot First Nation acting Chief Ira Lavallee said Thursday. . . "

https://ca.yahoo.com/news/saskatchewan-first-nation-chief-says-194613239.html

Offline Sparks

  • Posts: 1412
Re: Buffy Sainte-Marie denies she misled public about Indigenous ancestry
« Reply #8 on: December 15, 2023, 06:29:56 am »
In her Wikipedia article these developments are referred to in the Personal life and Indigenous identity paragraphs:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_Sainte-Marie

The last of these two paragraphs has been expanded and is now named False claim of Indigenous identity.