Buffy St Marie

Yeah that's exactly it, in the article the native women who investigate "pretendians" talk about how they take money, honors, and resources intended for actual naticve people, it's a huge betrayal and benefitting off genocide

right i meant “why be generous to this person who has, by virtue of her stupendous fame, likely elbowed real cree out of the frame”

People should really read the article!

young bob dylan was not an old coal miner. but he was also not saying that he actually WAS an old coal miner.

He definitely was not saying he was nice Jewish boy from a respectable family in Minnesota.

Was he not(?) I haven’t read old interviews with him, but I wouldn’t have assumed he hid anything about his background… it’s such a big part of his story now, anyway.

yeah Bob had a few b.s. origin stories, like I think he said he had studied under Mance Lipscomb or something?

I mean a completely different thing that BSM obviously. also I guess see bullshitting as pretty core to Dylan

he was trying to imitate that wily storyteller persona a la woody. i think he said all kinds of things early on to reporters.

but there was that book that came out in the 60s where the guy went and talked to everyone in bob's hometown and college? he wasn't an enigma for long. i think it came out in the 60s. my memory is such crap in my crapitudinous decrepitude. i used to know things!

Positively Main Street by Toby Thompson. “That boy . . . this fellow, Toby . . . has got some lessons to learn.” —Bob Dylan, Rolling Stone, November 29, 1969

People should really read the article!

^^^^ on this. At least read up until the point where BSM sends threatening letters to her brother.

tbh the whole thing with the family, the uncles, the niece didn't sit too well with me because families can be extremely fucked up and full of old resentments and bitterness.

Especially when one member of a family is world famous and the rest of them aren't.

apologies for linking to something on tiktok but this guy has a good take on this

https://www.tiktok.com/@yllwhrseblackfoot/video/7295113394875649285

no need to apologise for for tiktok links!

I don't even have an account on there so I can only view them on desktop and have to dismiss a modal and everything.

that was good and certainly a good thing to amplify Native voices speaking on this issue no matter the platform

xxxxpost what the family says, especially and starting with her uncle's published letter to the local paper in the 60s, is supported by the birth certificate, with clerk spelling it out more in quoted comments and in video interview----obtained by a phone call to city hall, after 60 years of contradictory coverage/dgaf/print the legend---

Also her son's xxxxxpost DNA.

supported/made more plausible.

Finally got caught up on this. Article seems pretty airtight. To me it looks like she originally needed an exotic angle to stand out and just got in way too deep, perhaps to the point where she eventually bought into her own delusion.

to the point where she eventually bought into her own delusion.

yeah i definitely got that sense too

Being charitable you could see her as a young woman who didn't feel she fitted in her immediate milieu and circumstances and was looking around for something to belong to and believe in and found it - but took it too far.

"So you caught me, it seems"

Bravo.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/the-emotional-fallout-of-buffy-sainte-marie-revelations-transcript-1.7013768

Daemon Fairless interviewed Kim Wheeler (who produced Buffy's big Starwalker special last year), and Drew Hayden Taylor (director of the doc The Pretendians).

Without any offence intended here, I think the last four posts should be removed

fine w/me!

This--blows my mind:

KIM WHEELER: It looks like that is the original birth certificating. Yes, her parents are listed as white. But again, at that time, in the forties, I mean, and, you know, I've read so much stuff online and people are saying like people wouldn't list that they were indigenous at that time. You have to remember at that time, Indigenous people didn't even have the right to vote yet. So why would you? Why would you say that your child is indigenous or Native American or First Nations if they had no human rights at that point?

Kim Wheeler just produced a big concert celebrating her as an indigenous heroine, no wonder she's defensive.

Something the CBC article/program didn't get into is Buffy's claim that her mother (Winifred Santamaria) was part Mi'kmaq. If Buffy's whole story is that she was adopted, she doesn't need to prove anything about the identity of the people who raised her. And yet that detail is on her website.

Then, in her statement about the investigation, she said that Winifred "told me some things I have never shared out of respect for her that I hate sharing now, including that I may have been born on 'the wrong side of the blanket.'" If Buffy was adopted, then why would she be so concerned about protecting Winifred with respect to the possibility that she (Buffy) was the product of an affair? Unless she wasn't adopted but her dad was someone other than Albert Santamaria?

I guess I wonder what Winifred told Buffy when she was a kid and how it may have contributed to the stories she's told as an adult.

Something the CBC article/program didn't get into is Buffy's claim that her mother (Winifred Santamaria) was part Mi'kmaq.

Wouldn’t the rest of her family be aware of this? That’s not a detail that would’ve been revealed only to her.

this is just classic liar behavior

I guess I wonder what Winifred told Buffy when she was a kid and how it may have contributed to the stories she's told as an adult.

― jaymc, Wednesday, 1 November 2023 14:57 (one hour ago) link

Generous of you to entertain

it seems really bad but I agree the investigation could have done a better job of explicating the position of her (piapot) family and what that means- because a cursory read could make it appear like they are in denial which I don't think they are - but they barely appear in the story except to contradict some of its basic assumptions in a way that is relatively uncontextualised

obviously how her family feels is not the final word on the subject but the really troubling thing is the deception rather than the fact that she's white - but I haven't seen anything about how they feel about it all. if she did deceive them like she (very likely) did the public - I have to believe she did - has anyone asked?

Something the CBC article/program didn't get into is Buffy's claim that her mother (Winifred Santamaria) was part Mi'kmaq. If Buffy's whole story is that she was adopted, she doesn't need to prove anything about the identity of the people who raised her. And yet that detail is on her website.

am I wrong or did they not get into this in the article?

As part of her report on false Indigenous identity claims, Teillet included a list of what she refers to as “red flags,” warning signs that might indicate someone isn’t telling the truth about their ancestry. One of those flags is shifting Indigenous identities.

Teillet said if those reports accurately reflect what Sainte-Marie told the publications, it is hard to understand how she could claim such dramatically different ancestral lines. She pointed out that the Mi’kmaq live on the East Coast, Algonquin people are from Ontario and northern Quebec and Cree people are primarily from the Prairies.

“It’s really difficult to believe that somebody could mistake being Cree for being Mi’kmaq,” said Teillet. “Those are so far apart that it’s a little bit ludicrous, right?”

Tbc, I have no reason to doubt the CBC investigation, which seems pretty airtight to me. I'm struck by those claims about her mom because they hint at the possibility that there's more to the story -- not in a way that would disprove the investigation but maybe reveal something about her motives and psychology. But yeah, also possible that all of that stuff is made up and conveniently can't be checked because her mom is no longer around.

xp The article says that Buffy herself claimed Mi'kmaq identity -- or at least that news articles in the early years of her career said that she was Mi'kmaq. But now she's saying that she was *adopted* by someone who was Mi'kmaq.

Right, this is how the bio on her website begins:

Buffy Sainte-Marie is believed to have been born in 1941 on the Piapot First Nation reserve in Saskatchewan and taken from her biological parents when she was an infant. She was adopted by a visibly white couple and raised in Maine and Massachusetts. As a child, Buffy’s adoptive mother self-identified as part Mi’kmaq but knew little about Indigenous culture. She encouraged Buffy to find things out for herself when she grew up.

xp My understanding:
*Buffy has variously claimed to be born to parents of different indigenous groups, including Mi'kmaq.
*Separate to that, Buffy has said her adoptive mother claimed Mi'kmaq heritage.

she comes from a long line of pretendians

The CBC article seems conclusive to me. Imposters always fascinate me, perhaps in part in a there-but-for-the-grace-of-god way, as I certainly remember as a very young woman making up things about myself to make me seem more interesting. The difference being that I never became world famous and I could easily discard my fabrications without any consequences. Whereas BSM found herself caught in a trap of her own making and unable to move on from her youthful attempts to exoticise herself.

I've also been thinking about the inconsistencies in how she presented herself before she landed on Cree as an identity and how much it was easier to do that (and not get caught) in the pre-digital days. At the time, she probably never imagined anyone digging it all up.

I'm not sure I buy the idea that she made a Faustian pact to live a conscious lie in exchange for a career, betting her whole life on not getting caught. I am not sure where the truth lies, but it seems improbable with all the people who could expose her (letters of threat or not). Part of me refuses to believe someone would go through so many efforts to deceive.

I am not ruling out the conclusions of the investigation either. I'm just saying it's a baffling story anyway you look at it.

Can't believe I can't find any evidence online of anyone saying "it's time for her to go". Possibly because she's already retired.

I'm sure Adidas will be yanking their deal with her.

The most damning thing to me tbh is the hidden-in-plain-sight article from the local paper in 1964 with her uncle throwing cold water on the whole thing and saying she was born right there at the local hospital — presumably he was in a position to know.

The Occam’s Razor explanation to me is that it started as a bit of wishful showbiz self-mythology — a common phenomenon — that then became an increasingly important part of her public persona. And once she was formally accepted by the Piapot, she probably lost whatever misgivings she may have had about perpetuating it. But she has now lived long enough for things to shift in the culture to an extent that such claims come in for a new level of scrutiny. I’m not sure it was ever an innocent mistake, exactly, but probably it didn’t seem harmful to her at the time.

i think the most damning thing is that she turned around and used her supposed indian heritage to bring the achievements and sorrows of native culture to a wider audience - despicable stuff really

Yeah she’s definitely contributed a lot. But as a non-First Nations person, I don’t feel qualified or entitled to balance the pros and cons.

Indigenous author Michelle Good put it best.

https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/many-of-us-are-heartbroken-over-buffy-sainte-marie-but-we-must-remember-what-she/article_d124e030-59d5-5a84-8641-805a14a01886.html

It’s also important to acknowledge Buffy’s relationship with her Piapot family. She was accepted, embraced and adopted into that family and community; she is what I consider the equivalent of a naturalized citizen of that community, and her acceptance there is entirely in their hands. However, this cannot be taken to mean that Buffy suddenly became Indigenous by virtue of her adoption there, but that she is their relative by way of protocol and customary adoption. That is not subject to public scrutiny.

Indigenous means what was here on Turtle Island, be it flora or fauna, before European colonization. That is not something that can be given or taken by any means. Ultimately, to try to take an Indigenous identity is to try to occupy a space that is meant, by Creator, for another. Taking that space removes it from the reach of those it’s intended for, and perhaps we feel a little complicit in that. It’s important to understand that this is a quietly violent act with sometimes shocking outcomes.

Buffy was our sister, our Kokum, our Auntie, our colleague, our friend. She stood for us and with us and worked for us tirelessly. How can we not feel bereaved? It’s as though the earth has shifted beneath our feet and this person we loved so wholeheartedly is gone; this version of Buffy the icon has, in effect, died. The response to this has rippled across Turtle Island in the form of anger, disbelief and soul-deep sadness. How could we feel any other way?

I come to the same place again and again. Remember, my dear Indigenous brothers and sisters, how you felt at a Buffy concert or when she unexpectedly came on the radio as you were driving and you were exhilarated by the incontestable power of her voice? Remember when she came on “Sesame Street” and we felt such a swell of pride? Remember when she said yes to this organization or that community and came to play for fundraisers for causes close to our hearts at no cost but travel expenses? That feeling does not go away; that feeling does not change.

I feel like I’m writing a eulogy, a feeling reminiscent of times of great loss. In each of those times, I understood that the eulogy’s purpose was to offer comfort to the ones experiencing the loss, not the one lost to them. It is not our place to judge. We raise the loving memories — the reminders of why this person, now gone, was so special.

Regardless of her possible deception, Buffy Sainte-Marie had a profound effect on the way non-Indigenous people perceive and relate to Indigenous people. Her cradleboard project and her Nihewan Foundation are just two examples of what she has given us. And that does not change.

I’m not saying these things to defend Buffy, but rather to recognize that we don’t have to disbelieve or discredit our experiences with her and what she gave us. Buffy will never again be the person she was to us for all these years, but what she has given us does not just dissolve. Those are our feelings, our ways of expression. My wish is that we can comfort and be comforted by that.

It’s also important to acknowledge Buffy’s relationship with her Piapot family. She was accepted, embraced and adopted into that family and community; she is what I consider the equivalent of a naturalized citizen of that community, and her acceptance there is entirely in their hands. However, this cannot be taken to mean that Buffy suddenly became Indigenous by virtue of her adoption there, but that she is their relative by way of protocol and customary adoption. That is not subject to public scrutiny.

Indigenous means what was here on Turtle Island, be it flora or fauna, before European colonization. That is not something that can be given or taken by any means. Ultimately, to try to take an Indigenous identity is to try to occupy a space that is meant, by Creator, for another. Taking that space removes it from the reach of those it’s intended for, and perhaps we feel a little complicit in that. It’s important to understand that this is a quietly violent act with sometimes shocking outcomes.

Buffy was our sister, our Kokum, our Auntie, our colleague, our friend. She stood for us and with us and worked for us tirelessly. How can we not feel bereaved? It’s as though the earth has shifted beneath our feet and this person we loved so wholeheartedly is gone; this version of Buffy the icon has, in effect, died. The response to this has rippled across Turtle Island in the form of anger, disbelief and soul-deep sadness. How could we feel any other way?

As we walk on through the wreckage of what we thought was real, I hope that we can remember the power that was there regardless of her deception. I hope we can hold strong to the understanding that Buffy’s effect doesn’t go away. But Buffy does.

Often, in challenging times, my mother encouraged me to “be brave.” It was a gift from her; an uplifting wish, an expression of faith that I could brave my way through whatever adversity I was facing. I hope with all my heart that we can be this to each other. Let kindness be a tonic; a medicine to wash away the bitterness and betrayal we feel. Let us look at our loved ones and see how wonderful they and you are in each other’s reflection. Let there be a groundswell of love to overwhelm the hurt and anger.

Of course all the good things she did still matter, including representing (portraying) a strong, positive example of the indigenous and for the indigenous as well as any one else at all open to receiving it---but this deception, delusion, force of habit, whatever it is now, distracts from, kneecaps what she represents/portrays. I don't blame the media for that, because the truth must be dealt with, factored in to a reconfiguration of her image in history---I do blame the media in general for not really looking at her, not paying attention to the obvious discrepancies for 60 years---not calling the xpost City Clerk, for instance----and hello Congressman George Santos. How many more pretendians of whatever tribe/other group or non-group are still out there---?