I’m not trying to suggest that I understand Buffy Sainte-Marie or her motives, as a young adult or today. I don’t know her. Never met her beyond having her sign a CD and smile glowingly at me and my friends at Evergreen that night we heard her perform.
But it’s not hard to imagine how a kid born into a group broadly identified as either criminals, anarchists, or fascists – Italians and Italian-Americans in 1941 – would want to identify in some other way. It’s equally easy to see how embracing the dominant “white” identity feels like a bizarre thing to do as well, especially when you’re coming from a group that is or was recently clearly being broadly criminalized.
Did someone at a gig in Greenwich Village ask this dark-complexioned woman if she was Indigenous, and she found herself saying yes? It’s easy for me to imagine such a beginning to this strange story. Easy to imagine the inner conflict she might have struggled with when her Indigenous identity became such an important part of her story and her artistic recognition in some circles.
In this era so characterized by black-and-white, all-or-nothing thinking, where people are either virtuous or villainous, I think it’s good to take a step back and look at the big picture, which, for me, necessitates holding contradictory things to be true at the same time.
One of those truths would seem to be that Buffy Sainte-Marie has been lying about her Indigenous ancestry since she began identifying as such, in her early twenties. I don’t want to minimize the implications or impact of this deceit for so many people, and I don’t want to say it’s OK – that’s not for me to do. I just want to highlight the many complexities involved with however it was that she first started identifying that way, and consider some of the possible motivations.
Another of those truths is that regardless of Buffy’s real or proclaimed ancestry, she was one of the most musically groundbreaking and talented songwriters or guitarists to emerge from the folk revival of the early 1960s, and she went on to have a long career involving so much more great music.
Another truth is that because of Buffy’s deep involvement in and advocacy for the native sovereignty movement, she was one of a number of musicians coming out of the 1960s who was targeted by the FBI, which was directly involved with trying to minimize radio airplay for Buffy and other efforts to try to make sure she didn’t get any more well-known or influential than she already was.
One more truth is for generations of young Indigenous folks and anyone who grew up watching Sesame Street, at least up until very recently, Buffy’s voice has been a powerful one, for doing popular education, for standing up against injustice, and for bringing people together in so many ways.
I hope that however it is that the dust settles around all of this, Buffy Sainte-Marie will continue to be known as a great artist and a great voice for making the world a better place, not just as a fallen angel.
– David Rovics
Excerpted from “Discovering Buffy”
This Week With David Rovics
November 6, 2023
Excerpted from “Discovering Buffy”
This Week With David Rovics
November 6, 2023
Following is a 6-minute segment of CBC News’ The National, first broadcast October 27, 2023.
Following is APTN News’ October 26, 2023 segment on the video statement released by Buffy the day before the CBC aired its documentary questioning her claims of Indigenous ancestry.
to Shine a Light on the Truth, My Truth”
Related Off-site Links:
CBC Releases Report Questioning Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Claims to Indigenous Heritage – Jazz Monroe and Matthew Strauss (Pitchfork, October 27, 2023).
Buffy Sainte Marie Is an Icon of Mythic Proportions. There’s Nothing Simple About Questioning Her Origins – Drew Hayden Taylor (The Globe and Mail, October 27, 2023).
Effects of Investigation Into Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Roots Continue to Reverberate – APTN News (November 3, 2023)
“Be Gentle With Yourself': Indigenous Northerners Wrestle With Legacy of Buffy Sainte-Marie – CBC News (November 1, 2023).
Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Adoption by Indigenous People Vital – Doug Cuthand (The Star Pheonix, November 4, 2023).
Anishinaabe Singer Says Contested Ancestry of Buffy Sainte-Marie “Doesn’t Take Away the Inspiration” – CBC News (October 31, 2023).
Two Indigenous Artists React to the Questions Raised About Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Ancestry – CBC Arts (October 30, 2023).
Revelations About Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Ancestry Are Having a Devastating Impact on Indigenous Communities Across Canada – Lori Campbell (The Conversation, October 29, 2023).
“We Claim Her, End of Story”: Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Piapot Family Hurt by Allegations – Haley Lewis and Melissa Ridgen (Global News, October 27, 2023). The Problem With Labelling People “Pretendians” – Drew Lafond (The Globe and Mail, May 28, 2022).
UPDATES: Buffy Sainte-Marie Pushes Back Against CBC Investigation Contradicting Claims to Indigenous Ancestry – Kelly Geraldine Malone (The Canadian Press, November 23, 2023).
Buffy Sainte-Marie Says CBC Investigation Into Ancestry Includes Fabrications
– Jessica Wang (Entertainment Weekly, November 23, 2023).
“I Have Never Lied”: Buffy Sainte-Marie Pushes Back On Probe Into Indigenous Ancestry – Kelby Vera (The Huffington Post, November 25, 2023).
What’s the Point of “Pretendian” Investigations? – Michelle Cyca (The Walrus, November 20, 2023).
Longing and Belonging: Birth Certificate of Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Aunt Indicates “Non-White” Ancestry – Brian Halpin (Before We Were White, March 20, 2024).
For The Wild Reed’s special series of posts leading-up to the November 10, 2017 release of Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Medicine Songs, see:• For Acclaimed Songwriter, Activist and Humanitarian Buffy Sainte-Marie, the World is Always Ripening
• Buffy Sainte-Marie: “I’m Creative Anywhere”
• Buffy Sainte-Marie Headlines SummerStage Festival in NYC’s Central Park
• Buffy Sainte-Marie, “One of the Best Performers Out Touring Today”
• The Music of Buffy Sainte-Marie: “Uprooting the Sources of Disenfranchisement”
• Buffy Sainte-Marie: “Things Do Change and Things Do Get Better”
• Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Medicine Songs
• Buffy Sainte-Marie and That “Human-Being Magic”
• Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Lesson from the Cutting Edge: “Go Where You Must to Grow”
• Buffy Sainte-Marie: “Sometimes You Have to Be Content to Plant Good Seeds and Be Patient”
• Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Power in the Blood
For more of Buffy Sainte-Marie at The Wild Reed, see:
• A Music Legend Visits the North Country: Buffy Sainte-Marie in Minnesota and Wisconsin – August 2016
• Buffy Sainte-Marie on Indigenous Peoples’ Day: “There’s an Awful Lot of Work Yet to Be Done”
• Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Pope’s Apology Is “Just the Beginning”
• Sweet America
• Carrying It On . . . Into the New Year
• Buffy Sainte-Marie’s “America the Beautiful”
• Two Exceptional Singers Take a Chance on the “Spirit of the Wind”
• Photo of the Day – January 21, 2017
• Buffy Sainte-Marie Wins 2015 Polaris Music Prize
• Congratulations, Buffy
• Happy Birthday, Buffy! (2016)
• Happy Birthday, Buffy! (2018)
• Happy Birthday, Buffy! (2019)
• Happy Birthday, Buffy! (2020)
• Happy Birthday, Buffy! (2021)
• Happy Birthday, Buffy! (2023)
• Actually, There’s No Question About It
• For Buffy Sainte-Marie, a Well-Deserved Honor
• Buffy Sainte-Marie: Singing It and Praying It; Living It and Saying It
• Buffy Sainte-Marie: Still Singing with Spirit, Joy, and Passion
• Something Special for Indigenous Peoples Day
• Buffy Sainte-Marie: “The Big Ones Get Away”
Image: Buffy Sainte-Marie and guitarist Anthony King performing at the Big Top Chautauqua, Bayfield, WI on Saturday, August 27, 2016. (Photo: Michael J. Bayly)
1 comment:
Regardless of why Buffy came to identify as Indigenous and build her career around that identity, her songs and activism stand on their own merits. At least one Indigenous family and (by extension) tribe has adopted her into their fold; that is good enough for me. And much of her music has nothing to do with Indigenous identity: "Universal Soldier" would be a very apt example at the moment.
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