Quote of the Day

I’m not sure if anyone knows the real truth about [this] story. I’ve seen the [CBC] documentary film challenging [Buffy Sainte-Marie’s] Indigenous identity. I think there is a lot of information in that film that is important to consider. . . . That being said, I’m not sure even Buffy knows the real truth.

Having known Buffy for more than 15 years, I believe that she believes that she is an Indigenous person and always has. . . . That is what she believes to be her truth. She has conducted herself throughout her life as if she is [Indigenous], and it is pretty hard to argue with all the selfless work that she has done to lift up that community, raise awareness around it, and give voice to a lot of people who otherwise did not have voices. I would like to suggest that she opened the door and laid the path for a lot more Indigenous artists to come into the forefront and share their stories.

I understand the controversy. . . . I understand the pain it causes a lot of people. But it is pretty hard to take away from a woman who is now in her eighties and has done so much for so many people for so long.

– Kyle Irving,
Executive producer of Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On
Quoted in a letter to the editor of
The Journal of the San Juan Islands
February 26, 2024

Related Off-site Links:
Behind the Scenes with Executive Producer Kyle Irving: A Special Screening of Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On – Friday Harbor Film Festival (February 12, 2024).
Buffy Saint-Marie Documentary, Carry It On, Wins International Emmy Award – CBC News (November 20, 2023).
Buffy Sainte-Marie Says CBC Investigation Into Ancestry Includes Fabricated Evidence: “These Allegations Do Not Shake Me” – Christy Piña (The Hollywood Reporter, November 23, 2023).
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).
The Problem With Labelling People “Pretendians” – Drew Lafond (The Globe and Mail, May 28, 2022).
Buffy Sainte-Marie May Not Be Native But She Could Be Jewish – Barbara Aiello (The Times of Israel, November 20, 2023).
Discovering Buffy – David Rovics (This Week With David Rovics, November 6, 2023).
Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Adoption by Indigenous People Vital – Doug Cuthand (The Star Pheonix, November 4, 2023).
“Be Gentle With Yourself': Indigenous Northerners Wrestle With Legacy of Buffy Sainte-Marie – CBC News (November 1, 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).

UPDATE: 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

For The Wild Reed’s special series of posts leading-up to the May 12, 2015 release of Buffy’s award-winning album, Power in the Blood, see:
• 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:
• “The Real Deal”: Maurice Switzer on the Legacy of Buffy Sainte-Marie
• Buffy Sainte-Marie: “It Is Time for Me to Shine a Light on the Truth, My Truth”
• David Rovics: The “Big Picture” of the Buffy Sainte-Marie Controversy “Necessitates Holding Contradictory Things to Be True at the Same Time”
• 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 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 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”

Opening image: Buffy Sainte-Marie and Kyle Irving at the Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On Premiere during the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto, Ontario – September 8, 2022 . (Photo: Unique Nicole/Getty Images)