Defining Indigeneity: The Problem with Buffy Sainte-Marie
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- Опубліковано 2 лис 2023
- Anton Treuer explores the various lenses through which people try to determine Indigeneity-political, biological, linguistic, cultural, and social. He also breaks down what we know about Buffy Sainte-Marie's claim to Indigenous identity and how to navigate tough topics to provide accountability, honesty, and kindness.
As a non-indigenous ally, I can understand why Buffy wanted to be Cree. Their culture makes more sense to me than my own. But for all the good she did, and she did do some good, she also hurt people. My own opinion is that she did it all for fame and money. She used the Piapot Cree to build her "legend". At 83 she's living in Hawaii, not Piapot. That says a great deal.
She is honoured native. Just because you did nothing in your life for native people she has. Go back to your white world and leave this to our natives
She's definitely a scam artist. A "Cree" living in luxury in Hawaii. Yes, that about says all you need to know.
Hear hear
She has lived in Hawaii throughout her career, partly to escape the craziness that comes with fame.
How, exactly, did Buffy HURT people?
As a Black woman, I found out I was part Native after my DNA test results came back. All Buffy has to do is check her blood and publish the results.
SEE SHOW HERE--THE FIFTH ESTATE...BUFFY IS FAKE..THEY INTERVIEW HER RELATIVES.
I agree with you 100%. That is the only ay to find out for sure if she is what she claims to be
There is no DNA that always shows up on those tests. Did you ever find out who your Native ancestors are?
Her son and her sister both took DNA tests and it proved that they were closely related which wouldn't happen if she was adopted and not related to her biological sister.
@@sr2291 DNA can link a person to Indigeneity, but it cannot tell anyone which tribe/nation they'd be related to. They'd have to compare their familial DNA to the citizens of various Indigenous nations. Just as Buffy's son and sister did and discovered they are blood-related after all, but only Buffy's son showed a small bit of Indigenous DNA. As it turned out that would be the attribute supplied by his father, an enrolled Native American. Even so, her son carries a very low blood quantum, result showing 5/32 or 15.625%. He is enrolled as a descendant, via his father. That means his own children would not be be allowed to enroll as Native Americans unless he has children with someone at least half Indigenous.
The dishonesty and lies could have been avoided, and she could still have been a great spokesperson for indigenous people, just by connecting and being adopted as an adult. So many people are broken hearted by this betrayal, so she has harmed many besides the people that lost opportunity. She made some really bad choices.
Persecution of a great spokesperson is also a bad choice.
Is it persecution, or validating the facts? @@desertari
@@desertari No it's not. It will teach others to be a spokesperson the right way.
Absolutely persecution. All you purity sniffers- she didn't rob a bank, beat up anyone, molest a kid. She used her incredible musical gift to bring attention to the First Nations. You should be kissing her ring.@@elizabethharvester6111
This WAS the EARLY 1960's. Indians were still undergoing Termination. If you chose to be Indian she was risking her life. There no were no programs like RezDogs or Dark Wind. Even Tony Hillerman was not publishing yet. The naivete of you fools astounds me.
I also want to say: I think it's very thoughtful of indigenous folks to consider grace for Buffy in light of her good works and also to think meaningfully about sovereignty and who gets to decide who is indigenous. But fakirs like Beverly Santa Maria, who not only lied to gain acceptance but threatened her own biological family with heinous allegations for exposing her, will be weaponized against indigenous communities and contribute to things like Scoop denialism. The truth matters and eroding the truth at its edges eventually leads to decay of the core.
"Who gets to decide who is indigenous?" what kind of logic is that? If you have caucasian ancestry on both sides of your family, with absolutely no significant indigenous DNA, then you are not indigenous. Perhaps one could be Metis at best, in such a situation. I am white. If an Asian family adopted me, it would not make me Asian. You can't just will yourself to be something you are not.
@@levieuxmoulin3882 I identify as a bird. I have no wings but I feel like I can fly. There's an entire month of the year to celebrate me. // sarcasm.
@@levieuxmoulin3882tell that to the transwomen out there, who wouldn't acknowledge a real woman if they fell across one.
Just to make the point, that the influence of Woke politics has had a profound influence on "political " definitions, which it is likely have had or will have an influence as this case moves forward.
Unless you wish to assert that indigenous culture has been the primary driving force behind the movement to erase certain distinctions in favour of choosing to give political merit to those others that expand the body politic or boost the visibility of peoples' indigenous heritage roots, not biological, but supernatural, by which they may expand the definition, or pad out the ethnic "brand", a word that must be noted, has been notably left out of the discussion this far.
Maybe because it's become such a cross cultural phenomenon, it might dilute its focus.? 0:05 0:05
Isn't every body indigenous to somewhere? The term "indigenous" is an anthropological construct. Anton Treuer does a good clear job here in this clip differentiating between how a tribe qualifies enrollment and how a political entity decides to qualify citizenship.
There is great value in continuing to hear the voices and academic peer review within Aboriginal or Indigenous Studies (especially the work of Portland, Ore-based journalist Jacqueline Keeler who has advanced most recently the socio-economic consequences of PRETENDIANS; see under Wiki) or advocacy groups on the various accounting methods in Cost\Benefit evaluations to the individual and to the community or the Public\Private Interest values in any specific case of PRETENDIANISM.
In a fairy tale world without such socio-economic considerations it would be most parsimonious to accept each individual's right to self-identify their communal affiliation(s)...PS- I am very wary of the ascendance of Identity Politics in our Pay2Play political and telecommunications systems. @@levieuxmoulin3882
Mitch Ritter\Paradigm Sifters, Code Shifters, PsalmSong Chasers
Lay-Low Studios, Ore-Wa (Refuge of Atonement Seekers)
Media Discussion List\LookseeInnerEarsHearHere
@@UnPluggingThePlayerquite funny! I like that even better than my " I identify as a young black man even though I am an old white woman". I'm switching to yours!
If only BSM had picked a story and stuck with it, we might not be having this conversation. To be described as Algonquin in one article, Micmac (with a Micmac name) in another article and then Cree, by the end of the same year, is going to raise some questions. For her to say now that she doesn't know who she is after spinning tales of being part of the "big scoop" (her words), having a mother who was killed in a car accident, a mother who couldn't take care of her, born in Maine, born in Saskatchewan. The explanation I come up with is that she could never have foreseen the day when newspaper archives would be digitized and available to anyone (with a subscription) who has a phone or computer.
Correction, Anton - Buffy's sister did a dna test with Ancestry, not sure about 23andme. It's been said in comments on other videos that BSM's son has also done a test. I can't speak to that but I have seen a comment on sister's FB profile where she's talking about her dna test and telling Cody to do one, also saying Buffy never will (this was several years ago - way before any of this came out).
Journalists are known to get information wrong.
My mother's family is from Aroostook County in Maine, Matawaska County in New Brunswick and Kamoraska County in Quebec. The records from each of these places are a short read and available online. If Buffy was tied to one of those counties, it would be easy for her to find relatives. It's not a well populated area. Very few straight up White people with no native ancestors lived in that region until the 1970's.
If she was born in Northern Maine, we would be related some how. I never heard of a Saint Marie family. A quick look in the cemetery of any towns up there would show that it would have stuck out as a name. Almost everyone is French and speaks English as a 2nd language, if they even speak English at all.
My Mother's people are French Canadian and Maliseet First Nations mixed blood people.Most are Catholics. Understand that the State of Maine did not recognize Mikmaq or Maliseet people as official Indians until 1991! So, there was no reservation to be scooped up out of!
@RA82828 If her family was so "White" then why did her father feel the need to change his name to be accepted?
@@sr2291. That’s such a piss-poor excuse. Her birth certificate is registered.
@gullwingstorm857 So? If the mother had an affair, the information comes from her and she can declare anyone she wants to be the father. That's how birth certicates work. So she declared her husband to be the father. Go read what it says on her birth certicate. My adopted mother declared that to the best of her ability the above is true: and she listed her and my adopted father as giving birth to a live baby. And the doctor attested that he was present at the live birth.
She was born in the USA to Caucasian parents. She lied about being adopted. She lied about not knowing where her birth certificate was or where she was born. She lied about being born an indigenous person. She is a fraud and the saddest part is it was entirely unnecessary. She is talented. She could have spoken out for indigenous rights no matter her heritage. The FACT that she chose to portray herself as something she wasn't and took accolades and opportunities away from ACTUAL indigenous people is utterly reprehensible and just gross.
She is also evil. Her slander and blackmailing of her brother was disgusting.
Yes, she’s talented but a dime a dozen when you’re a regular joe.
Don't be angry. Alot of Canadian Indigenous hide their identity and pass as white, because of fear of being mistreated. We all know the mistreatment from a mighty whitey could lead to death.
@@jabom99 I adored her music even thought it wasn't played on most radios stations. I can forgive her for wanting to be indigenous, even lying, BUT to threaten her brother made me sick. I've lost all respect for her and don't wish to hear her music again. Also DNA testing is affordable and easy. She should do it to prove the world is wrong about her.
She was 17 and probably pulled it off once and then it got out of hand. Maybe she’s mentally ill and actually believes her own fake story. Not an excuse but I can see how it got started.
HOW COULD SHE BE 60'S SCOOP WHEN SHE WAS BORN IN 1941
Exactly lmfao she was 20 +
The problem is that she threatened her own family with lawsuits if they exposed her true identity. She’s a scumbag for doing that.
jamessatterlee, yes I find her threat of lawsuits against her own biological family very damning and so sad. I so want her to be a standup woman and not a scumbag.
It seems to me that she likely held back information on her brother until her brother attempted his own character assassination against her. ... which in itself was uncalled for for a brother to do. Correct? Why would a brother want to publically expose her sister in a negative light? So, he appears to have the character issue here and most likely her claims are true. Apparently, you don't like the timing, but again -- most likely, she didn't make public claims against him until she had to bring his own character into light. Do you regard Bill Cosby as innnocent as well. The "timing" of his accuser can be called into question too.
@@namesameasuI know a family member and it is unlikely that those allegations are true. All members of the family have lived under threat for years. If she would lie about her identity why wouldn’t she lie about that? She is a proven liar, end of story.
@@angelalewis4213 Why do you say it's unlikely those allegations are true? Why should she have to threaten her family not to ruin her career? Why would they want to?
@@namesameasumaybe they simply want their own ethnic heritage recognized and not buried. If one of my relatives lied about our heritage (or was even just mistaken, as has been the case occasionally), I’m personally going to want to set the record straight. We can be proud of who we are and where we came from without having to steal someone else’s heritage and lineage.
But hey…some of us actually care about that sort of thing. Maybe you don’t, and that’s fine. It doesn’t mean Ms. SANTAMARIA’s brother raped her though.
The fact that she knew her Italian ethnicity looked Indigenous, and never let anyone know otherwise, shows she knew the scam she was pulling. 😂😢
Exactly! She knew what she was doing and used it for her audience and platform she will feel it in her heart of what she did her family even went to the city hall and told them she was lying and she is not indigenous! This is just the beginning where was all these people a decade ago now everyone wants to be native!
100%..In addition, like most pretendians they have much to gain in the financial area & the prestige area. There ego's are huge & they will NEVER freely admit their deceit . So much for Spiritual beliefs/the teachings. Very low character indeed. I am very familiar with this behaviour & it is beyond infuriating. Native from Canada@@SeanKwecho
@@mariongould4173I do feel that Buffy should take a DNA test, to see 🙈 f she has any Native ancestry,which would have to be from her New England mother, if anyone had that particular background. I always thought that Buffy looks like an Egyptian, like those stairs and paintings on the walls of their pyramids there. If she actually does have Native ancestry, that could explain her features. If it turns out that she doesn't, she ought to do the right thing, and simply move to Italy. This disgrace is too great day I be forgotten or forgiven. She won't be able to get away with it, so the best solution is to just go to Italy and buy property there. She doesn't fit in Canada anymore, nor in Native communities either.
@@JulieSevelson-nb9nj If you see pictures of her father, she looks very much like him. Buffy didn't inherit any Anglo-Saxon American features.
The request for a DNA test is not to provide Indigenous ancestry (it would still mean that she told lies). The DNA test is to prove whether or not she was adopted.
Currently her son shares DNA with Buffy's family which means that she is not adopted.
It's been interesting to read the FB and social media posts from Buffy's son. He also called her out and has said she is not being truthful.
So did Bob Zimmerman scam the public? When he was given the Nobel Prize as Bob Dylan?
I'm anishinaabekwe, removed from culture and urbanized. Grew up in Ontario with my white mom, as my dad was pretty violent so she had to leave.
Reconnecting with who I am and where I come from, culturally and spiritually, has been a real struggle. I feel so much like an imposter or like I shouldn't belong, even though I know I do.
I went for my naming ceremony last year. I know where I come from, but I don't know where I belong
Take pride in who you are! No one but you can define that. Not one of us on the planet can choose our birth but we can each embrace our heritage and build our own unique identities in harmony with others. Your identity is every bit as worthy as anyone else's. Congratulations on your naming ceremony!! Love and courage to you as you make your way along life's path on Turtle Island.
You belong right where you are, my friend. You have a right to your own identity. You get to decide who you are you and you belong wherever you are. You are a precious living being and are fundamental to this world. without you we could not be. It is my wish that you know your true beauty and do not hesitate to express who you are and know that you belong where ever you go.
I add my "amen" to the others who encourage you to walk on with your head held high....."And you'll never walk alone" as the 1940's song says.
You should not be made to feel this way. You have done nothing wrong. Don't be victimized by the politics of exclusion. Racism abounds, but as indigeonous people, we are often presented with some really difficult choices ( and non-choices) related to how much we must allow others to determine our identity according to dna or lineage. Be totally honest, but dont be afraid to say "I don't know" if in fact you don't, or "Yes I know." If, in fact, you do.. I want to offer two more examples of people to whom biologolical dna had some meaning. One was Martin Luther King and one was Adolph Hitler. Think about it. Who you are is the substance of your soul. You are a child of Great Spirit. Be proud of who you are and become who you want to be. Stay close to Earth Mother and converse with Her. Look and listen and speak Her universal language of Love, Beauty and Strength. Drum for rain or sing the sun out from behind the clouds. Oh yes you can! Know that Anton and I both agree and disagree. Mitakuye Oyasin. ❤
You aren’t alone. Millions feel the same way. Some are children of immigrants. Some are just estranged from family. It’s a common human experience. I hope you find a sense of belonging and identity. ❤
I can't say why, but i was always sus about her. Maybe it was the pearly Hollywood smile? Maybe it was the emphatic "I am Native" attitude, hidden within the "i'm going to teach the (Sesame Street) children," I can't put my finger on it...
I have met her personally and have friends in my community who have known her for decades. The reaction to this revelation about her is, "she's a nice person."
I think we have a different definition of "nice."
Hello Lotus bot, why do you hide behind a fake name?
Hello . @raymondpierotti8414 . Get a clue, most UA-cam channels use "pseudonyms." (look that word up).
To the people who are defending her, please stop. There is no excuse for her lying. Good grief, in a world where you can't dress up for Halloween as someone from another culture, how can you defend someone stealing it permanently? She deserves to be called out for her lies and she needs to apologise. Wrong is wrong, there are no shades of grey here.
Agree totally with you . However I think she has lied / self deluded for so long now that she won't accept that her ' truth ' is fake . I am an old Scottish lady and I loved her music. I am very sorry for the indigenous peoples that feel betrayed . 😥❤️
You got that right. Deny her or shut up about "cultural misappropriation". No one dresses up in a FN costume more than her.
@@carmenmccauley585 Sorry , old Scottish lady here . What does FN mean ? I am taking a guess that it means First Nation ? However that is a guess 🤔❤️🏴 I am happy to be educated regarding other cultures 👍❤️ Best regards to you 👋
Because you never lied. Hypocrit
Yes, FN is First Nations.@@99fruitbat94
Buffy appropriated the Cree identity to her benefit and hers alone. She may have done good, but to keep up with the persona of being Cree, she had to play the part and was the only one who benefitted the most from that good. She is no different than a settler who appropriates land and resources for their benefit despite who the land and resources originally belonged to. As a Canadian non-indigenous woman, her story floored me on so many levels. All the Canadian awards, along with the Order of Canada should be returned. She did not honestly earn them. Her silence and not clearing the air speaks volumes.
No one owns the land we just live on it. I am Metis and thank God the white man built Canada. I am not part of the victim culture and want no part of it.
Thanks for your voice. ❤
Oh STOP with the settler BS. "She may have done good"- she DID do good and PC people (such as your righteous self) should be lining up to kiss her ring.
She didn't appropriate the Cree identity. The Piopot Cree adopted her, which makes her a tribal member. The ignorance of you Wasichus can be amazing. Why don't you tell us who you are "FRIENDLYSTRANGER". You don't seem all that friendly.
Well said, Raymond.@@raymondpierotti8414
I was miss labeled on my adoption papers I was called Métis. My adoptive father is a RedRiver Métis so I was raised as one. I’ve found my biological mother and I do not have ties to RedRiver so I do not feel comfortable calling myself Métis. My biological mother just got her status through our tribe my grandmother lost her status when she married my grandpa a white man. It took my biological mother and her sibling decades to get their recognition. Buffy should be no different she need to prove it.
Yes, Buffy needs to go back over the paperwork and fix this mess. She should also take a DNA test, to prove whether she has any ancestry that is First Nations, or not. Until she does those two things, this will hang over her head. It's possible a family dispute could have triggered this recent outing. Which is why she must correct everything. And if it turns out that she is ONLY Italian, she should move to Italy, and sell her house in Hawaii, buy one in Italy. Houses there are much cheaper than in North America anyway. She needs to settle the matter,as she looks utterly ridiculous !
Her birth certificate is on record in Massachusetts.@@JulieSevelson-nb9nj
@@JulieSevelson-nb9nj I'm sure they are cheaper. Italy is a romanticized slum.
The birth certificates document the race of the parents. The child is assumed to be theirs.
@@sr2291 documents are falsified all the time for a number of reasons. Just 2 years ago, the county coroner in Macon County, Missouri admitted to omitting Covid from death certificates at the family's request. Oprah Winfrey's name is supposed to be "Orpha", but a dyslexic nurse wrote "Oprah"
Meanwhile, real Canadian Indians have to prove that we are Indian so we can be issued a "status" card to prove that we are Indian. There is a blood quantum aspect to Indian identity. So not only did she bamboozle everyone on the Indian identity, she got away for decades saying she is Canadian. She received the Order of Canada. How is it that the Canadian government did not catch this at that time? It's hard to believe that she pulled this off for decades and no one caught it until now.
That's a misspelling. She's non Canadian, she's Con-indian.
Earth to richawoman (you may have more money than common sense). Get on with your life !
That's hilarious ffs, I'm a landless indigenous woman who raised my kids like gypsies. Imagine, landless Indian. @@desertari
Hey what do you want- a slice of downtown Ottawa? Since you don't have a talent like Buffy's, get a JOB and save money to buy a plot somewhere.@@richawoman
What is such a racist like you doing on this video thread? Just so you can spew your toxic stuff?
@@desertari
The saddest thing about the Buffy situation is the division among indigenous peoples about the pretendian situation.
My great great grandmother was Iroquois from upstate New York . This made my grandmother 1/4 native . Which makes me 1/16 . I would never consider myself Native American . I was raised around my great grandmother who was half. I have great respect for this part of my family . I look at it as part of my DNA mix that makes me and my family who we are today .
Same. My grandmother was a full-blooded Seneca from the Cattaraugus reservation in Salamanca. My family is from 5 different tribes.
factiod Buffalo Bill was only 1/16th buffalo
So you are saying you don't have a Native worldview?
There is no DNA that shows up as Native American, because Indians also came to the Americas from elsewhere.
Beautiful ❤
When her story was told by the CBC, some indigenous elders and reporters called that report one sided and failed to hit their mark. They called the report mean spirited. When the letter was read out how she threatened her brother with HER sexual assault , and HER father with being a pedophile, I lost all respect for her. Right then and there when she threw down her ACE card of sexual abuse and pedophilia, she won, because then they backed off. She would have gone to the mat to crush her blood family for telling the truth, amid her many lies and deceptions. You knew right then and there that her fraud was up and she had been outed. Her savvy lawyers did her dirty work and added her personal letters to her family members. She thinks she will have the last word, but the story is out there, and her epitaph when she dies will read how she was so good and loving. The rest of the world will know she was a pretendian, plain and simple. I have no stomach for a woman who would use the sexual abuse card to shut someone up. That is evil to the core.
I agree 100% .. it's insulting to real victims of child abuse such as myself. It's like an Amber Heard situation.
Agreed 100% as well. I've seen too many brush over this heinous attack on her actual family using the lawfare to destroy them. What a witch.
Agreed. XO❤
She sold her soul to the entertainment military complex long ago along with Dylan Mitchell Crosby many others. All compromised for fame.. doesn’t matter if they were good musicians they knew the game and played it well. Do research.. it’s not pretty
How do you know whether or not it’s true that she was sexually assaulted? Just asking…
As a latinamerican (AKA "hispanic/latino"), I feel this discussion has a lot to do with us. Whenever a "latino" claims indigeneity in Northamerica (not that they want to claim to be "native americans!"), they are labled by tribal members as wabbos and even pretendians. But northern Americans have little to no idea of the complexity of latinamerican history or even what the population of Latinamerican countries is, let alone the social system of ethnic "castas" that was imposed since the invasion of the continents.
In this description I am leaving out the afrolatino population, bc its presence is regionally limited and they are a minority. I am focusing on the population of Colombia, which is my country, to show just an example of the complexity of this problem.
Besides the 45 millions full blooded and practicing indigenous people of the rest of the Americas who speak nearly 1000 languages and who managed to flee colonization and resist, almost everyone in Latinamerica has indigenous ancestry which can vary from few% to 100%. In places like Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, Guatemala the presence of indigenous gens in the general populatiion is extremely high, with many of these "latinos" actually being accultured indigenous.
In places like Colombia, Venezuela and Chile the average amount of bloodquantum is definetly higher than 25%.
The case of Colombia in particular is 50% 50%, but this can vary from region to region (with some places with 100%, >60%., ) also with family history. Besides the medieval spaniards (men) that came in the XVI C, Colombia has had very little communities of newcomers. They have joined the industrial, intellectual and poiticall elite of the country and have had 0 impact on the demographics.
DNA shows that average Colombians have a european paternal element and an indigenous maternal DNA and this confirms history: our ancestors were spaniards menthat "took" indigenous women (how much of these admixture was really wanted?). Colombians are mostly admixed people who were raised by indigenous mothers whose tribes had been structurally destroyed and whose culture, "religion" and language had been prohibited (remember inquisition?).
The result is that culture in Colombia, which is essencially a forcefully displaced rural society, has a particular flavor which completely differs from "spanish" culture.
Besides, more often than not you will find some physical features that also show indigenous ancestry (dark hair, skin color, high cheek bones almost always eyes).
We are by far no "hispanics", we are spanish-speakers. And even if Colombians insist in calling themselves "mestizos", because saying you are indigenous means you are lowest in the social pyramid, we have nothing to do with Spain and this, you can experience that when you live in Europe.
So, is it not legit that a latinameeican, e.g. an average Colombian identifies with their indigenous part? Who has the authority to decide?
What about our ancestors whose land, culture, language was taken away from them? What about forced admixture?
Our people are not here to claim us, bc there was an physical and cultural g3nocide here!!
But our ancestors were real. It is writen in our DNA and on our lovely indigenous faces.
EDIT: By claiming indigeneity I don't mean to go around representing yourself as an indigenous, but rather to adknowledge you are of indigenous descent and to try to discover who your ancestors were.
Being indigenous in Colombia, for example, is an official status that recognizes you as an individual belonging to an ethnic minority of a selfrecognizing indigenous community which is historically bound to a territory (resguardo) and has legal autonomy before the colombian law.
I'm confused; are you saying that Afrolatinos can't be indigenous because of it is "regionally limited"? Or why is their experience is outside of your analysis?
@@bijankaYour question is 100% valid. I just didn't wanted to add more complexity to my initial description. But here we go:
(i can only speak of "Afro-colombians", though).
Most afro-colombians (if not all) have indigenous ancestry, as well as european ancestry. Nevertheless, there are many different kinds of afro-descendant communities in Colombia, who have different characteristics and identities according to the region they live in. A little excurse is necessary here: Colombian's extreme geography have isolated natural life and human populations for milenia and this is something that also have had effects on the regular population of Colombia.
Afro-colombians are a growing minority in Colombia, but they are still not present on the whole territory; they settled on the coastal regions of the country (caribbean and pacific), which is like just a 20% of the territory, while most Colombians live in the andean regionn and are what we call "mestizos" (admixed white and indigenous).
The caribbean coast of Colombia is like many caribbean countries: they are the most ethnically and culturally admixed region of Colombia. There are a lot of afro-indigenous people there, but their culture has a very strong african flavor also with lots of antillan influences.
On the pacific coast (Chocó, Valle del Cauca) afro-Colombians are less admixed and they have kept lots of african traditions for centuries. They identify as afro-colombians and have lived side on side with the indigenous communities there.
More to the south of the pacific you can find some admixture between afro-colombians and indigenous communities living as indigenous peoples, sometimes even with afro-descendant leaders.
In conclusion, not all afro-colombians identifie with their indigeneity, or are even awaer of it(!!). Most of them have kept their ancestral culture, which sometimes got mixed with native culture. Cumbia music is the most beautiful testimony of this admixture. Last but not least, not every Colombian have african DNA, but african culture has been in many ways at the core of the colombian national identity.
@@ErikaM683Oh, what that MONSTER Columbus has launched !! Wiping out whole Indeginous tribes, and importing others against their wills, over that Middle Passage ! The UN should officially denounce Columbus and those other so- called explorers !
This is so intricate, yet very well presented and concise. Recently went to Cartagena and I was fascinated by the physiognomy of the different peoples there, all so beautiful. Thank you for elucidating my observations.
@@bijankaodd comment, in his world view you can’t be of African descent in the Americas and not have native ancestry 😂
You are so articulate and laid this out so well. Thank you! I am white Canadian male and Buffy's appearance on Sesame Street when I was a child - I lived in a small northern Alberta town at the time, shaped my consciousness around indigenous issues. That is a positive thing. She raising mainstream awareness in the role we play in indigenous genocide. While I respect her adoption into the Piapot Cree nation. That was post birth. I am devastated that the first person on Sesame Street was lying about her biological roots. I feel for her biological family as she threatened them with legal action. I feel for everyone hurt by this. I never saw this coming. I feel she needs to stop saying her mother slept on the other side of the blanket, a new narrative to get her out of this situation, and take a DNA test. Ironic how she is now connected to Saskatchewan. Where Joni Michel was born. A real Canadian folksingers.
Excuse me but genocide is what Israel is doing to Gaza right now. Sending children to residential schools as part of treaty agreements or at the specific request of their Chiefs ("We don't like this day school business, we want schools where the government pays to feed, clothe and house our children" McKenna McBride Royal Commission 1912) and treatying with First Nations is NOT genocide. That's just more CBC divided and conquer globalist agenda.
Apparently her Dad grew up in Sasketchewan, and presumably that's where he met Buffy's mother. They moved to the US right before she was born. None of this however, excuses her many fabrications about having blood ties there. I imagine maybe it started when her Dad talked about his upbringing. He had changed their family name in order to fit in the US, so Buffy may have initially just thought she was making a story to entertain herself and then it grew and she had to lie more and more to keep it hidden. Really tragic. Now she can't retire with honor and there was really no excuse, it really did seem like she was protecting her image and always looking toward what advantage she could get. It's sad because a person's talent and celebrity status does not make up for these kinds of personal moral failings.
She lied and fraudulently posed as a "native". Sesame street could have used a genuine person.
She’s claiming her mother cheated? That’s low. And it doesn’t match her story of being adopted, so she must know that changing her story again makes her look even guiltier.
Try to take an interest in something else... Buffy is great and always will be.
Thank you so much for your excellent video. As a 63 year old indigenous woman, I grew up loving and idolizing Buffy. I cannot lie when I say the truth, as we know it, being ripped out of our heart hurts. I feel shock, hurt, confused, angry, and sad all at the same time. I also feel very sad and sorry for her. I won’t try to pretend to understand why she did what she did. I’m not making excuses for her. But I will always be deeply grateful for all the good she has done for indigenous people for many, many years. Buffy was on the front lines when it was very dangerous to be native in North America. She used her celebrity for justice and bringing many truths to the public, all the while hiding behind a lie. She took a lot of risks when we didn’t, or couldn’t. I know this is hard for most of the world to understand how this is dividing Indian country. Still, I will always love Buffy, I forgive, even though I cry. Only Creator can judge you.
Bluffy has NEVER done anything good for Indigenous people, Period! She was a media made darling and was never on a front line of anything! It's tough admitting you were in love with an absolute LIAR! Have a nice day.
Well said! Though I am not convinced she lied - why would I trust the media over what she holds forth as truth? Yes! Your statement holds a lot of truth about the good works Buffy has done for the Indigenous through her long and often brave career.
Very very well said CathyMosesChadwick, I appreciate all your words out of my own Caucasian being and thank you for your words. Peace to you and all.
@cathymoses Love the attitude.
Couldn't she have done all the good she did for the benefit of indigenous people as an Italian-American? Did she have to try to pass herself off as Native American in order to help them? What is wrong with helping Native Americans regardless of whether or not you are one of them?
When you see the old film recordings of Buffy's family life , you can see how much she looks like her mother and even her brother as a kid. It's remarkable. Shame on you BSM
Indeed! She has her paternal side's large nose, same distinctive shape. I guess BSM never thought old home movies or an official birth certificate would surface.
No shame at all, Buffy- you are a great and talented artist.
@@desertari. Massive shame. She’s an appropriator and a disgrace.
I think you got the Canadian status part wrong. From Bob Joseph's excellent blog (note that I'm directly quoting): Indian Act policies subjected generations of Indian women and their children to a legacy of discrimination when it was first enacted in 1876 and continues to do so today despite amendments. Federal law in the late 1800s that defined a status Indian solely on the basis of paternal lineage - an Indian was a male Indian, the wife of a male Indian, or the child of a male Indian - continues to be a quagmire of discrimination and disrespect towards women.
I'm not sure what Anton got wrong. He did refer to this historical sexist aspect of the NDN Act, as well as the revision that allowed re-instatement of status to address the historical wrongs.
I find it hilarious that tonight on my local PBS channel, American Masters is going to air "Carry It On," a Bluffy documentary. PBS is forever pathetically bumming for financial support as it is. Lol.
PBS needs to do a documentary about the Buffy scandal.
Who is this guy? Wow!! Such a thoughtful, compassionate, balanced analysis of what must be a deeply painful topic across indigenous communities. I've learned a lot from this. Thank you!
He is the native language professor at BSU
@@Dawn-zi8pz Thank you!
He is a writer and a thought leader !
That is Bemidji State University in Mn.
@@lisalarouge6309Thanks.
I'm Scottish , clan Robertson via my grandmother (fathers side) My mother was German and her father was Danish. I desperately want to claim Viking heritage but without proof I obviously can't . My situation is different. It doesn't have the same emotional impact . I was such a fan of Buffy.I am so sorry this happened.
The Danish, as well as all Scandinavian cultures, are all part of being Germanic tribes . So I'd say you do have a connection to the Vikings .
@@merledietrich9168 Thanks 👍❤️ feel so much better now . WOW ! So many years feeling negative about myself . Possible Viiking ancestors 😶 I am going with that now ! Might not be true but I am go with that 👍❤️
My grandfather came from Horens Denmark. So am I of Viking heritage? Were all Danes Vikings? That would be interesting.
My father came from Laceby Lincolnshire. “by” is old Norse for farm so Lace’s farm, Grims farm-Grimsby. That part of the world is covered in Norse name places. My DNA is 3% Scandinavian, 4% Germanic (Saxon invaders). While we’re on about Vikings, why do they still get a free ride on paying reparations? They were the biggest slave traders of the early Middle Ages! They still have a NFL team named after them and they get to be good guys in Hollywood movies! I bet my sliver of North African DNA is a result of those marauding, nasty, slave trading Vikings. P.S. I also have 3.2% Neanderthal DNA so I also self-identify as a Neanderthal-Canadian. So to be honest this Buffy Marie business is of no interest to my species. You see one Homo Sapiens and you’ve seen them all.
I have got both Danish and English roots and considering that your mother and grandfather were Danish and Germanic, then yes, you have Norse roots. Viking however means raiding sea farer; not all Norse were vikings but all vikings were Norse.
Thank you for the measured and articulate laying out of the context around Buffy Santie-Marie's situation. She seems to have made a very misguided choice as a young and ambitious artist and in those times was able to get away with the deception for a long time. It's quite incredible, the way she made up the simple story and then went on to increasingly embrace and embellish it, going on to be adopted by the Cree community and becoming an advocate for Indigenous issues. I wonder if she lived in fear as time went on, the Internet and outing of fraudsters became common....yet she made it to her 80s and still her secret seemed safe. And now this is going to be her story and legacy, at this final stage of life. My god, I actually pity her for that.
You should pity her detractors who will not be remembered as they trot around on their moral high horses- but Buffy and her fabulous voice will be. Shame on all of you.
Yeah, I feel the same- if I was her I'd be sinking in shame. I think her being outed and all of us fans (except for the rare crazy ones still defending her) losing respect for her work is punishment enough. The people saying she should be forced to relocate to Italy are being a bit extreme, plus would Italy want to receive her on those terms? Her situation is not their problem.
The "rare crazy" ones are listening to and loving her music as we have for 50 years- you probably are too in the privacy of your bedroom.@@FireflowerDancer
@@desertari , you poor soul, being in denial of her monstrous lies and how she exploited her pretendian status to gain accolade she never deserved as she was not a first Nations person as she claimed.
It is very sad that she continued to shore up lies. I also feel very sorry for her.
Gunalchéesh! Thank you. Yours is the first commentary I've seen that lays it all out for everyone to begin to understand.
And thank you most deeply for speaking up for us adoptees, for whom Buffy's life story was an inspiration and a beacon to our own "Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan", a journey many of us must undertake all alone.
I was adopted as an infant, and I declare that my life, separate and disconnected, is as authentic as any.
I like to imagine what it would be like for high-powered investigators to devote as much effort to finding snd rematriating lost relatives as they do to exposing fake ones.
Great comment.
I agree, they should be helping families reconnect, not splitting us even further.
My brother was adopted, and he was my parents first baby boy, when he was only 6 months old. At the age of 6 he was told he was adopted. I was born 2 yrs later and then my little sister was born 6 yrs later. I don’t think adoption is very easy on any children, even after they're grown. It always lingers at the back of your mind, wondering, who is this family that gave you up? My brother was a red haired exciting fun loving child, that always could find something to get into. He has since gone, but I will always remember him.
But those forced adoptions where native parents lose children and wonder for a lifetime how their child is doing what they have become, are they happy, will I ever see my children again, is outright cruel. I hope every child that is adopted, gets an ancestry DNA test done to see if they can find out who they may be related to. Getting a DNA test done will answer all the questions and put it all to rest. My heart goes out to you.
Her awards should go to the next runners up for justice to be served, consequences for behaviour as well as forgiveness
Although she has been an IP advocate, she has done a lot of harm. I'm an actual '60s Baby Scoop era adoptee, so she has indirectly misrepresented me as well. I cannot imagine the emotional abuse and harm she has caused her family of origin and her *honorific* Cree / Indigenous 'family' who welcomed her. We are all absolutely free to resonate with whatever culture / beliefs / societal groups we so choose, but to pretend to be anything is next level. Hard to know where the line is in terms of her knowingly lying vs. outright delusion, but that's for the psychologists of the future. Truth Matters.
Chi Miigwech for this excellent video you made. BTW..I am a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe who happens to reside in the state of Georgia. There are not many too Native Americans here in my state because of actions of President Andrew Jackson in the early 1800s. I get really sad when, I hear about the "Trail of Tears". It breaks my heart and makes me cry a lot on the inside and sometime outside. I think about all the Creeks and Cherokees who used to live here and it makes me SO sad. I live in the lands of the Southern Indian Nations so, I always stand with them and defend them. I fully support the Cherokees in Western North Carolina, The Creek nation in Lower Alabama, and the mighty Florida Seminole Nation in South Florida, and of course our nation. :) My lifelond dream of mine is just going and seeing the Florida Seminoles in South Florida. The first Native American movie, I ever saw was Joe Panther in 1976. Seeing people like me in the swamps and with alligators around them made me cry as an 8 year old. I know right then when, I saw Big Cypress on the movie screen it was a very special place. I want to work for the Florida Seminoles so badly. Heck in any capacity. I have always admired the Florida Seminoles and their leader Chief Osceola. Reading his life story as a young lad inspired me to join the US Air Force and make it a 20 and half year career. I have lived all around the world and many places in the USA. Medically, I am very well taken of by the US Government and such. In my military career, I only met about 10 Native Americans or so. I always took care of them in whatever capacity, I could. I made a young Navajo Marine cry when I was in Hawaii. He stepped into my office and needed a new ID Card. I knew he was one of us just looking at him and he knew I was one too by the way by the way I looked. It was a funny moment in the life of a military. BTW..I gave this young Marine the Senior Officer treatment. I took care of him MOST quickly and quite professional. He was probably VERY impressed with his service today. He was probably laughing on the inside when he saw an E-6 acting like one of him. Well, time for me to depart from here.
Faked.Liar.undeserving.
@@that_thing_I_do BTW..my tribal identiy can be confirmed by our VA Representative on my nation. He can confirm that there is a retired US Air Force member who is a member of the LLBO who lives in the state of Georgia. No names are needed. The only way, I was able to surive a 20 year military carerr is because, I grew up with the Europeans as my friends. and I am reaping the benefits of my service now. I get lifelong medical benefits and a pension from the Federal Government because of my time working for the US Government.
I hate that so many people have trouble just being happy with themselves
It's weird how much people can look like other races though like my wife gets mistaken for middle eastern but she's Irish/Scottish heritage like some of the people shes worked with when they first met her have spoken to her in farsi or whatever expecting her to know it
my mother gets mistaken for Asian sometimes but we're French and Scottish heritage some friends who have met or seen pics are like oh I didn't know you were part yella
Thank you for your wisdom. I was waiting for your video. As a 60's scoop child who grew up in a white world, I can't fathom someone like Buffy who grew up in a white household perpetrating this lie for so long. My mind was blown when I heard it.
This is yet to be proven, questioning is good and should be done, but doubt doesn’t constitute guilt.
@Dave-Harr so you're confirming that she is white, and just faking her native American heritage?.
Your comment is poorly written and expressed, to the point it is hard to know what you are saying. The point of questioning something when there is more than ample reason to do so, is to get to the truth. If the truth upsets some people, too bad. Feelings don't matter as much as facts. @@Dave-Harr
SHE IS ITALIAN AND THEY CAN LOOK VERY MUCH LIKE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE.@@Dave-Harr
She broke my heart. The wounds she inflicts with each white privileged appropriation of indigeniety in word and deed outweigh all perceived will to do good. I met her and when she left our town, she took another woman's husband and father of her children. I lost respect for her then.
As kids in the fifties playing cowboys and Indians we’d dress up as Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy or Roy Rogers. There was also a comic book at the time called Straight Arrow the hero and name of the white child raised by an Indian tribe.
The way they dressed looked really cool and I liked to be him. Buffy Sainte Marie might have experienced the same thing and never grew out of it.
Throughout the rebellious sixties young people also looked towards Hinduism and the Hari Krishna movement and wanted to identify with it.
I remember a Hindu academic whose name I thought was something like Nardram Sardray saying this about the dress imitating. “ You’re born a Hindu you don’t become one dressing like one” and “Take on those beliefs in your own culture”.
Yes I think Buffy Sainte Marie started out thinking it was a cool look and then wanted to claim a connection. This is not to say one way or the other that she hasn’t genuinely adopted an empathy for the causes she champions just that it may not have started that way.
Given the lies about this is enough to dismiss her angry revengeful public slander towards her brother.
Buffy stated many many many times over the years that she was born indigenous, not just adopted into it. She stated where she was born, she talked about her birth mother, so she lied period. She has been a hero to me since 1966 when I was 14. I am shocked and disappointed that she kept up this lie for so long. It is a shame that she doesn't come clean now. And that she threatened her own biological brother with spurious accusations of sexual abuse if he continued to "out" her makes her vile in my opinion. Her biological sister took a DNA test and is closely related to Buffy's only child, her son...so her biological make up is of no question.
How closely related?
@@sr2291perfect match. He's 100% her nephew.
@@bovellois No DNA test proves anything 100 percent. She doesn't look like the rest of the family.
@@sr2291 it certainly proves 99.9% linkage, and a whole lot more than a person's look. Charles Bronson, whose parents were from Lithuania, could fool many into thinking he was Mexican, with the right hat and makeup.
@bovellois Not without a paper trail, which I assume that he has. Ask Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Love your take on this issue...I am so irritated by people try to defend her actions by saying "she has done a lot for the indigenous people" but ignore the fact that she LIED and robbed true natives..sorry for my little rant...lol
You're not ranting. People forget that Buffy could have still done a lot of great work for and with Indigenous communities as a white, non-Indigenous ally. There was no need to lie. Indigenous communities would have still appreciated her and been welcoming.
We spend so much time and energy in Canada doing Truth and Reconciliation activities. I want to hear the truth, not lies from a white woman who needed to boost her career and overshadowed actual Indigenous women.
@@millana100
Exactly, so true !
A great example of an artist doing just that is singer-song writer-actress-activist Chloé Sainte-Marie here in Québec (no relation whatsoever with Buffy !) -
She has embraced the Innu culture and language in her work and is a true authentic friend and ally
She had a bad spirit. She went as far as threatening her own flesh and blood to keep his mouth shut about the truth.
The whole family had to keep quiet because of her threats.
I have contempt for this woman
@@millana100 We need to teach the difference between "non-Indigenous ally" and "white savor" to many woke warriors are now days are bashing the wrong white people
She purposely embodied the "mystique" of a strong Native woman. That is what brought her so much interest and opportunities and that is what intrigued people and led to her success. Show biz often needs a gimac !@@millana100
May I please add a correction. In Canada you must prove blood heritage. Eligibility is based on descent in one's family. A person may be eligible for status if at least one parent is, was or was entitled to be registered as 6(1). A person is also eligible if two parents are registered as 6(2).
Ward Churchill was one of the pretendians who was popular during my earlier days also
had much influence during the AIM movement.
Buffy played her role very well...Great for her Ego!
I am biologically indigenous, however I am not eligible for enrollment in either of my tribes. Oglala Lakota, and Onieda, Turtle Clan. My mother was enrolled in both tribes but she married a white man (my dad). I often don't feel indigenous enough and feel like an outsider who doesn't belong. However, my spirit feels native and I research and learn my cultures on my own.
I'm so sorry your nation has failed you and dehumanized you. No one should ever be deemed as "bred out" like a dog or horse from their own nation. Indian nation sovereignty cannot be over ruled, but this doesn't mean it's not right to call out dehumanizing and self inflicted Genocide either. I speak out about this dehumanizing colonial act whenever these topics come up and wherever I see it. This is vile. This colonial harm, confuses all of Indian country and sends the wrong message to settlers about who and what Indians are too.
I hope one day the sovereign nation that has dehumanized you, offers you and other like you, apologies and full citizenship. This colonial harm needs to end by all Indian nations.
I see and understand your pain, relative. Colonialism is pure evil and harms so many of us, in so many ways. I am so sorry this has happened to you and others like you. Please know, you are beautiful and full human. This evil settler colonial state is not your fault.
I don’t want to assume how her facade started and her motives, I just hope she takes accountability, makes an effort to make things right wherever possible, and continues to be an ally. I hope she has done more good than harm at least.
In Canada up until 1985 Indigenous women who married White men lost their status therefore could not live on a Reservation, but when an Indigenous man married a White woman she gained status and could live on Reservation land. Which is why Bill C-31 was amended in 1985.
Just to let you know - Canada does not have "reservations" we have "reserves". It is a small matter but a reserve (to retain for future use) carries no negative connotations, via alternate meanings, whilst a reservation may (a doubt, a hesitation).
I went to a concert she gave on our reserve back in the late seventies. I can only say that everything she did made me feel chringe.I felt her message was forced and wasn't sincere .She tells us to ask our ancestors for guidance. Maybe she should do the same.
Ditto... "forced" was my impression, too.
If Buffy St. Marie is only Italian, Sicilian, I'm guessing (?) the honorable thing to do after all this controversy and disgrace, is to sell her house in Hawaii,and buy a nice on back in Italy. Houses there are much cheaper than in North America. It will take a DNA test to know for sure, as she could even have both Italian and Native ancestors. Given how absolutely dangerous the world is right now, and about to become even more so, that's the one thing she can do now.
Her father was Italian and her mother was English (descent). They Anglicized his last name because Italians were discriminated against.@@JulieSevelson-nb9nj
I agree she should ask Tony Soprano for guidance
I like her fake ass accent she puts on like shes lived on the backroads of the rez her whole life 😂😂😂 its fuckin comical
Being local, I know the name, but have never seen you on YT. Watching the Fifth Estate documentary is bringing up anything Buffy related and I’ve watched many of them. You offer the most reasoned background & thoughts I’ve heard on it, incredibly well spoken, new subscriber here.
I'm so glad you spoke to this, Anton. I highly respect you as someone who walks the talk of Anishinaabe values like respect, kindness, and humility. Also, I respect your academic mind and work. This has been really hard to think about. So many of us have loved Buffy as "one of ours" and to realize we've been deceived is painful. Thank you for sharing your wise and compassionate thoughts and wisdom on this issue.
Terrific explanation, thanks. And you are right, the bottom line is that she is not just not transparent….she lied. She stole opportunities from other people. She is a big disappointment because as a Canadian I thought she was one of us but she’s just another fake.
What opportunities did she steal from other people? He explained later. I get it. I wanted to cancel my comment, but it did not let me. :(
Also think of the deep hurt she inflicted upon her birth/Causcian family that she basically rejected.
Good explanation, I think in the United States especially we have a lot of confusion about what defines indigeneity because of the strict political definition.
When we accept Indian sovereignty, there is no confusion.
Wow, this is the most rational, articulate analysis of the BSM situation. Her story has changed many times over the years. If , as you said, if she insists on claiming biological indigeneity, she can take the test and live with the results. Seriously, I doubt that will happen.
Love the analytical and dispassionate, yet empathic take on the matter. Kiitos!
Perfectly said. She accepted accolades that should have gone to others. There are and were few enough opportunities for actual Indigenous and to have them minimized further by her lies.
She didn't minimize opportunities for First Nations. None of you whites seem to get this, her actions increased opportunities for First nations and Inuit people.
is there a finite amount of accolades to distribute? Seems like a ridiculous idea.
Beautifully said. You just gutted half the comments on this thread.@@dianayount2122
The saddest part of this story is that Buffy falsely accused her only brother whom she many times claimed to love and be close to, as molesting her and being a sexual predator. I hope this sickening, gross and completely false accusation haunts her for the rest of her days! What a horrible disgrace she is to her parents, ancestors and family! This kind of behavior completely negates her musical abilities!
Yeah well, maybe he did, how do you know he didn't?
@@TemujinMSM Yeah well, maybe he didn't, how do you know he did? How do you he wasn't one of the thousands of men who are falsely accused?!!
This is the best, most nuanced and compassionate response I have seen. Thank you very much.
I was shocked by this and it's very sad. That she won't take a DNA test doesn't help. I always had a crush on her growing up.
She tried to sue her blood family to kingdom come if they exposed her... many decades ago. I'm sorry but I think she's psycho.
Probably a narcissist.
She has to be a psycho to pull off a 60 year lie and threaten her family so she could keep on lying
Exactly! This woman should not be an example for anything, other than an impostor.
She not only threatened to sue her brother, she was accusing him of sexually abusing her when they were children. I don't know about anyone else, but this story does not pass the smell test for me. Buffy is such a liar and manipulator, I think she is using the accusation to control her brother to not "out" her as a Caucasian. It's psycho-level behavior to blackmail someone with such a horrible story.
You know it!@@iara_pimenta
A very impressive reflection on this issue. There has been so much meandering verbiage and obfuscation by those who should be holding Buffy accountable that it is refreshing to encounter some serious and objective commentary..
Holding Buffy accountable- for putting her huge talent to the benefit of First Nations.? Oh get off your moral high horse.
Interesting and well expressed, Anton. From what I've read elsewhere, only Buffy's father was of Italian ancestry, her mother being of English stock. Also, her father, not Buffy, changed their Italian surname to the French equivalent.
Just because someone was born somewhere doesn't mean that their DNA will show 100 percent from that country.
Yes, this is true. However, I was only repeating what I had read. I don't think my comment was about DNA, so I'm not sure how your reply relates to my comment.@@sr2291
Robert De nitro or Decaprio, these great people have been magnificent supporters of First Nations peoples, they didn’t feel the need to betray us in claiming to be First Nations.
And both of these guys achieved fame without refuting their Italian American heritage! 😉
She used her lie to leverage her way into an adoption by kind, loving, sensitive, and vulnerable people. Shameful.
That is the part that galls me. I keep hearing that she was adopted by the family in Canada to gain access to legitimacy, and that is somehow making it alright. How did she convince that family to adopt her? What lies did she tell back in the 60's to facilitate that adoption into the family? Whatever she has done for the community is admirable, but she got her foot in the door with deception and has been deceiving everyone since. Accepting awards she is not eligible for is wrong.
The reason it is correct is that First Nations can choose to identify relatives and band members. You all seem to think only the white government should be allowed to do that, which shows how Colonized your thinking is.
@@raymondpierotti8414 Who said anything about approving the actions of "the white government"? Not sure why that has anything to do with my comment. She misrepresented herself to the adoptive family. I do not have any problem with them adopting anyone they wish. Too bad they were lied to and used by this twisted woman.
I wished I was Native, too, when I was a young Hippie. She got to play dress up, big time, no expense spared, for 60 years, smh.
She’s been quoted as saying, don’t look for me in buckskin and fringes.
@@alfrede.neuman8898 Feathers, leather, beads and silver will do. Bouchi Native fake.
So calm, so deliberate, delivered with warmth and understanding and respect, but also with heartfelt honesty.
This is probably the best video I've seen of a highly polarized and controversial subject -- not just on this particular subject of Buffy, but on any subject.
So much can be learned from this video. Thanks Anton.
A trickster adopted into the clan. A tale old as time.
Enjoyed your feedback on the subject. I find it a very complicated situation not only for Buffy but for all who appreciated and supported her work. For me personally as a former singer/song writer, I think she is very talented however, I question whether or not she'd of had as many "opportunities" without the indigenous claims? And I'm torn with regards to her awards because, while I believe she earned them, she earned them under false pretense. I liken it to Milli Vanilli, performing songs they weren't singing. She wrote about and supported the indignities of the ppl without every having lived it. So, as a writer, I don't know how I feel about that because that's what we do as writers. We write about our "lived" experiences and how we feel about it. She's writing about a culture she adopted for what appears to be for her own personal gain. She capitalized on the stories of others to further solidify herself as a "voice of the ppl".
Look, we all make mistakes, we're all human, but, we also have a responsibility to walk a path of truth, and dignity. Our words are our truths and how we use them matters. And while I think her music helped make a huge impact, she really didn't have the right to represent ppl under false pretense.
I think in the beginning, she seized an opportunity and ran with it. However, I'd like to believe as the years passed, she finally found the deep rooted connections she had yearned for and wanted to return her gratitude. And she did that by bringing awareness through her songs. And I think if she came clean and expressed that? The people would accept her misgivings and mistakes.
Sometimes we start out in bad places only to do good things. Sometimes it's the opposite. I think it's a difficult predicament for everyone to be in and I hope if she truly loves the ppl, she will tell the truth and ask for forgiveness. Whether or not that happens, remains to be seen.
I am Latina biologically I have Spanish Portuguese and indigenous South American. I am a blue eyed red head. Now I’ve confirmed my biological dna with various tests. But I’m always hesitant to be open publicly about my South American indigenous roots because I get so much criticism that I dont look indigenous and get treated like a pretendían by North American indigenous people. I get criticized even claiming being Latina. I am very connected to my history and my culture. People don’t understand that genetic features is a crap shoot. My two brothers look very indigenous and my sister and myself look very Caucasian.
Yep, I am white and my brother was brown skinned like our father who was Hispanic. Our roots go back to the Aztec Indians in Mexico City in the 1800s and Spaniards in New Mexico. I identify as half Hispanic, but I don’t use it for any advantage.
My grandfather used to say, "We aren't puppies" in reference to quantum and the problems it poses. I too am white skinned and auburn hair. I have a step family who were Lakota and Dakota. I was adopted in that way. Through my grandmother's side of the family, we were "French Canadian", in other words, what in Canada would be Metis. Genetic tests confirm this- with having Normandy and Native American genetics. I personally would not call myself Native American even given the cultural and biological heritage. The color of one's skin does change things. It gives me privilege not afforded to my step family even though I was raised. I witnessed the racism and the impact of oppression. I have never been called a "drunken Indian". My dad was and my grandfather experienced that racial slur. I also feel robbed and discredited when "Pretendian" is applied to me by others when I am not pretending or claiming heritage I don't have. The issue is more complex because racism is at the heart of what created this reality. Then, those who truly pretend can hide amongst the chaos historical oppression of who is and who isn't Indigenous.
My grandmother was born in Mexico. Her father was indigenous to Mexico, and mother a mix of indigenous and Spanish descent. They immigrated to the US in the early 1900's, birthing children here and in Mexico. My grandmother married into a family of European descent and had her own children. Meantime, my great grandparents, worn from discrimination, returned to Mexico. My childhood was enriched by the customs, culture and tastes of Mexico. This side of my family were kind and demonstrative to us in a way that was entirely different than the other side of the family. I cherished it. Some relatives couldn't speak English, but I understood the love they had for us odd blue-eyed children.
I don't identify as Hispanic out of respect for those who visually present and live their heritage. It's no easy journey. That, I have only witnessed with my
own pale eyes. However, due to my appearance, I often feel denied or erased of a beautiful childhood culture. My white-looking priviledge. I do understand. Only in the world of my heart do I live fully and deeply.
My best friend growing up had long blonde white hair, pink skin, and blue eyes. Her grandfather checked the white box on his military record, crossed it out, and checked the Native box.
WHY DOESN'T BUFFY JUST TELL THE PEOPLE THAT SHE KNEW SHE'S WAS WHITE AND SHE THOUGHT IF SHE WOULD SAY SHE WAS TREATY FROM CANADA SHE WOULD MAKE IT AS A ARTIST.
Because the con has gone on too long and now she believes her own bullsh*t.
Because she's sick and sincerely believes as false reality she created for herself, to help her deal with and face the world. I'm not defending her, but I understand her. There are other Pretendians with the same illness. Many do these things willingly but some are actually mentally ill and they really think, they can create their own versions of reality. It's sad, really. They do deserve the help they need, as well as being exposed.
Thanks for the education about recognition in Canada--I always wondered why so many non-native looking people were able to claim status in that country. As for BSM, I was never a fan and when first introduced to her as a native american artist by friends from Keweenaw Bay Indian Community I was sus from the get go. But I grew up in the 60s/70s and there were lots of musicians/actors putting on native pretenses as part of the hippie scene. One big name in this category that comes to mind is Cher. Anywho, I am not upset so much about BSM lies mainly because I am not surprised and was not a fan. However the treatment of her own family exposed through all this clearly indicates she's an awful person. Rather, I am upset because I am/was a big fan of Kelly Fraser. And for her to lose out on recognition because of a poser is truly galling and tragic.
Thank you. I’ve enjoyed listening to Buffy St. Marie most of my life and to find out that she’s a liar and a pretendian actually hurts which seems kind of surprising to me. Your presentation helps bring all this into focus and I appreciate it very much.
There’s a lot of people who have mixed native heritage. Many of them don’t identify with their native heritage at all. Many may not be aware. That’s tragic.
How far back does Native heritage go?
Another thought: to be “adopted” legally, the biological parents would need to relinquish parental rights. Pretty sure this didn’t happen. Buffy S.-Marie is clearly a case of appropriation for financial gain.
Really? Did she not write a huge catalog of music that brought awareness to many a lunkhead in America about the plight of the Indigenous?
Rachel Dolezal, a pretend Black, used to be president of her local NAACP. That doesn’t erase the fact that she was and is not Black and never suffered any of the injustices Blacks historically did. When this was discovered, Blacks were not amused.
I`m from the UK so have a slim grasp of some of the issues here however your explanation was ,I thought ,both measured and informative. Why am I watching? Well I only learned about the situation re Buffy Sainte Marie recently and was shocked .Back in the seventies I met her briefly whilst working on a music event and found her both delightful and funny. Its hard to imagine that she could have been so deceitful all these years .
I saw her twice in the UK in the 70s (perhaps at your event) and again in the 80s, and I found her the most charismatic singer I've seen (and I've seen a lot). And in case you're interested in the subject of assumed ethnicities, you may like this. The subject was a regular on UK chat shows in the 70s. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miche%C3%A1l_Mac_Liamm%C3%B3ir
I’m a white woman who had alot of indigenous friends when I lived in Edmonton Alberta, I just don’t get why people lie and pretend to be something they’re not !
She kind of Milli Vanilled her audience. She is an entertainer. Turns out that "being FN" was her schtick.
I find it odd that nobody exposed this years ago. She has a family that she seems to have not only turned her back on but possibly slandered and blackmailed .
Sadly, instead of the positive things she has accomplished, her decades long ruse may be her legacy.
Racism is a political tool for Canadian people as well. God bless humanity.
When someone lies about their ancestry repeatedly, threatens family members from disclosing, and profits for years from this abuse, there is far more going on with their mental health than just being a grifter.
Agreed. She might be a mid-range narcissist.
You mean like Michael Jackson. Michael wanted to be white rather than who he was, which was the path taken by many light skinned non-whites.
@@janeleepankovitch3139She's definitely narcissistic.. I just saw an updated report on CBC .. she's still in denial and making the exact same claims. It's a shame she refuses to be honest !
Remember the catchphrase 'follow the money.?' Was the intention for 'all the good' Buffy Sainte-Marie, did for indigenous people based on altruism or selfishness and the advancement of her own career?
Excellent video and presentation, well thought out and an intelligent approach. The native speakers on this issue in the last week, that I have seen, are taking it as a serious and important item that is being treated in a scholarly way.
Buffy Ste Marie was being talked about as non-Indian in the Toronto scene back in the early 70's, when I lived there.
This is an issue with decades of history.
The reason is was so well suppressed, I believe , is the use of lawyers and letters to suppress anyone who in any way threatened the flow of money and fame.
This will not end well for her.
Excellent message. Thank you.
We're all human and we make mistakes. With a lie as public and as lucrative as hers, throughout her life it would have been easy to just keep riding that train, and increasingly difficult to admit that it was terribly unfair but it got out of control. Still, with age, we do sometimes also see how unimportant our own gains and advantages are compared to the impact they've had on others. We might even see that justifying it with whatever good we were trying to accomplish, it's still based on lies.
I hope Ms. Sainte-Marie sees this and thinks about making a sincere and heartfelt apology. Before she ends up leaving this world, as we all eventually do.
That would be wonderful, I really hope she does ❤
Regarding Buffy: Just because a lie / fraud was perpetuated for a long time doesn't mean its should be acceptable. It was a lie! The evidence is there. Some people defending her seem to miss that point. It's sad people are okay with that. I'm for forgiveness .However she needs to come clean an apologize and give back her awards, but it seems she is stubbornly believing her owns lies. Native Leaders of Canada should say something .
This isn't an Indigenous issue per se, this is a white/ colonial issue and I think we have a lot of changes to make when it comes to addressing this particular layer of cultural genocide. Piapot Cree First Nation did nothing wrong - a white lady in red face did.
What about people with gender identity issues -- are they lying?
Especially the sexual abuse alegation should they be proven false.
@@Happytravellerkimmy to think that for 60 years she stood in front of the mirror and looked at herself and convinced herself that she was an Indian person, that is an insanely long time to keep up a lie. That just tells you the level of mental instability this lady has
@@edlubitz2968 The money made it easy...
Niawen'kowa for your lucid, precise and compassionate introduction to the political, biological and cultural problems surrounding Indigenous identity. As a matrilineal descendent of Canadian Kanienkehaka (Mohawk) woman who married out to a Quebecois man, I've been written off the Canadian Tribal roles. My ancestors unfortunately relocated to Chicago that had banished all the Potawatomi and so to survive passed themselves off not as Native and not as Quebecois but French.
Thanks to the wonders of technology, I have been able to track down cousins, great aunts, records and STORIES of my Native family. We were also able to share our sorrows of multigenerational suffering and trauma. For too long it was not safe to be honest about who we are. This in turn led to the suppression of many feelings and the chaotic behaviors that come from fear.
What really angers and hurts me about Buffy Santamaria is her trivialization of our identity. We are not a piece of clothing to be bought or sold ... or thrown away. I have known my identity from my earliest childhood and beheld the incredible embroidery that the Native women of my family made, including garments that took a year to make. Everyday I cannot forget who I am and I cannot be too grateful for the courage that four generations of my Elders exhibited. For 120 years and to the point of death and isolation, they kept us alive.
We need to not only reveal the pretenders, the latest form of Colonial abuse, but also move forward. Like you advocate so well, we need to heal and restore the hearts of Native People who feel forgotten in the NDN Urban Diaspora.
We are still here.
Ehtho Niiotonhakne Onkwa Nikonra -- Now Let Our Minds Be One.
A'o.
She knows EXACTLY where she is from.
She just doesn't know who she is.
Opposite of her statement "i dont know where I'm from but i know who i am".
I'm a kiwi of Irish decent so I am not affected by this at all however I can't fathom how hurt so many first nations people must be by this betrayal.
I can only think that Buffy started off thinking this was a small lie to give her an edge way back . I doubt she could have imagined how famous she would become and it would have been harder and harder to declare her true ethnicity.
Still I'm so sad for you all.
Yes, it probably did start as a small lie. Maybe someone else - a manager, an agent - suggested or supported it? It probably became more and more difficult to disentangle herself from that lie when she quickly became famous and earned much more than other singers. A lot of temptation there, not easy to resist.
I read that her son said she identified as indigenous quite young since she didn't look like her siblings and this bothered her in school. Apparently, she received no emotional support from her older brother either.
A complicated story that probably has complicated roots.
I have to wonder if she ever found her way into the sweat lodge.
ALL Canadian awards need to returned…Order of Canada rescinded. Period 🇨🇦🇨🇦
She lied to deceive and gain an advantage No excuses can justify her actions
This was a fair and well thought out video.
I cried when I heard about it last week.
She walked the walk her entire life since the 1960s. She has given talent, money and heart and soul to indigenous events, charities, issues and education of non indigenous for years. I love 2 of her protest songs. My Country Tis of Thy People You're Dying, and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
I always loved her song, 'Got to Run.' Really heartbreaking, and we'll probably never know the full story. I do wonder if she will have a DNA test done, or release a statement attempting to apologize or explain.
I'm a native in Utah. My tribe is Pyramid lake Paiute in Nevada. We love our guns, fireworks, freedom of speech and ability to travel when and where we want. We look north to Canada 🍁 and wonder "what the hell is going on up there?"
WE WONDER THE SAME BLOODY THING HERE IN CANADA!!!
Well, this one was born in the US, so I guess you have to wonder the same about the US settler colony too lol.
@@salannegrant6967 Because we still have freedoms........right. Hope it stays that way.
Absolutely 💯!
@@robbiesharp311 Settler colonialism is anything but freedom, relative. The doctrine of Jesus and his "discovery" remains enshrined as us "law."
In then70s, I thought her face was classically Italian.
How could so many people be so easily fooled?🤦
I really do appreciate your reasonable, nuanced approach to all the facets of indigenous identity. Buffy has done something truly ugly, stepping on and pushing aside the very people she claims to care about so much. Abandoning her own family while being adopted by another under the most false pretenses--- imagine lying to someone who lost their child. It almost seems like she created her life story out of patchworking together bits and details from actual scoop survivors, other people's experiences. The irony of her name being Santa Maria is just icing on this crap cake
She reminds me of the Movie 🎬 Dances With Wolves...Kevin Costner... Stands With A Fist../Buffy Sainte Marie...
It's the letter to her brother that makes me sick.
The letter to her brother who sexually abused her when she was five years old?
As a non indigenous ally with indigenous family on my biological maternal and paternal side who was given up for adoption, i have feelings about this.
Firstly, how unkind she is to her biological family, the Santamarias.
Secondly, to lie about her origins to the Piapot family saying she was adopted out of an indigenous family to a white one. I heard that family had two daughters who had passed away. My heart breaks for them.
The level of manipulation is mind-numbing. All the Junos she took from biologically indigenous peoples is frustrating
I get her Piapot family will continue to love her. I don't think anyone is asking them to stop or disown her
But the truth needs to be acknowledged. it's important. We need people to stop lying about who they are. As an adoptee myself, I've just wanted to know my bio family and the truth. I'm lucky i have found it. Many will never have that opportunity.
Financial and celebrity status … accusing her decease brother of sexual abuses.
I had a friend who confided to me that her brother raped her when she was a child. It's not like it's not possible
As always, thank you, Anton Treuer. This is a complicated topic, and just like your book(s), you’ve done a great job explaining the various complicated aspects, then provided a very thoughtful perspective and overview of the particular Buffy Sainte-Marie situation. Miigwech, from an aspiring ally 🙏
Let’s take Buffy Saint Marie’s cultural and ethnic identity theft as both terrible and reprehensible.
On the upside…this whole debacle has brought really great videos like this to my UA-cam video feed. Thanks for sharing!
1. My limited understanding of Indigenous/First Peoples is that if an outsider wishes to become a member of a particular First People, then they must freely (1) disavow their original ancestry/culture and (2) identify entirely with all aspects of their chosen First People.
2. If the particular First People accept/adopt an outsider and enroll them, then that outsider is now a member until such time as they are disenrolled by the First People, should that ever occur.
3. If Buffy St. Marie has been accepted and enrolled into the Cree People, then who am I as an outsider to question her First People identity?
4. It seems to me that Buffy has met the First People prerequisites for enrollment by disavowing her original American Anglo-Italian identity and culture.
5. In other words, if Buffy's good with the Cree, then that's good enough for me.
5. That said, to correct the record, I would recommend that Buffy St. Marie acknowledge her biological roots, even with just a simple statement with no further comment, however painful that may be for her.
6. She's retired and living in Hawaii, so Aloha! and let the waves roll off your back.
There's just a little thing called Sovereignty, you left out. ;) You should watch the doc too. She claimed to be a 60's scoop survivor in her web of lies too. do you know how painful that is to real survivors? You can't defend her, if you watch the doc.
1. I watched the entire documentary and I don't consider myself as defending her.
2. I wanted to respect the Cree People and Buffy IF they are in agreement on her status.
3. As stated in No.4 of my initial comment, I think it would best if she came clean about biological roots.
4. A simple way for this to occur while also saving face is for her to (A) take a DNA test that reveals her Anglo-Italian biological roots, (B) publicly acknowledge the results, and then (C) state that in her spirit she has always identified with the First Peoples, wanted to raise them up with her artistry and then lastly apologize to anyone who has been hurt by her self-delusion.
5. Due to the unusual nature of her appearance compared to those in the society she grew up in, I'm guessing that she received many comments saying that she looked like a First People and that this was the basis for the choices she made as an adult.
I am a Euro-Canadian Ally and although not a great fan of Buffy I have been aware of her music for decades. I especially have enjoyed her overtly "Native North American" songs such as Now That The Buffalo's Gone. So yes, I'm a little heart broken about this. The bigger issue to me however is that I really feel that the Indigenous People of the "Americas" have lost are are continuing to lose much of their racial purity over the decades and centuries. Although it is difficult for me to utter such a phrase, I feel that this is something that needs to be taken seriously. I have attended an annual Pow-Wow at a local community college and have been more than a little taken aback by blue-eyed blonde-haired participants. I know that one can't help whom one falls in love with but...
But.......????
Thanks for sharing. It seems due to colonial and genocidal pressure, indigenous identity has been made to be more complicated than it should ever have been. Native people seem to be having to balance pushing back from restrictive, government imposed definitions of indigeneity and finding ways to rebuild and sustain community with not letting that desire for community lead to bad actors and liars infiltrating and exploiting communities. I wish for native people to be able to define community on their own terms, whatever that means.
I had to pause at 00:56 to subscribe and like, already.
Though it feels a tad like making a new friend at deceased friend’s funeral, Buffy’s recent news has brought me the gift of Creators previously unknown.
🙏🏽✌🏽❤️ from Minnesota
Yes in the USA and in Canada there is a blood quantim you must qualify to be considered status native
Hey! There are 574 Indian nations here. Not all of our nations hold these dehumanizing standards!
If anyone attempting to claim to be Indigenous who is not, would never claim to be Indigenous if they had to endure the price and pain we pay to be Indigenous in Canada.