Buffy Sainte-Marie may not be Indigenous

[timun]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Just let people be who they want to be. We have adopted fluidity in our definitions of who we are as individuals and as a society.

Also, what is the end goal with this type of reporting and investigation by the CBC? Is this revelation supposed to be a net positive or net negative for the First Nations communities? Are they trying to cut down, dare I say "cancel", the achievements of someone who has established themselves as an icon in the First Nations communities and is probably seen as an inspiration?

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

This.

What a waste of time and effort. And to what end?

Refer to the link Bigtime provided:

Originally Posted by Bigtime

How, when and why CBC News investigates claims of Indigenous identity

https://www.cbc.ca/news/editorsblog/...tity-1.7009049

Excerpted from the explanation:

Every story is carefully considered before it ever gets to air or online. In deciding what stories to pursue, we ask ourselves a few key questions:

• Is this a person of significant influence?
• Has this person benefited from their claims of Indigenous identity?
• Has this person shaped public perceptions of what it means to be Indigenous in Canada?
• Has this person taken space or opportunities away from others who might rightly deserve them?

If that public interest bar is met, then we follow the facts where they lead us. We report what we have learned and put those facts into relevant context.

Buffy Sainte-Marie made "I'm an Indian" a huge part of her professional identity, and for it to all be based on a series of elaborate half-truths if not outright lies is... super-####ed, to me. (Despite people like you&me and TorqueDog's complete ignorance...) She was arguably the biggest, most visible and 'vocal' Indigenous artist in the world in the '70s and '80s. For kids who grew up with Sesame Street (), she was emblematic of "Indian" people: she went on that show to teach and remind kids that "Indians" still existed.

She could have been a strong advocate for indigenous people without needing to purport to be an orphan from a Cree nation in Saskatchewan who ended up in the "Sixties Scoop" and adopted by an American couple. She could have still been "culturally adopted" by the Cree; she could have done all the things she did over her career, without having to resort to pretending to have a background as a "shtick".

It's basically the same thing Archibald Belaney did: he could have been an advocate for environmental conservation without pretending to be 'Grey Owl'.

Ugh, this whole story is actually quite sad to me. It unfortunately mars a lot of the good things Buffy did.

[timun]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

“Being adopted doesn’t make you indigenous” might be some of the most racist horse #### I’ve ever heard.

By that logic, trans women aren’t women, and naturalized Citizens aren’t Canadian.

Which, I’m aware, some people believe, but that’s how you tell they’re #######s.

I don't think you're following the CBC story well. Buffy claimed to have been born a member of a Cree nation in Saskatchewan, was orphaned and never knew her birth parents, ended up being adopted by a white couple in Massachusetts as an infant, and "returned to her roots" in her 20s—as an adult—to be "re-adopted" into the Nation.

In reality, per the CBC's investigation, the "white couple in Massachusetts" were not her adoptive parents: they were her biological parents. She had no Cree—or any other indigenous—heritage at all; it was all a fiction, a fabricated backstory.

[Duruss]

Originally Posted by The Fonz

A DNA test would show if you have indigenous heritage, correct?

It would absolutely.

The science as I know it is pretty cool too. The first humans into North America and eventually South were the Clovis people and DNA evidence has shown that the migration of the Clovis was oneway. All indigenous peoples of North and South America have Clovis DNA markers.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by you&me

I find it more offensive that someone refer to Buffy Sainte-Marie (who?) as "an icon"...

She is an icon. You don’t have to believe it.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by timun

Refer to the link Bigtime provided:



Excerpted from the explanation:

Every story is carefully considered before it ever gets to air or online. In deciding what stories to pursue, we ask ourselves a few key questions:

• Is this a person of significant influence?
• Has this person benefited from their claims of Indigenous identity?
• Has this person shaped public perceptions of what it means to be Indigenous in Canada?
• Has this person taken space or opportunities away from others who might rightly deserve them?

If that public interest bar is met, then we follow the facts where they lead us. We report what we have learned and put those facts into relevant context.

Buffy Sainte-Marie made "I'm an Indian" a huge part of her professional identity, and for it to all be based on a series of elaborate half-truths if not outright lies is... super-####ed, to me. (Despite people like you&me and TorqueDog's complete ignorance...) She was arguably the biggest, most visible and 'vocal' Indigenous artist in the world in the '70s and '80s. For kids who grew up with Sesame Street (), she was emblematic of "Indian" people: she went on that show to teach and remind kids that "Indians" still existed.

She could have been a strong advocate for indigenous people without needing to purport to be an orphan from a Cree nation in Saskatchewan who ended up in the "Sixties Scoop" and adopted by an American couple. She could have still been "culturally adopted" by the Cree; she could have done all the things she did over her career, without having to resort to pretending to have a background as a "shtick".

It's basically the same thing Archibald Belaney did: he could have been an advocate for environmental conservation without pretending to be 'Grey Owl'.

Ugh, this whole story is actually quite sad to me. It unfortunately mars a lot of the good things Buffy did.

And that is why I ask if this is supposed to be a net positive or net negative for the community. She has been a strong advocate, has shown the community what could be possible as an Indigenous person and she has been an idol for her accomplishments. But now she's "potentially", let's just leave it as questionable for now, not Indigenous so does her 60 year slate get wiped clean and forgotten about? Would it be better to bury this to maintain a legacy or open a can of worms?

[Bigtime]

But it's really looking like she was Italian (Italian-American), not indigenous. The hospital she claims to have been born in in Saskatchewan didn't exist according to provincial records. And from the report things like this do seem to be negatively viewed in the indigenous community.

[Locke]

Look...I dont know a whole lot about this situation, but I think the first clue as to her lack of Indigenous Credentials has to begin with....the first name 'Buffy.'

Not a lot of Indigenous character in that.

[timun]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

And that is why I ask if this is supposed to be a net positive or net negative for the community. She has been a strong advocate, has shown the community what could be possible as an Indigenous person and she has been an idol for her accomplishments. But now she's "potentially", let's just leave it as questionable for now, not Indigenous so does her 60 year slate get wiped clean and forgotten about? Would it be better to bury this to maintain a legacy or open a can of worms?

I think it's a net positive, insofar as at least it's the truth, and it's better to open the can of worms than to continue to bury it to maintain a legacy.

Does it wipe the slate clean and do we forget everything she was about? I hope not. I hope that a lot of the overarching things she sang about and advocated about aren't dismissed because of her mistakes. Just as Grey Owl's messaging about conservation isn't totally lost, although admittedly the fact he was an Englishman 'pretendian' will never not be a central part of his story.

[habernac]

Yikes, total fraud.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by timun

Buffy Sainte-Marie made "I'm an Indian" a huge part of her professional identity, and for it to all be based on a series of elaborate half-truths if not outright lies is... super-####ed, to me. (Despite people like you&me and TorqueDog's complete ignorance...)

For f-cking what? I literally said in my response to GreenLantern that I wouldn't consider her Indigenous based on her claims, adopted or not.

[Harry Lime]

Her brother has been trying to take her down for decades. There are also questions about how documentation at times were altered in the community to give more opportunity to the adopted children. Anyone who knew would now be long dead.

I'm not sure what would be gained by the CBC going on a witch hunt after an 80 year old retired singer. She did nothing but honor the indigenous community her whole life. When I met her she was a very humble person, and not exactly living like a member of U2.

Bringing in experts on the subject, on something that I wouldn't immediately buy the validity of, is premature. Granted I just heard the radio break this down and haven't had time to read the article.

What is the cbc trying to accomplish? If she is only adopted, this is still the only life she ever knew. If she is in fact indigenous or metis, then cbc broke down an icon, to prove their white institution superiority.

Either way, #### you cbc.

[Spurs]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

Her brother has been trying to take her down for decades. There are also questions about how documentation at times were altered in the community to give more opportunity to the adopted children. Anyone who knew would now be long dead.

I'm not sure what would be gained by the CBC going on a witch hunt after an 80 year old retired singer. She did nothing but honor the indigenous community her whole life. When I met her she was a very humble person, and not exactly living like a member of U2.

Bringing in experts on the subject, on something that I wouldn't immediately buy the validity of, is premature. Granted I just heard the radio break this down and haven't had time to read the article.

What is the cbc trying to accomplish? If she is only adopted, this is still the only life she ever knew. If she is in fact indigenous or metis, then cbc broke down an icon, to prove their white institution superiority.

Either way, #### you cbc.

You should probably read the article before making these ridiculous statements. Not sure how the CBC are the bad guys here.

[Igottago]

Lol, so now people are snitching on eachother on the basis of ethnicity..and the CBC spends time and resources investigating these "tips". Hilarious. And people can't recognize why the left side of the political spectrum has completely lost the plot.

[Harry Lime]

Originally Posted by Spurs

You should probably read the article before making these ridiculous statements. Not sure how the CBC are the bad guys here.

Because this does nothing but hurt the community. If it's true and cbc says nothing, then the positivity that she engendered over her lifetime remains. This only takes it away.

I'll read it when I get home, but I can't see how my read of this will change. It's negativity created by cbc's decision to publish.

[PepsiFree]

Thank goodness someone found a way to bring left/right politics into this because I was worried the thread wouldn’t get stupid fast enough.

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Thank goodness someone found a way to bring left/right politics into this because I was worried the thread wouldn’t get stupid fast enough.

Is that why you entered?

[Harry Lime]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Thank goodness someone found a way to bring left/right politics into this because I was worried the thread wouldn’t get stupid fast enough.

This has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with responsibility. Is her lifetime of good work to be thrown out because of journalistic integrity?

You can stay out of this thread, if you want to bring left right into it.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Igottago

Is that why you entered?

No, the little red light on my desk phone goes off whenever someone starts crying about “the left.”

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

This has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with responsibility. Is her lifetime of good work to be thrown out because of journalistic integrity?

You can stay out of this thread, if you want to bring left right into it.

Igottago gotta get

EDIT: oh and to answer your question, the answer is in the article

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

No, the little red light on my desk phone goes off whenever someone starts crying about “the left.”

Cool. What colour is the light when you're called to your next internet cancelling?