‘I know who I am’: Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Indigenous roots called into question

A new CBC documentary has called into question the identity of Buffy Sainte Marie, a voice revered as an iconic pillar of the Indigenous music scene.

While the singer’s identity has been unquestioned for years, the documentary feature that debuted yesterday claims that Sainte Marie is in fact of Italian heritage and was born in the United States.

The CBC film alleges that the six time Juno winner has been fraudulently posing as Indigenous throughout her 60-year long career, saying her adoptive parents are in fact her biological parents.

According to a birth certificate obtained by the filmmakers, Sainte Marie was born in 1941 in Massachusetts and not in a Saskatchewan Cree community as the singer had claimed.

Elizabeth Doxater is a member of the Six Nations of the Grand River near Brantford. The educator, author and shop owner who specializes in preserving Indigenous culture, like many others, idolized Buffy.

“We didn’t have anybody to look up to, we couldn’t turn on the tv and see someone right, that represented us, so it was like a celebration there, but it’s still harmful now because it wasn’t true.”

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Others in the Six Nations community say the information shared in the documentary has opened old wounds.

“I don’t think it’s right at all. Colonization for years, it’s been hard to prove that you are Indigenous, Native cause with the 60’s scoop and everything, records have been wiped away so it’s hard to trace back your lineage so I feel like a lot of people have taken advantage of that They can just easily say I’m native and don’t have the proof right.” says Mal Lory.

Controversies have erupted in recent years over individuals who falsely claim Indigenous heritage, with critics saying they take opportunities and resources away from those for whom they were meant.

Sainte Marie responded to the documentary feature with a statement on social media that said in part “I know who I am” and that her mother had told her that she was adopted.

While some have held their support for the artist, Doxator says this is causing extreme damage to members of her community.

“To exploit the worst of our experiences, and romanticize it and present it as your truth and your heritage and history when it is not, really causes harm to the people who have actually experienced that.”

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