"So, let us not be blind to our differences - but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal." JFK, June 10, 1963.
Thursday, November 2, 2023
Lift Us Up Where We Belong: Buffy Sainte-Marie Revealed as a Deep Fake. She's Italian, Not Cree, As She Long Claimed
UPDATED: December 10, 2023
We were shocked to find out that Buffy Sainte-Marie, one of the most beloved Native American artists of our time, actually has no indigenous heritage whatsoever. Her father was the son of Italian immigrants and her mother English. She claimed she was born on a Cree reservation in Canada and raised by a white couple in Massachusetts who adopted her. In fact, they were her birth parents.
One activist called her a "Pretendian" - a Pretend Indian.
Here's her birth certificate, showing she was born in Massachusetts, not Canada:
Buffy has said several times that she had no birth certificate and didn't know her birthday or who her birth parents were. Yet she did have a birth certificate that indicated her birth day and the names of her parents. When Buffy married Jack Nietzsche, she signed documents acknowledging she was born in Massachusetts in 1941 to the Santamaria family. Buffy once claimed her birth certificate and other official documents had been destroyed in a fire but there was no record of such a fire. One expert said this was a red flag regarding ethnic appropriation - shifting narratives. Also Buffy claimed at various times to be Algonquin, Micmac, and Cree. An expert pointed out that the three groups live far away from each other and no one could be part of all three groups.
Buffy wrote the melody for the song that became "(Lift Us) Up Where We Belong", a big hit and a 1983 Oscar winner for best song in "An Officer and a Gentleman".
She shared the award with lyricist Will Jennings and composer Jack Nitzsche (Buffy's husband at the time). Nitzsche was well-known as a lunatic. Finding that she apparently willingly married him tells us something about her as well. By the way, when she married Nitzsche, she signed a document acknowledging that she was born in Massachusetts and that the parents that raised her were her birth parents.
Buffy was said to be the first indigenous person to win an Oscar. Actually that honor belongs to Wes Studi and New Zealand's Taika Waititi. Wes Studi, a Cherokee, received an Academy Honorary Award Oscar in 2019. Waititi, whose father was Maori, won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for 2019's Jojo Rabbit.
Wes Studi
Taika Waititi
In 1964, Buffy released "Universal Soldier", one of the best protest songs of the 1960s. It's been covered by numerous artists including Donovan, Glen Campbell, Bob Dylan, Chumbawamba, and Jake Bugg. This alone proves she had talent, begging the question, wasn't her talent enough? Did she have to embellish her personal history and deceive us for all these years? Couldn't she have just been a talented singer who supported indigenous causes without having to be Native American herself?
In the military, it's called "stolen valor", claiming military honors you did not earn for personal gain. "Pretendians", "Ethnic theft" or "ethnic fraud" is what some people call it, and sadly it's not as rare as you'd think.
In the 1960s, singer Peter La Farge claimed to be Native American and wrote a moving song about Native American Ira Hayes, who helped raise the American flag at Iwo Jima, but fell into severe alcoholism after the war and died prematurely. Johnny Cash recorded the song and championed La Farge. But La Farge had no indigenous background whatsoever.
"The Ballad of Ira Hayes"
Buffy Sainte-Marie on "The Johnny Cash Show" in 1969
Perhaps the most famous Pretendian (Pretend Indian) of all-time is Sacheen Littlefeather, who declined Marlon Brando's 1973 Oscar at his request and made a speech in favor of indigenous rights, in full Indian costume. It was later discovered that she was not Native American at all.
UPDATE: Forgot about Iron Eyes Cody, who played Native American characters in over 200 movies and TV shows, including opposite John Wayne and most famously as the Crying Indian in the 1970s era anti-littering PSA.
Iron Eyes Cody insisted he was Native American. In fact he was the son of Sicilian immigrants.
Some of these people represented Native culture well but their essential dishonesty overshadows any good they did. Artists must be honest. If we can't trust them, they can't listen to them. And we need artists to narrate the unknown and the unknowable. We can't afford for them to be liars and cultural thieves.
It really begs the question: Wasn't it good enough for Buffy to say she was a folk singer who cared about Native people and wanted to champion their cause? Did she have to falsely claim she was Native herself?
P.S. What a great song!
UNIVERSAL SOLDIER by Buffy Sainte-Marie
He's five-foot-two and he's six-feet-four He fights with missiles and with spears He's all of 31 and he's only 17 Been a soldier for a thousand years
He'a a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain A Buddhist, and a Baptist, and a Jew And he knows he shouldn't kill And he knows he always will Kill you for me, my friend, and me for you
And he's fighting for Canada He's fighting for France He's fighting for the U.S.A And he's fighting for the Russians And he's fighting for Japan And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way
And he's fighting for Democracy He's fighting for the Reds He says it's for the peace of all He's the one who must decide Who's to live and who's to die And he never sees the writing on the wall
But without him How would Hitler have condemned them at Dachau? Without him Caesar would have stood alone He's the one who gives his body as a weapon of the war And without him all this killing can't go on
He's the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame His orders come from far away no more They come from here and there and you and me And brothers, can't you see? This is not the way we put the end to war
Speaking of indigenous artists, here are two who are of actual native heritage, poet John Trudell and guitar god Jesse Ed Davis, who aren't as well known as they should be. This song, "Rich Man's War" (above), was written and recorded in 1986, but it could have been written this week about this week. The mark of a great artist. They speak simultaneously of their time and the times to come.
The four nominees for the International Emmy for Arts Programming:
Statement from Buffy, November 2023:
I want to begin by thanking the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the honour. As one of the most prestigious awards in the global entertainment industry, it is a true recognition of the outstanding team who worked on my story – the true story of my life.
I’ve always believed it takes rain and sunshine to bring a rainbow. This great honour does indeed come after the rain – as I continue to absorb and process the recent attack on my character, life and legacy. It’s a deep wound to my inner child, but as an 82-year-old now, I’m strong – and these allegations do not shake me.
Now it is time for me to shine a light on the truth, my truth.
I have never lied about my identity. The more I’ve known, the more I’ve pieced together a sense of self from what information has been available to me.
What I know about my Indigenous ancestry I learned from my growing up mother, who was of Mi’kmaq heritage, and my own research later in life. My mother told me that I was adopted and that I was Native, but there was no documentation as was common for Indigenous children at the time.
When I grew up, I was adopted into a Cree family by Emile Piapot (son of Chief Piapot, Treaty 4 Adhesion signatory), and Clara Starblanket Piapot (daughter of Chief Starblanket, Treaty 4 signatory), in accordance with Cree law and customs. They were kind, loving, and proud to claim me as their own. I love my Piapot family and am so lucky to have them in my life.
I have always struggled to answer questions about who I am. For decades, I tried to find my birth parents and information about my background. Through that research what became clear, and what I’ve always been honest about: I don’t know where I’m from or who my birth parents are, and I will never know. Which is why, to be questioned in this way is painful, both for me, and for my two families I love so dearly.
My Indigenous identity is rooted in a deep connection to a community which has had a profound role in shaping my life and my work. For my entire life, I have championed Indigenous, and Native American causes when nobody else would, or had the platform to do so. I am proud to have been able to travel the world, sharing Indigenous stories. I have always tried to bridge gaps between communities and educate people to live in love and kindness.
This is my truth. And while there are many things I do not know; I have been proud to share my story – as I know it – throughout my life.
The attack on my character is full of mistakes and omissions. While I will not stoop to respond to every false allegation, I feel it is important to clarify two things.
First, the central proof used to question my identity is a story fabricated by my abuser and repeated by two members of my estranged family I don’t even know. This has been incredibly re-traumatizing for me and unfair to all involved. It hurts me deeply to discover that my estranged family grew up scared of me and thinking these lies because of a letter I sent intended to protect me from further abuse from my brother. I want to be clear, I do not blame them. They, of course, want to believe their father. I have evidence I was sexually abused by my brother, but I can’t tolerate discomforting his children even more. I wish them only the best and hope they move forward from this and find peace, as I am trying to do.
The second is my “birth certificate”. As many Indigenous people know, and the National Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation of Canada has stated, it was common for birth certificates of Indian children to be “created” by western governments after they were adopted or taken away from their families. So it was quite shocking to me to hear a city clerk say she had 100% confidence in its authenticity. I have never known if my birth certificate was real. I have used it because it was the only document I’ve had my whole life. I’ve heard from countless people with similar stories – who do not know where they are from and feel victimized by these allegations and one-sided reporting as I do.
Most importantly, this is my life – I am not a piece of paper. I am a product of both my families and all my experiences in this world.
If you are a pure-blood documented something, I’m glad for you. It’s awesome and beautiful to hear you speak your lineage, history and genealogy. But even if your documentation says you’re racially pure, you might miss the point. Being an “Indian” has little to do with sperm tracking and colonial record keeping: It has to do with community, culture, knowledge, teachings, who claims you, who you love, who loves you, and who’s your family.
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