How journalists tell Buffy Sainte-Marie’s story matters - explained by a ’60s Scoop survivor

[@mboiko]

She was born and raised not far from me. A white girl born a bike ride from the city of Boston (in Stoneham MA) of Italian/English biological parents...she was not adopted. She had NO interest at all in indigenous people until she attended UMass in Amherst MA where she majored in Oriental philosophy and Teaching. There she joined an on-campus indigenous group and that led to her coming up with an indigenous persona which she then started using in her early folk music appearances. Her Boston area (Wakefield MA) family was not very wealthy yet for 60 YEARS Buffy had one of the most powerful law firms in the world bully and threaten them..."If you let Buffy's secret out you will lose everything.." then she blackmailed her brother to protect her PBS contract. So if her indigenous family wants to look the other way, so be it...but there is another Buffy...like it or not.

[@sr2291]

I don't know how many people in HS knew that I was adopted. My HS transcript lists me as the race and culture of my adopted parents. It was shocking to see that although I wouldn't be surprised if my adopted mother reported that to them.

[@mboiko]

@@sr2291 Unlike yourself...thanks to Buffy's Sister, Niece, and Son all getting their DNA tested and ALL MATCHING we now know...Buffy was NOT adopted. For 60 YEARS she had one of the most powerful law firms in the world threaten her own middle-class Boston area family. "Talk and you will lose everything". Then to protect her PBS/Sesame Street contract she blackmailed her own brother Alan. He later wrote..."I will say nothing but one day the truth will come out" and he was right it sure did.

[@JamieHumeCreative]

A simple, easy DNA test is all it takes to settle it. Will she do it?

[@sr2291]

This is a statement from Ancestry DNA: Inheritance is random Ethnicities may be passed down unevenly, or not at all.

[@mboiko]

@@JamieHumeCreative Once her younger sister and her son's DNA test matched...it was all over for Buffy. Buffy/Beverly and her sister were delivered by the same doctor in the same hospital to the same biological parents. Like it or not from 0-20 years of age she was just another Italian American girl growing up in the suburbs of Boston. There are now even people from Wakefield MA coming out saying..."yeah I knew her growing up and never knew why Beverly would portray herself as being indigenous". I think for many they now feel it's safe to come out and talk about it...

[@mothersgauri4137]

What you are saying makes sense and I believe is correct in general. This is so multi-layered. Thank you for your care and sensitivity about all of this. I do agree that they could have presented it with more information to put it all in a better context. I wish... The impact, is of course huge. Her talent as a songwriter and musician, all of her work she did speaking out about indigenous issues. She has so much talent and did so much. And, yes, has been a huge role model for so many, including myself. When I started listening to the documentary , and they talked about how records were so well kept, my knee jerk reaction was...that's just not so !! Perhaps for some. But.... I know the "mess" records can be. So, i immediately felt this was going to be a "hit piece" and I was ready to discount it. And perhaps I just did not want it to be true. But as more and more facts were revealed, it all started to crumble. I did my own research and listened to many of her talks and read her statements through the years trying to make this not true. But i saw for myself how she kept changing her story over the years.....not out of "not knowing" but stating "facts" that were just not true. And those "facts' kept changing and contradicting. Her Piapot adoption was done as a result of her lying....that seems clear now. My heart goes out to them for this. The way they were deceived is unthinkable. And threatening her birth family is also unthinkable. I listened to her making statements about her "abuse" and again, it is always vague, details change and she speaks from both sides of her mouth. In the course of my digging, I found a statement made in social media by her son Cody who clearly said that Buffy dyed her hair black and used dark make up and that she definitely was white. That was the final knife for me. How she got away with that all these years, I just cannot understand. But I know for my own heart, this is definitely going to take time to grasp. Yes, there have been MANY that pretend, but the depth and degree in this just seems beyond anything..... As you well stated, trust, that is already so difficult....it is just one more blow...a BIG one.. So far, the statements she has made since, have not been forthcoming and continue to be filled with vagaries and inconsistencies. I wonder if, at this point in life, she will be open. I guess we shall see. This is all so, so very sad. Thank you for talking about this.

[@williamhoole2065]

You've concisely expressed most peoples' feelings on this difficult topic.

[@VMGRABSTHEENEMY]

This woman use the Piapot Cree to capitalize off of! I can tell you right now this woman does not speak on behalf of me or my nation. This should be ashamed of herself, for dragging all the different people to vouch for being Native American. She should have known one day her fake identity would catch up to her... I mentioned it to my Shaadii she said whaat three times .. now we know the truth

[@cajuneramona4613]

What about her sons DNA tests that matched her New England family? This could be settled with simple testing that she refuses. 4:03

[@sr2291]

​​@@cajuneramona4613Have you seen his DNA test? How come none of his DNA cousins have come forward to back up his claim? He has cousins on whatever site he tested on.

[@krissalkond]

@@cajuneramona4613 She 82. Leave her alone

[@jackiewyer1308]

BUFFY IS SOLE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THIS PAIN. ARE YOU KIDDING KEEP TALKING ABOUT IT. HER LIFE AND ACCOLADES WERE STOLEN FROM A REAL NISH. TIME FOR THE TRUTH.

[@gloryinfinita5380]

That entire early 60s NYC folk scene was made up of affluent young adults who wanted to be or pretended to be something that their not. Back then journalists wrote that Pete Seegar had blue collar roots and he was singing for the "working man", yet his dad was a Harvard professor and his mom was a teacher at Julliard. Early on Dylan and was written up to have been "a young Minnesota guy who spent his youth freight train hopping like his idol Woody Gutherie", yet he was just a middle class kid who dropped out of University of Minnesota and went to New York. And obviously Buffy and her team ran with the Algonquin, Mi’kmaq, and Cree tribe bits. People were a bit more gullible back then and journalist obviously did not do in depth reporting. Money talks and it reminds you that the music business is all an act at the end of the day.

[@skepticscircle1497]

Wow thanks for the info really appreciate that.

[@raedawn7991]

😂

[@skepticscircle1497]

@@raedawn7991 as stated before, Bernie Madoff of the indigenous community. This will be swept under the carpet in a couple of months.

[@jbrandt3306]

I owned and operated an art gallery for 25 years. I never met an artist, starving or otherwise who didn't come from money or a family historically connected in the region where the gallery was located. As with Buffy this is not to say that these artists are not talented in their own right. Simply that access to the world wherein one gets paid to be an artist is for a very slim slice of humanity who are also born right and therefore have access to the right schools, the right people, etc . . . Just like businessmen and politicians.

[@zxyatiywariii8]

​@@jbrandt3306 Exactly.

[@DragonflySigns]

I'm 70 years old and since age 13, she was a role model for me so this news was extremely heartbreaking. She was not part of the 60s scoop because it started 10 years after she was born. I didn't want to believe all this sad information at first, but after much investigation, I know it's true. She is not Native American at all. Except for being adopted into the Cree tribe. She has basically stolen many awards from true indigenous people, and owes a major apology to all who trusted her.

[@skepticscircle1497]

She wasn’t taken away. She is not from Canada either. She pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes, got away with it. Get used to it.

[@Smithpolly]

There's no way she pulled the wool over everyone's eyes. There must have been plenty of people who were aware of what was up or had least had suspicions but for various reasons didn't want to rock the boat.

[@skepticscircle1497]

@@Smithpolly This was a way she pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes and it’s like this: people will believe anything when it comes their own personal agenda. They need a leader, they need a person who will jump on the cross and they’ll worship them for their own benefit. People like well…Bernie Madoff, Donald Trump, Adolf Hitler, Karl Marx, Benito Mussolini, Mao, Charles Manson, Oliver Stone, organized religion, Bill Clinton, Applegate, Jim Jones, Ted Bundy, Lee Harvey Oswald, various movie stars and musicians and now Buffy. Joseph Gobbels said it best while he was the propaganda director of the Third Reich” tell the people what they want to hear, repeat it over and over again…they’ll believe it and follow. We see this everyday. Personally, It’s not surprising to me. I can’t blame her if everyone blindly follows. Yes, she pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes. She’s smart. The real problem here is everyone wants a savior, a great noble leader. A messiah. Well, they’re not coming. If anyone other than her brother knew about Buffy’s little secret, no one came forward to help him while he was alive. If Buffy wasn’t so greedy, her attorney would have helped him out($$$$$), her attorney is another asshole too. Instead of sending him a threat letter, he should have made a meeting with her brother, Buffy and the attorney face to face. They could have paid her brother off, they could have taken care of any medical expenses, taxes, etc to keep him quiet. That can and should have been done. Buffy is sitting on more than a million dollars. She could have kept this silent but no, she screwed up and her lawyer just the same.

[@taurusgirl240]

Her brother and uncle tried to report the truth many times but the leftist libturd media didn’t want to hear it. This whole thing is hilarious 😂

[@susanfoley8360]

A young girl of college age in the 60’s from a Boston suburb wanted to be a singer and entertainer. Also she actually had quite a lot of natural talent, and she knew how to work hard. These qualities might very well have been enough that if she had stuck to being Beverly from Boston of Italian extraction, she might have achieved this level of success. But. Perhaps she lacked confidence. Perhaps the economic times in NYC coffee houses at that time was a bit rough. For whatever reason, little by little, she crafted this alternate identity. She was a beautiful girl, and surrounding herself with feathers and other similar regalia had a striking effect. She learned how to mimic Native gestures. She understood and advocated for Native Americans, and was adopted into a Canadian First Nation. She is an artist. To some extent she took on the coloring of her new surroundings, she arranged to be adopted into a prominent family (brother of the chief) in the tribe, and her money and her advocacy for their causes softened any criticism there might be in the Indigenous community. As time went on it became more and more difficult to tell the truth, until it seemed impossible.

[@reejan8109]

I'd like an explanation for the comment about records not being so easy to come by. Adoption Records are OPEN all across Canada. Unless a birth parent puts a Veto on the release of the records, adoptees can apply for their adoption records, for their original birth registration. There's also something called the Non Identifying information file - this can include things like the family background, the circumstances of the child being placed for adoption, possibly information about the birth father if he's not named on the birth registration. I get really tired of hearing that these records do not exist or that they aren't available to an adopted person. It's not true! My Aunt gave up a child for adoption in Regina, SK in 1928 - there's an original birth registration for that person and my Aunt is named as the birth mother! A VETO will stop the release of the obc and that's the only thing that will. As to saying how the CBC broke the story is the problem - how is the CBC responsible for the care & attention, truth & reconciliation? It's a business. How many times, over the past 60 years, has the CBC featured BSM on programs? Maybe they're quite justly pissed off that she fooled the world. She wasn't searching - she wanted to set herself in a different category of folk singer as folk singers were a dime a dozen in the '60's. She found a way to get noticed and she ran with it.

[@sr2291]

You would have to be naive to believe that all births are registered.

[@mayloo2137]

Buffy was born in the United States.

[@sr2291]

@@mayloo2137 Did you attend her birth?

[@mayloo2137]

@@sr2291 No. But why do assume I have to? Sounds like you're in a serious state of denial over BSM's lies, and that nothing will convince you that she lied.

[@sr2291]

@mayloo2137 Not really. But look at how you believe she lied without proof. Her mother could have been r*ped or had an affair, and since the information on the birth certificate comes from the mother, she could have easily written in her husband's name. I would like her to get more than one DNA test, but do you all know how they work? I was adopted, and I have multiple DNA tests with proof that I am in no way related to my adopted parents. Grandparents and regions don't fit in any way.

[@stevezytveld6585]

The first teacher in Native arts and culture and music was an Italian-American Pretendian featured on Sesame Street. That is what colonization looks like in the modern world. Beverly Santa Maria needs to pay back all the prize money (with interest), cancel her honorariums & awards, take back her Juno's, cancel her stamp, take back the Order of Canada, take back the Oscar that was displayed at the Smithsonian Institute as the first 'win'. Beverly knew who she really was when she looked the Piapot family in the eye and claimed to belong to them when they first met at a Pow Wow in Toronto in the 70's. My understanding is the family never stopped looking for their two dead daughters who were taken by Indian Affairs - they stopped when they adopted Santa Maria. It's the family and Community I feel the most for in amongst all of this fraud committed by Bluffy. She's done an unimaginable amount of damage and harm. - Cathy (&, accidently, Steve), Ottawa/Bytown/Pimisi

[@mothersgauri4137]

I agree. To lead a mother to believe you are her daughter who she has been looking and aching for....that is cruelty. And then threatening her white family... At this point, I wonder if she also sent her lawyers to the Piapots to make sure they did not speak further. The depth this has gone is just beyond anything I could have imagined. It is heartbreaking on so many levels and for so many. I pray that hearts can somehow heal.

[@7777Scion]

Canada will take care of the stamp, etc. Be patient for that part of it.

[@debbielayden8893]

I hope you are right...she doesn't deserve it

[@Mrs.Currie]

They should redistribute the awards she has won. For example, her junos, reevaluate the nominees and give to the deserving winner. If they have passed, offer to family in their name. Those musicians deserve the recognition that was taken from them in order for Sainte Marie to jabe the spotlight.

[@raymcgrath4116]

I appreciate your generosity of spirit and the need to understand and forgive but the evidence appears overwhelming. I myself wanted to give the benefit of the doubt upon initially hearing the story, however the appearance of LA showbiz lawyers into the narrative served to muddy the waters and cast a completely different light upon the affair. She needs to step forward and address the multitude of accusations that have been laid at her door. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

[@krissalkond]

She 82. Leave her alone

[@naranjojo]

03:55 Host Vinita Srivastava: "There actually weren't that many women of color on Sesame Street." Which Sesame Street did you grow up watching? In the 70s, Maria and Susan were the two lead female characters, and they were fantastic. Was it a different show in Canada?

[@IRGeamer]

"Was it a different show in Canada?" No it wasn't. But some people have memory filters that distort their recollections to suit their narrative, in spite of all the verifiable evidence that would prove them wrong. If they only cared about facts more than their "feelz". “There is a cult of ignorance… and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'” - Isaac Asimov

[@JamieHumeCreative]

Wasn't the cbc story spearheaded by an Indigenius journalust from the USA?Andxalthoygh this has been hard on many, many people...what's happening now within and around the community, is a very important discussion regarding pretendians. A discussion that's going to lead to greater scrutiny, honestly and justice.A lit of oppertunuties, careers and financial benefits has been coopted by pretendians. If this,story hadn't come up in a big public way, this empowered energy to stand up to these people might still be flying under the radar.

[@lyrebird9749]

Don't blame the journalists for causing a shock. Blame the pretendian herself.

[@rodneybjornstad9016]

The ugliest side of this , to me, Is just how deep “ the power of pretending” Can run in our lives. JD Salinger ran wild with this core idea in The catcher in the rye Phonies I have met way worse phonies Complete rotten core people Who Recite the four way test at rotary And Sit in the front row at church And are virtually so full of phoniness there is no room for the love of God , the communion of the saints , and the heart of the gospel. And. Worst of all. They rub off on all of us including myself. We become accustomed to fake. All we can do is eradicate it from our selves

[@GrantStreetGarden]

As an Irish/French/Romany blue eyed blond woman, I have been an ally to the Chumash and Ohlone tribes here in California. I was always cherished in that role and I felt like I was part of the family. Being an ally is an amazing honor. I can't for the life of me understand what Buffy has done. As a white person I am disgusted. And the harm she did to her birth family is beyond the pale. Many artists sold their soul, seems to be true in this case. I am so sorry for all the harm, it cuts me to the core, it really does. Romanies are also the ones rejected in the European world, but people like Cher made it romantic, Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves but also Half Breed,. Not how it works, there is mostly pain and not glamour. Thank you for this podcast.

[@maxalberts2003]

Thank you for your comment.

[@OhNoNotFrank]

I am curious if this is a common feeling she gets by journalism in general, or this topic specifically. After 30 years in the press, I have *never* told a story that made everyone happy. Nor do I want to. Still, I do recognize and understand her reaction. It is a story that is upsetting to many, and for many different reasons. But I can also recognize the voices of those who wanted the press to be *more* aggressive in their approach to Sainte-Marie, with more confrontational and punishing questions. She is after all now accused of being a fraud. As far as I recall, CBC’s The Fifth Estate *did* point out that she was adopted by a Canadian indigenous family. I can't at this point see that CBC’s reporting is anything but solid and considerate.

[@KahlessTheUnforgettable]

🔥 BREAKING NEWS: Buffy Sainte Marie has just released a statement confirming that she IS 💯% INDIAN. She has revealed she is a lifelong Hindu and was raised in New Delhi, India 🇮🇳

[@GrantStreetGarden]

🤣

[@maloyo7901]

They took away all the kids in this family? It took her decades to find her siblings? Unbelievable! This is one of the most tragic things I've ever heard.

[@sr2291]

It was actually common to separate children in adoptions back then.

[@zxyatiywariii8]

​@sr2291 It still is, at least in the US for disadvantaged kids. It's a horrible policy, and some adopted kids have only been able to reunite with their brothers and sisters by getting linked via genetic tests like with "23 and Me".

[@sr2291]

@zxyatiywariii8 That is horrible. Not that humans are lesser than cats, but we adopted two bonded male cats so they could be kept together. I don't know how they would have survived without each other. They nurture and groom each other, and I find them literally holding each other sometimes when they sleep. It's so awesome to see them thriving after coming from a terrible home.

[@maloyo7901]

@@sr2291 & @zxyatiywariii8 Thanks for the replies. I know that orphaned siblings are frequently separated as are kids who are in the system due to parental neglect, etc. What shook me about this was that these kids were taken from their happy, secure, homes for a misguided, IMO racist, assimilation policy. This was just cruel. Beyond cruel. I can't even imagine.

[@sr2291]

@@maloyo7901 It is beyond cruel. One of my social workers was taken as a child long before the 60's scoop because her NA mom took off for two weeks and left her with her grandparents. She said it was a common practice among her tribe that if the mother felt overwhelmed she could take a break from parenting. She was adopted to a White family. She also told me that on her birth certificate it said American under race and a lot of people were telling her it meant she was White. I told her it was obvious that it meant First American or American Indian. The control the government uses over people is just sick.

[@mayloo2137]

BSM: I Am the Great Pretender. Thanks Platters.

[@raedawn7991]

😂😂😂😂

[@raedawn7991]

Oh Puffy ❤

[@rickariki547]

When u walk like a duck, talk like a duck, look like a duck, think like a duck …. you are a duck. Ancient childhood truth.

[@chortkoffandriggio2018]

Thank you for this!

[@thaboinextdoor]

Oh geeeeeee LEAVE HER ALONE

[@nativeandindigenuscraftcre433]

Hi i am glad that this person no buffy but the person that talking about friendship and being adopted it good thing in there case thabks for positive reasons on this subject matter and good luck 🤞

[@jarabaa]

"I recoiled ... then I heard ... " Etc. From the beginning, you tell us about your views, your experiences, = you yourself. Yet you criticise Canadian journalists for taking an interest in their own careers. Then you introduce your guest, who likewise speaks continuously about herself. How are you two better than self-serving careerist "white dude" journalists?

[@Happy_HIbiscus]

😶

[@dalexkom]

why buffy why

[@lavernemoreno7168]

Buffy is my Native American sister, no matter what. She stands with us, advocated for us, speaks for us...

[@DjWellDressedMan]

She is a FRAUD and you are a pathetic Nish.

[@mayloo2137]

Still doesn't make her indigenous.

[@Rob-rm4gt]

She's not Native or Canadian...take off your rose colored glasses. She's a fraud.

[@sr2291]

​@@mayloo2137 Define indigenous.

[@mayloo2137]

@@sr2291 First Nations - treaty Indians

[@sr2291]

I agree that Buffy should take a DNA test but this statement is from Ancestry DNA: Inheritance is random Ethnicities may be passed down unevenly, or not at all.

[@Smithpolly]

Are you saying that DNA testing isn't a reliable way to determine who someone who is related to?

[@sr2291]

@Smithpolly Yes with some restrictions. It can definitely tell you who your cousins are. But parents? Maybe. Especially if both sets of great grandparents and grandparents had multiple children. And it depends on which close relatives get tested. I don't think that Buffy is full blooded Cree but if she is part NA, that may not show up at all or it may take a lot of research to figure out if she is biologically related to anyone who is NA or has NA ancestry. It is not as simple as just testing.

[@Smithpolly]

@@sr2291 I don't understand. Are you saying paternity tests are a scam? That there is a no way to tell for definite if a man is the father of a child?

[@sr2291]

@Smithpolly No. Paternity tests are very accurate from one person to one person but Autosomal DNA tests are not across thousands of people.

[@Smithpolly]

@@sr2291 How is that relevant? Isn't her brother's daughter still alive and I presume willing to take a DNA test? Would they be able to tell from that if Buffy takes the test whether they are aunt / niece?

[@paulcornell3155]

Bob Dylan changed his Jewish name Zimmermann to Dylan though never faked his roots when breaking into show bussiness,so as wiith Buffy Saint Maria,Italian to aboriginal for fame and fortune. Outside of the real aboriginal's who lost to a gifted Italian has had a incredible life and is someone you don"t won't to mess with.

[@nocucksinkekistan7321]

learn to make good content

[@IRGeamer]

User name checks out... “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” - George Carlin