Buffy Sainte-Marie slammed claims she faked her Native American ancestry, calling the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s investigation “traumatizing and unfair.”
“This has been incredibly traumatic for me and unfair to everyone involved,” the Oscar winner said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter.
Sainte-Marie’s comments came after the CBC released an investigative feature titled “Making an Icon,” which featured some of the folk singer’s family members and a birth certificate she claims she had never seen before.
After the release of the feature, Sainte-Marie was called a “pretender”, a term coined for people who pretend to have Aboriginal ancestry.
“The attacks on my character are full of errors and omissions,” he claimed. “While I will not stoop to answer every false claim, I feel it is important to clarify two things.”
Sainte-Marie, 82, said the “central evidence” in the CBC story is based around coming from a “fabricated” story from her brother Alan, who she claims sexually abused her.
Following the launch of the feature, Sainte-Marie has been called a “pretender”, a term coined for people who pretend to have Aboriginal ancestry.MediaPunch / BACKGRID
“It really hurts me to find that my estranged family grew up afraid of me and thought of this lie because the letter I sent was meant to protect me from further abuse from my brother,” he said.
Sainte-Marie rose to fame in the 1960s for her folk music, playing at music festivals showcasing her Cree heritage, eventually being named Billboard’s Best New Artist before appearing on Sesame Street in the 1970s winning numerous awards including an Oscar in 1983
Sainte-Marie with the International Emmy award for “Arts Programming” for her Canadian show “Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On” on Nov. 20. 2023 in NYC.PETER FOLEY/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
He is the first Aboriginal person to win the prestigious award, after co-writing the song “Up Where We Belong,” for the film “An Officer and a Gentleman.”
Sainte-Marie’s second complaint with the feature is based on a birth certificate obtained by the CBC that claims she was not born in Canada, but rather in Stoneham, Mass.
“It surprised me to hear a city clerk say he had 100% confidence in its authenticity. I never knew if my birth certificate was correct,” he said. “I have used it because it is the only document I have had in my entire life.”
Sainte-Marie later claimed she had spent years learning about her past through her family and through her own research but admitted she couldn’t figure out exactly where she came from. MediaPunch / BACKGRID
Although she admits to not knowing the truth about her past, Sainte-Marie said she learned about her past through her mother who also has aboriginal heritage, and taught her she was born on a Piapot Cree reservation in Canada before being adopted by the Santamaria Family near Boston, Mass.
He later claimed he had spent years learning about his past through family and through his own research but admitted he couldn’t figure out exactly where he came from.
“For decades, I tried to find my biological parents and information about my background,” he said. “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 biological parents are, and I never will.”
“Most importantly, this is my life – I am not a piece of paper. I am a product of both my family and all my experiences in this world.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
