Ms. Ste. Marie Misled Us All

By Doug George-Kanentiio.

On October 27 CBC’s investigative show “The Fifth Estate” exposed the performer Buffy Ste. Marie as an imposter. Her 60-year career as an indigenous singer was contrary to the actual truth of her birth. Ms. Ste. Marie was born Beverly Santamaria to non-Native parents in Stoneham, Massachusetts. She is not Cree, not Native and not Canadian.

The responses to this was initially disbelief followed by statements of either condemnation or support. I read many comments and sought to express my sympathy to the singer while calling upon her to issue a statement clarifying her birth, affirming her actual family followed by an apology for the harm she has caused.

The question raised by many was that has her career, one in which she became wealthy, brought demonstrable injury to Native people? It is clear that is has.

Stage and recording artists make their living through the selling of their music and performances. It is not an easy occupation as there are limited venues which makes bookings very competitive. Record sales for Indigenous musicians is also a challenge as the mainstream markets and distribution outlets are reluctant to promote them. The largest recording companies do not sign Native artists nor do broadcasting outlets play Native music.

What is left is a music ghetto for Natives-they make their living at events designed for other Natives: powwows, conferences, Indigenous communities urban and rural. Or they go overseas to Europe where there is great support for Native performers.

When someone of St. Marie’s stature holds a concert it takes away from others. When she makes an appearance on regional or national media it not only excludes Native artists but gives her the standing to define indigenous music, politics and social issues.

For many Natives who endured the residential school, adoption and Sixties School traumas having someone of her background either speak about this or make a false claim to have gone through the pain of separation and cultural genocide is simply wrong. To state that she was born on the Piapot Territory of the Cree Nation in Saskatchewan in 1941 without any proof and then make a claim her records were destroyed in a fire of which there is no record is simply untrue.

Her adoption into a Piapot family nearly 60 years ago was based on her claim that she was perhaps Mi’kmaq or Algonquin. That family felt empathy for her and took her in but this did not give her Native status or Canadian citizenship. Whatever procedures the Cree Nation has for this procedure it is doubtful the family would have done so had they known Ms. Ste. Marie was of Italian-English heritage.

Another instance of harm is the many awards given to Ms. Ste. Marie as a Native performer-composer. In Canada she was a cultural icon winning national music awards, receiving honorary doctorates, the Order of Canada and even a postage stamp. All of these citations bring about more income but they also obscure true Native talent. Someone else was excluded, ignored or bypassed. The publishing contracts she was given as a Native writer meant an actual aboriginal artist was pushed aside.

Then there is the harm to those who held her as a hero, particularly the younger ones. True Native heroes are scarce in the US and Canada so when Ms. Ste. Marie appeared on Sesame Street or at national events there was a sense of pride. Native kids across the continent saw her as a role model.

The Fifth Estate was contacted by Native researchers who were disturbed by Ste. Marie’s conflicting statements as to her origins. She said she as born Cree but retracted that when she stated she did not know her birth parents or where she came from. Upon a preliminary examination her birth certificate was located as was her certificate of marriage in the 1970’s. Both clearly showed the date and location of her birth and the names of her parents. To this was added information from the US census. At some point the family changed their name from Santamaria to Ste. Marie. She had siblings as well, one of whom sought to inform the media as to her lack of Native ancestry only to be threatened with a defamation lawsuit and an unfounded accusation as a child molester. Her relatives backed off in fear.

My late wife, Joanne Shenandoah, was a performer whose Native roots ran deep at Onondaga and Oneida. Joanne did not have contact with Ms. St. Marie other than one venue in South Dakota in 2014. They did not share the same stage. Joanne had a different style, a distinctive voice referred to as a mezzo-soprano. She played many instruments and recorded 25 albums. Her career was dedicated to promoting Native music and she played a key role in the creation of the Native American Music Awards and won a GRAMMY for her contributions to the Sacred Ground album.

I cite this because it is but one example of an Indigenous artist creating a musical legacy based upon her talent ,culture and heritage.

None of this was easy.

Ms. Ste. Marie followed another path which has led her in a broad circle to the place of her beginning. The CBC exposé was based on facts and had the reporting been less than airtight the response would have been immediate from her lawyers. But instead, no formal declarations from Ms. Ste. Marie has some forth.

I suggest the best thing is for a statement of clarification from Ms. Ste. Marie followed by amends to her biological family and an apology to all Native people with restitution and the return of the awards she was given without merit.

Humility is an Indigenous value and now is the time to act accordingly.