FP Patron Chas Clifton scouted up a tempest brewing north of the Medicine Line. Could it be that the legendary Buffy Sainte-Marie is a “pretendian”?
…The iconic singer-songwriter’s claims to Indigenous ancestry are being contradicted by members of her own family and an extensive CBC investigation.
Late last year, CBC received a tip that Sainte-Marie is not of Cree ancestry but, in fact, has European roots. She is the latest high-profile public figure whose ancestry story has been contradicted by genealogical documentation, including her own birth certificate, historical research and personal accounts — the latest chapter in the complex and growing debate around Indigenous identity in Canada.
If you want to dive in, the CBC Fifth Estate story is here.
In the wake of the story, the Piapot family issued a statement:
Our names are Debra Piapot, and Ntawnis Piapot. We are direct descendants of Chief Piapot, and we are just two of the many people of the Piapot First Nation who call Buffy Sainte-Marie our relative. She is our Auntie, our relative, and a beloved member of the Piapot family and community. The accusations which are about to be made of our Auntie Buffy are hurtful, ignorant, colonial – and racist. No one, including Canada and its governments, the Indian Act, institutions, media or any person anywhere can deny our family’s inherent right to determine who is a member of our family and community.
I wrote about this at some length back in 2017 when Joseph Boyden — one of my favorite authors — got caught up in the same kind of storm. This stuff is brutal — on those caught in the barrel and on those who invested in people and their art, and feel betrayed. I don’t know if Boyden is even writing anymore.
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This is good stuff. Insight into the drover’s life in 17th Century Scotland.
Gotta have a soundtrack…
And a bit of the modern…
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If you haven’t jumped on board to support the campaign to launch Fargo: Hell on Wheels, now’s the time. There’s just a few days left to push this over the finish line. Sign on here.
The creators serve up Frank Cho’s take on the iconic character.
Fargo is frequently compared to Conan — if the Cimmerian rode with the Wild Bunch. Cho has now depicted both, and the heads-on-stakes certainly gives his Fargo a Howardian vibe.
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Hawken Horse’s Westward Water drops November 3. Order it up here.
GAH says
Re: Highlanders: Just finished a very interesting read- War Paths, Walking in the Shadows of the Clans (Alistair Moffat 2023)… It is a travelogue as the author visits many of the clan battle sites across about a 100 years and ending with Culloden Moor in 1746… A very entertaining read regarding the clans…
GAH…
JimC says
Got that one on order. Moffat is great; used his Highland Clans extensively for my podcast series on the Highlanders.\ as a frontier culture.
Beverly+Rampey says
is this a book we can look for at our library or get them to order it for us?
Bev
JimC says
It’s showing out of stock at my indie’s distributor, but it’s available through Amazon.
Brian H. says
Regarding the B.S.M. controversy I came across an interesting analogy: Biologists will evaluate flora and fauna in an environment as indigenous vs naturalized vs invasive. A naturalized “species” is one that adapts without causing harm. Such a distinction applied to Ms. Saint-Marie, who obviously has deep indigenous ties at the very least, would make her “naturalized”. Much like my immigrant father, who’s lived in the U.S. for going on sixty years, is an American, with all rights that are bestowed with such a title.
Matthew says
Off topic, and a little late for Halloween, but History at the OK Corral has a video on The Bloody Benders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpMyLefyeuE
Ugly Hombre says
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/buffy-sainte-marie-investigation-1235630691/
“The Fifth Estate unearthed Sainte-Marie’s purported birth certificate, which states that she was born in 1941 in Stoneham, Massachusetts, to Albert and Winifred Santamaria — her supposed adoptive parents, who are listed as white. Although a representative for Sainte-Marie told the program that adopted children in Massachusetts were commonly issued new birth certificates with their adoptive parents’ names, Leo traveled to Stoneham to verify Sainte-Marie’s documentation, which appears to have been filed at the time of her birth and not later.”
Not another one! Well at least she didn’t write a “Pow Wow Chow” book or some chit like that. lol
The Old Tarantula is part native he tells a funny story.
” When I was a kid I felt bad because my Grandma would never talk to me, never spoke a word to me- wore her hair in a bun all the time, I could not figure out what I did to get her P.O.ed at me bothered me a lot, my grandad would talk to me. He walked down a road on time in Arizona in front of a buck board- carrying his ’94 kicking rattlers out of the way of the horse. Grandma sat in the wagon stoic like.”
“Found out later she never talked to me- cause she only spoke Indian.”
“Granddad never went anywhere with out his 94′ even a saloon. I still got it.”
He won’t write a book asked him many times…
Quixotic Mainer says
Good video from the SERE crowd! My whole early career in the field was usually canoe camping, so I gradually learned to pack less and less as I transitioned more into rucking it afoot. Items that punch way out of their weight and cost class are folding saws, paracord and blue tarps.
A kid I work with is infantry, and we talk about camping and hiking a lot and I cringe a bit when I hear how much those guys have to tote. No small wonder back and joint injuries are so common. Hard to cover the sort of distances say ACW or colonial guys could have while carrying 100+ lbs.
JimC says
Crushes the knees, hips and lumbar.