In September of 2021, I wrote a blog about LINK>Adoptee – Buffy Sainte-Marie. In The Guardian, there is a new article about her as she LINK>denies allegations that she misled the public about her Indigenous ancestry.
Her response to these allegations seems honest for any adoptee – “I have always struggled to answer questions about who I am. Through that research what became clear, and what I’ve always been honest about, is that I don’t know where I’m from or who my birth parents were, and I will never know.”
blogger’s note – My mom had much the same perspective. She had her parents’ names as Mr & Mrs JC Moore. Not a lot to go on. The state of Tennessee refused her request to release her adoption file – a file I now have plus black and white photos of my mom and her mom the last time they were together.
In a recent interview, Buffy Sainte-Marie noted that – “As adopted children, we don’t even know when our birthday is. You spend your entire life asking questions you can’t answer.” blogger’s note – In fact, my mom’s birth date had even been changed when her birth certificate was reissued as though she had been born to her adoptive parents.
Eventually, Sainte-Marie was accepted by the Piapot First Nation and given a Cree name – Piyasees Kanikamut, which means ‘Singing Bird’.
The tribe has come to her defense saying that questions over Sainte-Marie’s ancestry were “hurtful, ignorant, colonial – and racist”. Adding “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.”
Though she has retired from live performances, due to health issues, she has long been known as a fierce advocate of Indigenous peoples and a key figure in social justice movements. “Buffy has lived her life as an Indigenous woman, and as such, has experienced all of the ‘lived experience’ that goes along with it- the good and the painful. What is gained by targeting her at this age?” wrote Robyn Michaud, an Indigenous studies professor at Conestoga College. “My heart hurts.”
My photo of her comes from an NPR story about her LINK>”Authorized Biography” which was co-authored with Andrea Warner. It is said that her biography serves as a Map of Hope.
Missing Mom 