Aging Capriciously

What I am going to say will be very controversial.  Many people reading this blog will take umbrage at my opinions.  The good thing is that you will not be charged any fees for my opinions.  You are free to take them or leave them.

Perhaps if I were a Native American or a member of a Federally Recognized Tribe my words would carry more weight.  However, I am not an Indigenous person.  As far as I know, I have no Indian relatives and no Indian blood in me.  I do not claim to have an Indian Chief in my ancestry or a relative who was an Indian Princess.  I also must issue the following caveats.  I am a fan of Buffy Sainte-Marie.  I not only respect her, but I admire her.  I will tell you why in a little while.

Now I understand the charges against her quite well.  I have talked about cultural appropriation as an evil done by either stupid or misaligned people.  I do not believe that America ever did right by the people that we stole this land from by genocide, fake treaties, and scams.  As a resident of Arizona, I still see tribal people being taken advantage of when it comes to mining, drilling and water rights.  If an Indian might make some money on something worth selling, there will be a bunch of rich fat White people who want to screw them out of it.  I hear White people say, “It’s a shame we broke all those treaties with the Indians.”  These well-meaning people should get their heads out of their asses.  We are still breaking treaties made many years ago with the Indians.  When it comes to profit, there is no limit to the perfidy of some White people.  I think it was Sitting Bull who said, “I believe in Christianity, but I do not see many White People practicing it.”  I think the same can be said of many so-called Christians today.

But lets return to the subject of this blog.  Buffy Sainte-Marie passed herself off for many years as a Native American.  She has now been outed by relatives and others who seem to take great delight in maligning her.  I am going to try to offer a defense for her in this blog.  I have already said that I am a fan of hers.  I bought all of her albums back in the sixties and seventies.  I went to a tent concert she did up in Northern Wisconsin a few years ago put on by reservation people.  I have never personally met Ms. Sainte-Marie, nor have I ever corresponded with her.  I am not getting paid one penny for the viewpoints I am offering.  I have already confessed to being White so you can accuse me of bias if you like.  I prefer to think that I have always stood up for the underdogs in my life.

Let’s look at the three of the main charges against her in more perspective.

1. She is not a real Indian
2. She took awards that could have gone to real Indians
3. She sang songs and agitated for Indian rights when she is really not an Indian.

 1.  She Is not a Real Indian:

There is an old adage which says, “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck.”  In my eyes anyway, Buffy Sainte-Marie looks like an Indian, acts like an Indian and sings Indian like songs.  What’s missing here is Buffy does not have the right set of genes.  Genes or no genes, she is more of an assimilated Indian than many Indians I have known who live off Reservations.  Years ago, we assumed that an Indian could be assimilated by going to an Indian School, wearing White clothes and forsaking their native language.  They could then be accepted as a White person by the larger White community.  At least this was the logic following the Indian wars and the ongoing efforts by White communities of both the USA and Canada to assimilate the Indigenous peoples.

Well, Buffy Sainte-Marie did a reverse assimilation.  She assimilated herself into the Indigenous culture in Canada and was even accepted by a Canadian Tribe.  Records show that she was adopted by a Piapot First Nation family in accordance with Cree law and traditions.  Members of the Piapot family have supported her claims.  Whether she was accepted or adopted into the tribe, she is an assimilated Indian by any stretch of the imagination.

2.  She took awards that could have gone to real Indians:

I am not quite sure I understand this criticism.  Buffy Sainte-Marie did take awards that were earmarked for native accomplishments both socially and culturally.  Specific awards and honors received by Buffy Sainte-Marie that were designated for Indigenous people include:

• Four Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards: She received these awards at a time when they were specifically designated for Indigenous musicians.
• Two Aboriginal Peoples’ Choice Music Awards: These awards were also designed to recognize Indigenous artists.
• Four Juno Awards intended for Indigenous people: For example, she won the Juno for Indigenous Music Album of the Year in 2018 for “Medicine Songs”.
• Four Indigenous lifetime achievement awards.

Many of these awards for Buffy have since been revoked by  the authorities issuing them.  Most of the awards concern her musical skills.  I hear the claim that a Real Indian could have won these.  This rings hollow to me.  During the sixties, Buffy is the only folk singer that I knew or ever heard who sang “pro-Indian” songs.  Her “My Country Tis of Thy People Your Dying” and “Now that the Buffaloes Gone” made as much impact on my awareness of Native American issues as did Dee Brown’s book “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.”  Dee Brown was also not Native American.  He was a White author from the American South.  He was born in Louisiana and raised in Arkansas.  His best-known work, “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,” detailed the history of American expansionism and its impact on Indigenous peoples.  Should we take Dee’s book off the shelf?  More’s the pity if you do folks since I never heard one peep during my high school history classes on how much shit we did to Native Americans.  Buffy’s songs and Dee’s book were some of the first major influences upon my White life in terms of the real truth about Indian history.

In March 2025, CARAS announced that it was revoking Sainte-Marie’s Juno Awards and her induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame based on the finding that she is not a Canadian citizen and therefore doesn’t meet the eligibility criteria, according to Variety.

3.  She sang songs and agitated for Indian rights when she is really not an Indian.

Here  I would like to judge Buffy Sainte-Marie on the basis of the good that she did for Native American causes and not the bad that she did.  Yes, she lied about her genes and her lineage.  Yes, she continued to insist that she was a true Native American.  She had either brain-washed herself or she really came to believe that she was an Indian.  I certainly do not know the answer to which motive guided her.  I know some of her relatives accused her of trying to smother the truth of her ancestry even by threatening them with a lawsuit.  Shame on Sainte-Marie for this.  Should she have been quicker to apologize?  Yes, I think so.  But does this make Buffy evil?  Does she deserve to be stripped of awards that she earned not by being Native American but because of the songs that she wrote and the messages that these songs sent.

 From “Now that the Buffaloes Gone” by Buffy Sainte-Marie

Oh, it’s all in the past you can say

But it’s still going on here today

The government now want the Iroquois land

That of the Seneca and the Cheyenne

It’s here and it’s now you can help us dear man

Now that the buffalo’s gone.

From “My Country Tis of Thy People Your Dying” by Buffy Sainte-Marie

When Columbus set sail out of Europe, then stress

That the nation of leeches that conquered this land

Are the biggest and bravest and boldest and best

And yet where in your history books is the tale

Of the genocide basic to this country’s birth

Not many people would have the courage to pin such lyrics whether Indian or White.  In my neighborhood, it is dangerous to put up a Democrat for office sign.  Many American “Heroes” have said that the “Only good Indian is a dead Indian.”  What exactly besides sing has St. Marie done for Indigenous people?  I asked ChatGPT this question and received the following reply:

Major Contributions Beyond Music

1. Trailblazer on Sesame Street

• From 1976 to 1981, she became the first regular Indigenous presence on Sesame Street, aiming to teach children that “Indians still exist.” Native News Online+12Wikipedia+12Teen Vogue+12
• In a landmark moment for representation, she famously breastfed her son on air in 1977—likely the first such instance ever shown on television. Teen Vogue

2. Educational Advocacy & Philanthropy

• Buffy founded the Nihewan Foundation for Native American Education, dedicated to supporting Indigenous students and promoting culturally focused education. Wikipedia+3Music in Motion Canada+3Vogue+3
• She launched the Cradleboard Teaching Project, a collaborative curriculum linking Native and non-Native classrooms across multiple disciplines—Geography, History, Social Studies, Music, Science—across eleven U.S. communities. Music in Motion Canada+3Wikipedia+3Facebook+3
• Emphasizing Indigenous perspectives, she championed awareness of Indigenous cultures and languages through creative and educational media. Teen Vogue+12Music in Motion Canada+12Wikipedia+12

3. Pioneering Electronic and Multimedia Art

• Her 1969 album Illuminations was groundbreaking—using Buchla synthesizers and quadraphonic technology to forge a new sonic frontier. It’s now seen as a pioneering work in electronic and experimental music. Pitchfork+2Vogue+2
• She also embraced early computer technology—using Apple II and Macintosh systems in the early 1980s to record music and produce visual art. Wikipedia

4. Media Representation & Hollywood Influence

• In 1968, Buffy insisted that all Indigenous roles in her episode of The Virginian be filled by Indigenous actors—a first in Hollywood. She held firm despite managers’ objections and succeeded. Teen Vogue (Teen Vogue interview referenced in images)

5. Humanitarian Voice & Global Activism

• As a vocal participant in the Red Power movement, she provided a platform for Indigenous concerns through grassroots concerts tied to the American Indian Movement. PBS+5Teen Vogue+5Teen Vogue+5Native News Online+1
• Her humanitarian spirit led to widespread recognition, including an Oscar, Golden Globe, and honorary doctorates for her work spanning activism and arts. PBS+13Wikipedia+13Teen Vogue+13
• Through media such as the documentary Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On, she continued advocating for Indigenous rights, touring, and raising awareness well past her prime—into her 80s. muskratmagazine.com+11PBS+11Wikipedia+11

In Summary

Buffy Sainte-Marie’s legacy encompasses far more than her powerful protest songs.  She broke new ground in television, revolutionized arts and education, fought for authentic Indigenous representation, and used her influence to empower Indigenous voices globally.  Her initiatives—from Sesame Street to the Cradleboard curriculum—continue to shape conversations around identity, learning, and equity.

John’s Conclusions: 

Go ahead.  Say “so what.”  Say “who gives a damn.”  Tell me she is a liar and a hypocrite.  Tell me all her good works should be erased because she wanted you to believe that she was an Indian.  Tell me she is not really an Indian and that someone else would have done all the stuff that she did anyway.  Tell me that you can cast the first stone at her for lying because you have never lied in your life.

That’s all I have to say folks.  A courageous humane person made a big mistake but the good that she did and still does should not be forgotten.  If you want to tell me how bad a person she is, tell me what you have done lately for the benefits of our Native brethren.  I don’t think all the awards and recognition that she received should be given back to her.  That is the past.  What I do believe is that she should be given a special award for White people who have contributed to Native American Causes.  Like the Jewish people have their “Yad Vashem” to recognize non-Jews who helped save or give their lives for Jews, perhaps we need a similar hall in our country for people who helped Native American causes or even gave their lives to protect Native Americans.  Here are two examples in case you are wondering if such people ever existed.

1. Samuel Worcester (1798–1859)

• A Christian missionary from Vermont who worked among the Cherokee.
• He defied Georgia state laws aimed at forcing the Cherokee off their lands and was arrested in 1831.
• His case, Worcester v. Georgia (1832), went to the Supreme Court, which sided with him and affirmed Cherokee sovereignty.
• Although he survived prison and lived out his life, he endured years of hardship and persecution for standing with the Cherokee at great personal risk.

2. Edmund D. Pepperman (1901–1930)

• A white civil rights attorney in Oklahoma who represented Native clients against oil companies and corrupt guardianship schemes during the allotment era.
• He was murdered in 1930 while investigating abuses connected to Osage oil wealth.
• His death highlighted the dangers faced by allies who tried to expose exploitation of Indigenous communities.

Buffy’s Song – A Poem by ChatGPT and John P. 

She sang not only with a voice,
but with the marrow of her bones—
a cry against forgetting,
a hymn for nations silenced.

In ballads of resistance,
she wove the stories hidden
beneath the treaties broken,
beneath the trails of tears.

Her guitar became a council fire,
her words—sharp arrows of truth,
piercing the walls of power,
lifting the dreams of the young.

She stood for the water,
for the mothers and the missing,
for children stolen by schools
that tried to burn away their tongues.

Scholar, warrior, poet,
she gave her strength to voices
that history tried to hush,
but could never erase.

Buffy sang of survival,
not as a whisper of sorrow,
but as a thundercloud rising,
a promise of dawn.

And still her song endures—
a river that refuses to dry,
a drum that will not fall silent,
a flame carried in countless hands.

For every child who learns their language,
for every elder whose story returns,
for every Indian standing proud—
her music lives,
a sovereign heartbeat,
forever strong.