CBC Documentary with original birth certificate, family photos and home movies and, in her own words, many clips and signed statements from Sainte-Marie over the decades showing her changing backstory as well as confirming she is actually an Italian-American woman, born Beverly Santamaria, raised by her birth parents in Massachusetts.
Investigating Buffy Sainte-Marie’s claims to Indigenous ancestry - The Fifth EstateNon-Natives and those unfamiliar with the reasons for boycotting commercial DNA tend to immediately demand a DNA test. Well, she doesn't need to take one. Her son took one, as did her sister. The tests confirmed her son is her "adopted" sister's nephew - which confirms the paper trail - Buffy/Beverly was not scooped or adopted as a child. She is the biological child of the same Italian/English couple in suburban Massachusetts who raised her. The sister is her biological sister. Family members tried to tell people, but she threatened them with lawsuits and worse.
This article by Acee Agoyo goes into the DNA, and other details:
Canadian documentary focuses on ‘Icon’ who based career on Native identityI have seen the sister's gedcom results. "Ethnicity percentages" results are not reliable for detecting Native ancestors, as the companies have very few samples from Native American donors, and much of what they have was taken unethically. What they mark as "Amerindian" can also be misread Central Asian or Indigenous from other parts of the world. There is no way to confirm they are Native American markers unless the person also matches as a relative on those chromosomes with Native relatives whose full ancestral makeup is known beyond any doubt.
That said, the sister's "Amerindian" percentage varied from .41% to .53%. Results of less than 1% are regarded as "background noise" by most companies. They are not a reliable indicator of Native ancestry, even if any legitimate community did go by the one drop rule (and they don't).
I only mention this tiny bit as some are grasping at straws so hard they're claiming that this dubious, potential, less than one drop makes her Native. It doesn't. That's just not how it works. Or that the Piapot adoption does. All the adoption does is make her a member of that family, it doesn't change who her ancestors and birth family are, what the first 20 years of her life were like, or the fact that Piapot couple were lied to, and led to believe she was a returning member of their community. That adoption of a famous person took place under limited information and false pretenses. While I think most everyone respects the rights of the current Piapot community to decide what that means now, I think we all know the context needs to be kept in mind.
Adding print version of CBC investigation, which has copies of birth certificate and other images:
Who is the real Buffy Sainte-Marie?Buffy Sainte-Marie’s claims to Indigenous ancestry are being contradicted by members of the iconic singer-songwriter’s own family and an extensive CBC investigation.
By Geoff Leo, Roxanna Woloshyn and Linda Guerriero
