A shocking Canadian documentary has recently surfaced, shedding new light on the life of renowned singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie. The film presents compelling evidence, including official documents and family interviews, which suggest that the celebrated indigenous icon was actually born in Massachusetts to a white couple.
This groundbreaking documentary also reveals a disturbing allegation that the Oscar winner accused her older brother of sexual abuse. Allegedly, her brother had informed producers of the popular children’s show Sesame Street that she was misrepresenting her family history and heritage.
CBC News reports that they have obtained a birth certificate for Sainte-Marie that states she was born in 1941 in Stoneham, Massachusetts, rather than in Canada to a Cree woman, as she has claimed. Surprisingly, the document reveals that both she and her parents are listed as white.
For years, Sainte-Marie, now 82 years old, has maintained that the Canadian government removed her from her birthplace and placed her for adoption with Albert and Winifred Santamaria, who raised her in New England.
However, the CBC unveils additional evidence that supports the documentary’s claims. An insurance policy taken out by Winifred Santamaria for Buffy, then known as Beverly, attests to her birth in Stoneham in 1941. Furthermore, her older brother Alan also recorded the same birthplace on his military enrollment papers in 1956.
In 1982, Buffy Sainte-Marie’s marriage certificate, obtained from Los Angeles County, states that she was born on Feb. 20, 1941, in Massachusetts to Albert and Winifred St. Marie.
Heidi St. Marie, Buffy’s niece and Alan’s daughter, boldly asserts, “She wasn’t born in Canada. She’s clearly born in the United States. She’s clearly not Indigenous or Native American.”
Adding to the intrigue, it appears that whistle-blowers have surfaced in the past. The CBC team discovered a 1964 article from the Wakefield Daily Item, where Buffy’s paternal uncle challenged a Look magazine profile that claimed she was of Indian descent.
“After reading the story, I thought I should come down and tell you the truth about Buffy,” he stated. “She doesn’t sound in this magazine story like the girl who grew up here.” He emphatically stated that his niece “has no Indian blood in her.”
In addition, the CBC uncovered a scathing letter from Buffy to her brother, written after he allegedly informed a PBS producer that she was white. The letter, which drew a stern rebuke from her legal team, accuses Alan of ongoing sexual abuse during her childhood. She states, “According to my memories and childhood diaries, you are nothing but a child molester and a sadist.”
Buffy Sainte-Marie eventually went public with her claims of abuse, but only after her brother’s death.
In anticipation of the documentary’s release, Buffy released a statement earlier this week, where she expressed deep hurt in response to the allegations. She acknowledged that she does not know her exact birthplace or the identity of her birth parents, but emphasized that she knows who she loves and who loves her. Despite the uncertainty surrounding her origins, she firmly identifies with her indigenous heritage and her profound connection to the community that has shaped her life and work. Throughout her career, she has dedicated herself to advocating for indigenous and Native American causes when others could not or would not.
Her attorney, Josephine de Whytell, has maintained that “at no point has Buffy Sainte-Marie personally misrepresented her ancestry or any details about her personal history to the public.” De Whytell has also downplayed the significance of the birth certificate, noting that adopted children in Massachusetts often received new birth certificates with the names of their adoptive parents.
Contrary to this explanation, the CBC counters that the birth certificates in Stoneham were numbered chronologically, and Buffy Sainte-Marie’s certificate displays a number corresponding to a filing in 1941.
