This is just our thoughts on what should be a more nuanced conversation…
When asked about the recent controversy surrounding Buffy’s blood quantum, we can only say that the sensationalist and journalistically lopsided exposé that triggered it lacked integrity or any much-needed nuance. The CBC’s Fifth Estate did not speak to/of any Cree Nations, nor any relatives not accused of (or directly related to) her alleged abusers. This remains a baffling omission for our beloved broadcaster, known for journalistic integrity. We feel deeply for the pain this has – rightfully – caused so many. Indigenous peoples have been through quite enough pain on the pretendian front. Sadly, the lateral violence and proliferation of outrage-inducing bots and trolls have made any thoughtful discussion on this topic nearly impossible. We will put our thoughts here for when we don’t have the energy or the safe space to discuss it at length.
Our concept of identity has changed so very much over the years. Some humans defy identification by traditional means, and we believe Buffy to fall into this category. After 60 years of living and giving within the Indigenous community, marrying an indigenous man, having an indigenous child, being adopted and still claimed by the Piapot First Nation, the historical reality of regularly fudged birth documents to protect families, as well as family mysteries we will never know the real truth of, for us there remains room for doubt on both sides. Buffy always said that she didn’t know exactly where she came from or have any proof of her story and beliefs of her origins. The media ran with her origin story as fact. With her parents dead, nobody can know what the truth really is at this point.
We do know that we believe women when they say they were abused, especially by family members – something we have some experience with. Buffy has long said that she was abused by two relatives, not naming her older brother until 2019 to spare family members the pain of discovery. Of obviously related interest, Buffy released ‘The Incest Song’ in April 1964 (about a brother raping his sister) on her first studio album ‘It’s My Way’. An unpopular choice then as it remains now, it was an odd inclusion to an otherwise accessible album, and this was also noted by reviewers. Later that very same year, her uncle wrote a letter to the papers to discredit her claims of Indigenous heritage in December 1964. Her brother then wrote letters to the newspapers from 1972-1975. What an odd campaign for close family members – but not her parents – to spend their time on? The private letter from Buffy to her alleged abuser/brother, asking him to stop his campaign, was written in 1975. In all these many decades her parents and sister never spoke out regarding her heritage.
Might there be a more subtle reason for her confusion around heritage? Did her mother provide room for doubt? Perhaps relating to paternity rather than maternity? Might someone crave to be unrelated to their abusers? We will likely never know for sure. The call for Buffy to take and share the results of a DNA test would predictably lead to a call for all those who apply for Indigenous awards or funding, to be prompted or required to share their DNA (gathered by unregulated corporations) in order to be eligible. This possibility is far too colonial for this time in history, if ever. And as many survivors of incest and children of murderers, as well as those who were adopted will testify, we are not defined by our blood.
Did she take up space that would otherwise have been claimed by Indigenous artists? The fact is, along with Shingoose and Elaine Bomberry, Buffy lobbied the Junos to create an Indigenous category in the early 1990s. She was in her late 60s – and 40 years into her career – before winning any Indigenous awards in Canada.
When asked by Sesame Street to appear on an episode of the show, she said she would only do it if they included a more permanent representation of Indigenous culture – and they did. When asked to appear in the TV series The Virginian, she made her appearance conditional that all Indigenous roles be filled by Indigenous actors (unheard of at the time), and so they did. Beginning in 1969, she founded her Nihewan Foundation for American Indian Education, providing scholarships for Indigenous studies and Indigenous students, two of whom became presidents of tribal colleges. To add to that, her Cradleboard Teaching Project provided accurate core curriculum including science, government and geography based in Indigenous cultural perspectives, for all grade levels. We don’t think it debateable that she did decades of important work advocating for Indigenous Peoples. It begs the question – could she have done all that if she didn’t identify as Indigenous? Would clarifying her identity at any point have risked undoing all of that work?
The Canadian conundrum – was Buffy Canadian? Many were shocked and felt betrayed to find out that Buffy was not a Canadian citizen (dual or otherwise). Buffy has lived in the US for far too long for any questions regarding her citizenship to be anything more than willful ignorance. It took us exactly one email to her management team while making this record to confirm that she was not a Canadian citizen. Anyone who did not check that first must have themselves found some greater benefit to claiming her. Both of her Polaris Prizes and all of her Junos (as well as her Order of Canada) were taken back, though few are asking why either organization awarded them to her in the first place. She made her citizenship completely clear to Canadian officials when she was asked to sing for Queen Elizabeth in 1977, and has lived in the US for many decades. Did they claim she was Canadian when it suited them? Meanwhile that lack of due diligence on their part, has added to the story of willful deception on her part.
Buffy did not benefit from being perceived as Indigenous nearly as much as she did from having at least three of her songs covered in her early days by white people such as Donovan, Elvis, Neil Diamond, Glen Campbell, Barbra Streisand, and Joe Cocker with Jennifer Warnes. As far as we can tell they did not cover her songs because she was indigenous – as this did not come up interviews – they did it for the songs themselves. Fact is they rarely let it be known who the writer was in their promotions. Even the Smithsonian Magazine, when photographing the lyrics to Universal Soldier written on the wall at a soldier’s bedside, labelled her song as ‘author unknown’. If it was fame she was after with this ‘persona’, then why would she avoid all the social networking opportunities that fame requires? One of her reasons being that she did not drink alcohol, and also that she saw folk music and her inflammatory political advocacy as being outside the commercialized music business and preferred the connection to grassroots movements and personal expression. These are not the actions of a fame seeker. Worth noting that at the time that Buffy was born and raised, Italians were still just coming out of being seen as non-white ‘new immigrants’, with their pathway to acceptance often reliant on their joining in on racism and reinforcing the stereotypes of blacks as the lesser race. This was not the path that she chose.
These questions above, and her many decades of advocacy, are reason enough to believe that Buffy deserves the benefit of the doubt about her motivations, if not her blood quantum. Considering her age, retired status, and the devastation this exposé caused the Indigenous community, we have to ask – who did benefit from this revelation? It clearly wasn’t Indigenous people. What voice was silenced by it? One that could have reached Indigenous communities across North America at a time when broken treaties and greed around land and resources threatens to further erase Indigenous rights and culture. This beyond the recognized systematic efforts at genocide perpetrated by our government and churches since the birth of this country we call Canada.
They say that folks like Buffy and Thomas King had their work accepted and supported because their privileged up bringing better suited the colonial power system. When we speak of lived experience being the true marker of Indigeneity, then do we make it about blood quantum then, and not acts of service and connection to the community? Is it enough to have indigenous blood, yet due to adoption or other circumstances, live a life with no contribution, or study, or acceptance of the truth of indigenous culture? What defines our identity?
If someone feels that Buffy, and all of her work, should be cancelled due to this controversy, then they do not need to listen to this album. If anyone would like to enter into a dialog with us on the appropriateness of this release, we only ask that they do listen to the album first. Particularly the last song, an original penned to explain one of the many reasons we made, and decided to release, this tribute. Our main reason being, that Buffy has written some of the most beautiful, inspiring and enduring songs, and we wanted to share them fans as well as those that might not be aware of her dynamic catalog. During the pandemic Reid decided he no longer wanted to release cover albums, and instead focus on original music, but he did not want to exit that arena without first having included a female artist in his tribute collection. When asking ourselves which female artist did we admire the most, as an artist and a human, our answer was a resounding BUFFY. Recording began in January of 2022. When the exposé came out on October 27, 2023, we were understandably devastated and paused our mixing, only to find that we could not abandon these songs, or this woman. Though we understand that this reminder of a hurtful practice, the very real exploitation of Indigenous Peoples, we have made the incredibly difficult decision to release this album on Buffy’s 85th birthday to remind us that there are many ways to show up for our fellow humans and artists in this world. That was her way. This is our way.
PROMO NOTE: In an effort to reduce adding any trauma to what should be a more nuanced conversation, there will be no media release or newsletter mention, no tour to support this release, and no interviews will be given. We kindly ask that folks listen to the album before commenting. And if fans want to share our Buffy album, please share with care to avoid retraumatizing innocent people.
CVM+Reido
* Please note that CVM has taken steps to contribute to Truth and Reconciliation by completing the 12 week Indigenous Canada course at University of Alberta. Both Reido and CVM have been actively reading Indigenous authors, taking workshops, and remembering the many things that Buffy tried to tell us over the years.
