# Buffy Sainte-Marie‘s Honorary Degree revoked **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 16, 2026, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110 "2026-05-16T07:13:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/21 "2026-05-17T20:40:16Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > [Sainte-Marie] could have done what (say) Ry Cooder did for Cuban musical culture in _Buena Vista Social Club_ (there are better analogies than this, but it’s the first one I thought of). Something akin to Peter Gabriel’s or Bono’s activism, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/22 "2026-05-17T21:29:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I think that most modern Americans do have some trace of native ancestry I question this. Perhaps US Christian Euro-Caucasian families that have been here for generations. There are certainly no claimes of the “Indian princess” trope in any of the Jewish families I know, nor for my Indian, Chinese, Korean, or Pakistani neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/23 "2026-05-17T21:39:44Z")
Certainly there are families composed entirely of recent Eurasian immigrants, who would be expected not to have any Native American ancestry, but they’ll be a minority. It’s not just “Christian Euro-Caucasian” families: African-Americans are also likely to have a native ancestor, and it’s almost guaranteed for Latin Americans. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/24 "2026-05-17T21:49:24Z")
This is closer to my understanding: > **[What it means to have “Native American DNA”\*](https://blog.23andme.com/articles/native-american-dna)** > > 23andMe Ancestry Product Scientist Samantha Esselmann explains what it means and doesn't mean to have Native American DNA. > **Around one million 23andMe research participants, including many who don’t identify as Indigenous, have evidence in their DNA of having an Indigenous American ancestor.** > > In 2015, 23andMe published a [study](https://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(14)00476-5) showing that over 5% of our research participants who identify as _African_ American have at least 2% DNA predicted to most closely match an Indigenous American reference population (and 22% are estimated to have at least 1% of this DNA). While self-identified European Americans are generally less likely to have Indigenous American genetic ancestry, the numbers vary widely from one state to the next: as many as 8% of European American customers from Louisiana carried at least 1% of this genetic ancestry. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/25 "2026-05-17T21:54:41Z")
> **[Buffy Sainte-Marie | Claim of Indigenous identity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_Sainte-Marie#Claim_of_Indigenous_identity)** > > Sainte-Marie claimed that she was born on the Piapot 75 reserve in the Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada, to Cree parents. She also claimed that, at the age of two or three, she was taken from her parents as part of the Sixties Scoop—a government policy started in 1951 (at which time she was in fact ten years old, not two or three), in which Indigenous children were removed from their families, communities, and cultures and placed with families not of First Nations heritage. Early in her ca... > Responding to the CBC report, the acting chief of the Piapot First Nation, Ira Lavallee, noted that despite her false claims of Indigenous ancestry, Sainte-Marie remained accepted, saying: “We do have one of our families in our community that did adopt her. Regardless of her ancestry, that adoption in our culture to us is legitimate.” That settles it for me. Yes, to me, you can assume the cultural identity of your adopted family. People do it all the time. > [@Chronos](#): > > Certainly there are families composed entirely of recent Eurasian immigrants, who would be expected not to have any Native American ancestry, but they’ll be a minority. My DNA test didnt show any. And my Great-great Grandfathers both immigrated, so not _very_ recent. Of course those DNA tests arent super accurate in the smaller percentages. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/26 "2026-05-17T21:58:29Z")
Right, like I said, for many, it’s at a level that wouldn’t be detected in a DNA test. Like, my family has pretty solid genealogical records that I’m 1/64 Shawnee, but that’s below the 2% threshold 23andMe referenced. And there are plenty of other families that don’t have as many nerds as my ancestors did to keep detailed records, just an oral tradition of “you know, we have a Native ancestor”. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/27 "2026-05-17T22:11:38Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > She also represented herself as a spokesperson for Native American issues. Which, y’know, **if** she actually believed that she was of Native American descent, was a fine thing for her to do. Using her personal success as an entertainer as an opportunity to boost visibility and representation of Native Americans is laudable. That said, if her advocacy was based on a mistaken (or worse, consciously fraudulent) misrepresentation of her own personal identity, then yeah, I think it’s completely legit to rescind the honorary degree(s) bestowed in recognition of it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/28 "2026-05-17T23:57:15Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Which, y’know, **if** she actually believed that she was of Native American descent, was a fine thing for her to do. Using her personal success as an entertainer as an opportunity to boost visibility and representation of Native Americans is laudable. > > That said, if her advocacy was based on a mistaken (or worse, consciously fraudulent) misrepresentation of her own personal identity, then yeah, I think it’s completely legit to rescind the honorary degree(s) bestowed in recognition of it. Well, she was adopted and accepted by the Piapot First Nation. So, she was a Native American, by adoption if not by blood. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2026, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/29 "2026-05-18T00:08:08Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > So, she was a Native American, by adoption if not by blood. Not what she claimed for decades though ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2026, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/30 "2026-05-18T00:45:23Z")
Since 1961. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2026, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/31 "2026-05-18T01:07:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > just an oral tradition of “you know, we have a Native ancestor”. My mother’s family. But none of the genealogical research she did ever turned one up. (I think the last one of her ancestors came over from Europe in the late 1700s. One of them lived in New Amsterdam.) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2026, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/32 "2026-05-18T01:26:14Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Kimstu](#): > > > > Which, y’know, **if** she actually believed that she was of Native American descent, was a fine thing for her to do. Using her personal success as an entertainer as an opportunity to boost visibility and representation of Native Americans is laudable. > > > > That said, if her advocacy was based on a mistaken (or worse, consciously fraudulent) misrepresentation of her own personal identity, then yeah, I think it’s completely legit to rescind the honorary degree(s) bestowed in recognition of it. > > Well, she was adopted and accepted by the Piapot First Nation. So, she was a Native American, by adoption if not by blood. She was “adopted” as an adult. She had already been lying about her background. And the Piapot’s are Canadian. She claimed to be First Nations Canadian. She is neither. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2026, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/33 "2026-05-18T01:39:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I think that most modern Americans do have some trace of native ancestry, but it’s often far back enough that any genetic evidence would be lost in the noise. In general, if someone says “My grandma told us that we’re part Cherokee, five generations back”, or the like, there’s no real reason to doubt them. I worked at an archive many years ago, and part of my job was helping our patrons do geneaological research. Nothing particularly advanced, but I was able to point them in the right direction. When someone claimed Native American ancestry, I’d tell them it’s sometimes hard to prove that on paper. A lot of people lied to the census taker about their race or they never registered for any tribal roll. I believe the Cherokee are the most numerous tribe these days, so it’s a popular choice for ancetry. I do remember one visitor, an African American guy, who came in to do some research and he story sounded like a western. His grandfather, who lived to 100 and was a Buffalo Soldier, was married to an Arapaho woman. I was gobsmacked when his research was able to confirm the family legends. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2026, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/34 "2026-05-18T02:20:04Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > A lot of people lied to the census taker about their race or they never registered for any tribal roll. One complicating factor, of course, was that there was an incentive for mixed white/black people to claim to instead be Native American, as a more socially-acceptable explanation for darker-than-white skin. On the other hand, though, there are also stories like your Buffalo Soldier, or escaped slaves who joined Native tribes. Actual mixing was never exactly rare. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2026, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/35 "2026-05-18T03:13:17Z")
My great grandma claimed 1/8 Native ancestry, and we had some jewelry that had supposedly been passed down from it. I never doubted it at all until I grew up and learned that it was often dubious, and proclaimed myself 1/64 Native American for a bit as a kid when it came up. I never have a problem with anyone making those claims. But this woman reminds me of that guy who pretended to be a Native in Hollywood for years, being their Native consultant on so much horribly racist stuff. His name was Jackie Marks, and called himself Jamake Highwater. > **[Jamake Highwater](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamake_Highwater)** > > Jamake Mamake Highwater (born Jackie Marks; February 13, 1931 – June 3, 2001), also known as "J Marks", was an American writer and journalist of Eastern European Jewish ancestry who mispresented himself as Cherokee. > In the late 1960s, Marks assumed a false Native identity, claiming to be Cherokee, used the name "Jamake Highwater" for his writings. As Highwater, he wrote and published more than 30 fiction and non-fiction books on music, art, poetry, and history. His children's novel Anpao: An A... ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2026, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/36 "2026-05-18T04:21:38Z")
My sister’s former mother-in-law claimed to be part Native. I knew it was likely bullshit but whatever. Her (former husband) was all about it and actually thought that his and my sister’s kids could use their ancestry to get college scholarships which is obviously bullshit but whatever. My niece did a 23&Me and there was zero Native blood, not even the courtesy 1.2%. She was sure there was some sort of mistake. Haha. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2026, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/37 "2026-05-18T04:34:38Z")
I have zero Native American ancestry but rather a lot of native New Zealand ancestry, i.e. Maori, via my Dad. But culturally, though my Maori side was heavily acknowledged wherever necessary, I look and behave as bland caucasian as my Mother’s side of the family. It’s all a bit nebulous from where I stand. What does it all mean anyway? You get out of it what you put into it. My parentage has little bearing on anything, it’s upbringing that matters. ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2026, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/38 "2026-05-18T12:43:51Z")
Sometimes folks manage to pull this shit off. Alec Baldwin’s wife was an “influencer” who presented a rather exotic Latin identity as “Ilaria” until she got outed by the folks she grew up with in Boston as plain old white girl Hillary. She toughed it out through the mocking and outrage and now she has a whole TV series dedicated to presenting her as Supermom. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2026, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/39 "2026-05-18T15:41:26Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > My great grandma claimed 1/8 Native ancestry, I’m supposedly 1/16 of some tribe in the Pacific Northwest via a woman with a rather unusual surname. Closest we’ve ever come to verification is a woman with the same unusual name in a census record. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2026, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110/40 "2026-05-18T15:45:40Z")
1/16 of some tribe?? I would propose, either the tribe accepts you as one of theirs, or they do not. Or is like those “who is a Jew/true Scotman” where there will never be a consensus? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-sainte-marie-s-honorary-degree-revoked/1030110.md?page=3)