“She wasn’t born in Canada.… She’s clearly born in the United States,” said Heidi St. “Take me back to where my heart belongs - Qu’Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan,” the lyrics say.īut some members of Sainte-Marie’s family believe her story is built on an elaborate fabrication. Sainte-Marie, whose music career took off in New York City’s Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, even wrote a song about her Saskatchewan connection. She has said later in life, she was reunited with her Piapot relatives and adopted into the community. Then, her story goes, she was adopted by a Massachusetts couple, Albert and Winifred Santamaria, who raised her near Boston. In a 1986 interview with the Los Angeles Times Magazine, she said: “I was born on the Piapot Cree reservation near Craven, Sask.” It’s theft of our stories,” she said.įor many years, Sainte-Marie claimed she was born on the Piapot First Nation near Regina.įor example, in the 1971 Buffy Sainte-Marie Songbook, which she wrote and illustrated, Sainte-Marie said: “When I go home to the Cree reserve in Canada where I was born, I usually spend a few hours of every day teaching the Cree language.” Indigenous scholars like Kim TallBear, a professor of Native studies at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and a member of Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, say it’s unacceptable for non-Indigenous people to speak for Indigenous people and take honours set aside for them.

Watch the full documentary, “Making an Icon,” from The Fifth Estate on YouTube or CBC-TV at 9 p.m.She is the latest high-profile public figure whose ancestry story has been contradicted by genealogical documentation, including her own birth certificate, historical research and personal accounts - the latest chapter in the complex and growing debate around Indigenous identity in Canada. Late last year, CBC received a tip that Sainte-Marie is not of Cree ancestry but, in fact, has European roots. However, almost 50 years after stepping onto Sesame Street, the iconic singer-songwriter’s claims to Indigenous ancestry are being contradicted by members of her own family and an extensive CBC investigation. In 2022, CBC broadcast a concert that was held in her honour at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, where Anishinabe musician ShoShona Kish told the audience: “Buffy Sainte-Marie has led the way for Indigenous music on this beautiful land since her first album.” She has also allowed herself to be celebrated as an Indigenous icon and success story. Throughout the day, talk through the small acts of kindness you are doing or planning (“I’m going to get this large bag of rice because it’s on sale, and give half to _ since they have a harder time getting to the store.”).From the early days of her career, Sainte-Marie has claimed to be a Cree woman, born in Canada.Sticking to a task when it’s hard requires persistence as well as recognizing and managing emotions-help children label their feelings (anger, frustration, disappointment) and let them know that they will not feel that way forever.

For instance, you might say, “I’m so tired after that neighborhood meeting, I’m going to take a break for a half hour before I think about the problem we were trying to solve together.” The bigger the challenge, the more opportunity children may have to learn and remember how you worked through it, especially as part of a team. It’s good to keep thinking of more ideas that will work until you find something.

Acknowledge that there are some problems which people disagree about how to fix, and it often takes several tries to get it right.

I’m going to take three deep breaths,” “Organizing these papers feels like too much for me right now! I’m going to work on them for 10 more minutes, then come back tomorrow when I’m feeling better.”) Talk through your own challenging moments and how you’re dealing with them (“I’m feeling so frustrated by this traffic jam.

It’s okay if children see you struggling! Watch this video in which Abby’s mom admitted how she was feeling.

Print this page and help children complete it.

Sesame street i'm a little airplane