June 7, 2026

Bye-bye, Buffy: True Indigenous representation is all around us now

By Sonya Ballantyne

Source: Michael Borkson, Wikimedia Commons

Espera Oscar de Corti, or Iron Eyes Cody, was an Italian American actor who became famous playing an Indigenous person. He would appear (in public at least) as what the general public expected a Native person to look like: long hair in braids, buckskin clothes, and moccasins on their feet. 

Beverley Jean Santamaria, or Buffy Sainte-Marie, a Massachusetts-born musician of Italian and English descent who became famous for her appearances on Sesame Street. Hired to present Native American programming, she aimed to show children that Indigenous people "still existed”. She’d wear feathers in her hair and occasionally play a hand drum. 

Public figures like Buffy and Iron Eyes were the only media representation of Indigenous peoples. 

It was why it was so shocking when it was revealed that after a career of ensuring people knew Indians still existed, Buffy was not Indigenous. Recently, the University of Toronto revoked Buffy’s honourary degree, following in the steps of Dalhousie University, which did the same. 

Identity fraud such as this should be treated as the crime it is. Especially in cases where it resulted in monetary awards meant for Indigenous people. 

In 2019, to commemorate Barbie's 60th, Mattel contacted Cree filmmaker Sonya Ballantyne about being a Canadian Barbie role model. Source: Sonya Ballantyne, Facebook.

Buffy and Iron Eyes as Indigenous icons are a part of our past. In our present, we have Indigenous icons like Michael Greyeyes, Tasha Hubbard, Martha Troian, and others who proudly show that Indians still exist. I myself was named a Barbie Role Model by Mattel in 2019, and I was the first Swampy Cree person to speak on a panel at San Diego Comic Con. 

We no longer need to search for crumbs of Indigenous representation, as we have it all around us and could always use more. And these conversations of ensuring Indigenous ancestry is not a cloak that one can put on and off at will depending on the financial benefits are ones that continue to be needed. 

Sonya Ballantyne (She/They) is a Swampy Cree writer and filmmaker originally from Misipawistik Cree Nation in Northern Manitoba. Her work focuses on non-traditional genres such as horror, sci-fi, and fantasy and focuses on Indigenous women and girls.