Birth Name: Katherine Laverne Starks
Place of Birth: Dougherty, Oklahoma, United States
Date of Birth: July 21, 1922
Ethnicity:
*Iroquois Native American (father)
*Irish, Choctaw Native American (mother)
Kay Starr is an American singer. She was a well known pop and jazz singer in the ’40s and ’50s. Kay is the daughter of Annie Mae (Coll) and Harry (Asa, according to some sources) Starks.
Various claims have been made about Kay’s ancestry. Some sources state that her father was a “full-blooded Iroquois Indian” (sometimes born on a reservation). About her mother, it has been said that her ancestry was either fully Native American (often Choctaw, Cherokee, or both), Irish, or mixed Irish and Native American. Kay’s maternal grandfather was Irish. Other than that, it is not clear if any of these claims are true. Kay’s parents were both listed as “White” on the 1930 census.
In this clip, Kay appears to confirm the interviewer’s breakdown of her ethnicity: “You are a Cherokee Indian, actually you’re not quite a Cherokee Indian because your father was Iroquois, (and) your mother was half Choctaw.”
Kay is most likely of at least part Native American descent, but to what degree is not clear.
Kay’s maternal grandparents were Edward D. Coll and Matilda Deel. Edward was born in Ireland. Matilda was born in Texas.
Sources: Kay Starr on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Genealogy of Kay Starr (focusing on her mother’s side) – https://www.geni.com