A recent episode of The Fifth Estate brought Buffy Ste Marie’s ethnic identity into question. We sought the definitive word on the iconic singer’s heritage by asking six of the whitest people we could find.
“As in, the vampire slayer? Did I miss the season when they established she’s Native?” Melissa Jensens, Calgary
“God, I hope so. I added her to my Spotify after the BLM protests made me realize I only listen to white people, and I don’t want to go through the bother of finding another Indigenous musician to soothe my conscience.” Mercer Workman, St. John’s
“She definitely is, and I can say this with certainty because I chastise people for using the term ‘spirit animal’ and make a point of looking solemn during land acknowledgements” Evelyn Graves-McKenzie, Vancouver
“Either way, this’ll be great for a bit in my stand-up, which consists entirely of jokes about someone identifying as something.” Braden Fleck, Toronto
“Yes, absolutely. Case closed.” – Buffy Ste Marie, USA
“Let’s keep our national attention on this one issue, since there isn’t anything pertinent happening anywhere else in the world.” – Justin Trudeau, Ottawa
