Cherokee Nation: "Senator Warren is undermining tribal interests..."

. . . Secretary of State for the Cherokee Nation issues statement on Warren's DNA test results

Cherokee Nation Sec. of State Chuck Hoskin Jr.

by Aaron Simms: Senator Elizabeth Warren (D - Mass) released the results of a DNA test yesterday in which she made the strained claim that because she potentially is 1/64th to 1/1024th Native American she is therefore of Native American heritage (the test compared her DNA to sample DNA from Latin and South America). Most news reports reported this as "strong" or "conclusive" evidence of her claims, although sharp-eyed readers were quick to note the fact that the actual report is not as strong or conclusive as Warren or her media allies are trying to make it out to be.

The Cherokee Nation has also weighed in on the matter. Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. issued the following statement:


A DNA test is useless to determine tribal citizenship. Current DNA tests do not even distinguish whether a person's ancestors were indigenous to North or South America. Sovereign tribal nations set their own legal requirements for citizenship, and while DNA tests can be used to determine lineage, such as paternity to an individual, it is not evidence for tribal affiliation. Using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong. It makes a mockery out of DNA tests and its legitimate uses while also dishonoring legitimate tribal governments and their citizens, whose ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is proven. Senator Warren is undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage.Regardless of whether or not Warren has some percentage of Native American blood flowing through her veins, is the test and her strained explanations not missing the point? She is not involved in the Native American community and hasn't lived within the community; even if she has some minute fraction of blood in her system, she is not Native American. In fact, a Native American self-described "democratic socialist" recently wrote an article bringing up these and similar points, asking Warren where she's been if she is actually Native American, because she hasn't been there for them.

This wouldn't be an issue if Warren hadn't tried to capitalize on her supposed heritage for decades. A 2012 article by Politico noted that a 1997 Fordham Law Review piece called her "Harvard Law School's 'first woman of color.'" Another article noted that "she listed herself as a minority law teacher for nearly a decade from 1986 to 1995," due to her heritage.

Probably the worst thing Warren could have done is what she has now, in fact done: release a DNA test with a tenuous claim to a satirically small amount of Native American heritage that is rejected by Native American authorities anyway.
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Aaron Simms (simmswrites) is an author, writer, pastor & contributes to The Resurgent.

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