Elizabeth Warren: Sorry, not sorry about heritage claims
By Joe Dwinell
Boston Herald
February 2, 2019
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has apologized to the chief of the Cherokee Nation for her botched DNA test in a move that comes one week before her “big” announcement about her anticipated 2020 presidential run — without mentioning her long history of claiming strong Native American heritage.
A spokeswoman for the tribe confirmed to the Herald that Warren called Bill John Baker, principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, Thursday to accept blame for the October ancestry test. Warren’s amends was narrow and addressed only the DNA test, not decades of claiming Native American tribal blood in her family’s roots.
Warren had long claimed deep Indian links, including stories of her parents eloping due to discrimination. Her DNA test, however, indicated a possible Native American ancestor six to 10 generations back — which would make her between 1/64th and 1/1,024th Indian.
Warren also tweeted Thursday that she will make a “BIG announcement about my 2020 plans” next Saturday, prompting political watchers to suggest she’s repairing past mistakes as she campaigns to take on President Trump. Trump’s goading had prompted her to take the DNA test.
“Her mistake was getting her back up over the ancestry issue to begin with,” said Democratic consultant Scott Ferson, though he added the apology may work.
Trump has repeatedly jumped on Warren’s Cherokee tale, first reported by the Herald in 2012, mockingly calling her “Pocahontas.” Warren released the DNA analysis from 23 and Me last fall about her claims of Native American heritage.
The Cherokee Nation, which bases membership on kinship and cultural ties with the tribe, had rejected the idea of DNA test as proof of membership, knocking both Warren and Trump over the entire mess. Now, the tribe appears ready to move on.
“We are encouraged by this dialogue and understanding that being a Cherokee Nation tribal citizen is rooted in centuries of culture and laws not through DNA tests,” Cherokee Nation’s Executive Director of Communications Julie Hubbard said in a statement. “We are encouraged by her action and hope that the slurs and mockery of tribal citizens and Indian history and heritage will now come to an end.”
The Cherokee Nation had criticized Warren right after her DNA test in October, saying the test was “useless.”
Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. said in October that the test does not “determine tribal citizenship.” He wrote this week in an Oklahoma paper that “Elizabeth Warren can be a friend, but she isn’t a Cherokee citizen.”
The Herald reported Warren’s ancestry claims in 2012 during her Senate race against Republican Scott Brown. The story has stuck with her ever since, along with claims she used her alleged heritage to land jobs. Warren had listed herself as a minority in professional registries in the 1980s and ’90s.
The controversy has resonated with voters. Her first question at an Iowa political forum last month was about her DNA test. She admitted then: “I am not a person of color. I am not a citizen of a tribe.”
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