The Democratic National Committee (DNC) featured Elizabeth Warren on its Native American panel Tuesday on the second day of its virtual convention.
Warren’s political career has been followed by controversy about her self-identification as a Cherokee Indian. For decades she justified her claim to Native American ancestry in the absence of any evidence because she had “high cheek bones like all of the Indians do.” The Massachusetts senator went as far as to contribute recipes to an Indian cookbook titled “Pow Wow Chow,” labeling herself as a Cherokee under each.
When gearing up for a presidential run in fall 2018, Warren released the results of a DNC test in an attempt to prove her ancestry after years of mockery from political rivals including President Donald Trump, who nicknamed the leftist senator “Pocahontas.”
The results failed to offer any proof of Warren descending from Native Americans, let alone the Cherokee tribe. The test merely revealed there was “strong evidence” to suggest she might have one Native American relative from six to 10 generations ago in her family history. Therefore, if she were to have a Native American relative, Warren would only be anywhere from 1/65 to 1/1,024 Native American, which is less than the average American today.
The Cherokee Nation, long offended by Warren’s ancestral claim to tribal ancestry, demanded Warren apologize in the aftermath of the test results and rescind her false assertions of blood association with the Native group. Warren has since apologized several times and said she no longer identifies as an American Indian. Yet still the DNC put her on its Native American panel today.
