Elizabeth Warren has no credible claims to Native American heritage. Warren’s DNA results have not proven her assertions of identifying as Native American. Yet she still portrays herself as having proven something with this “evidence” and demands attention and recognition. In reality, Warren has proven nothing other than the fact that she has once again claimed to be something she has no right to, in order to further her own personal agenda.
Warren has demonstrated a severe lack of knowledge about the workings of a culture she claims to belong to. What she fails to understand is that genetic ancestry does not equal identity. Just because her family tree has traces of a Native American ancestor, doesn't mean she has the right to appropriate that identity for her own political gain. She did not grow up in the community or live in their ways, which denotes her as an outsider without the authority to self-proclaim herself into it.
Warren’s mindset is dangerously outdated and inappropriate. After years of colonial and racial oppression, as well as a systematic near-genocidal campaign by the American people, for her now to claim Native American ancestry is an issue to be evaluated carefully.
Her reliance on her DNA testing as proof is of concern as well. Within the Native American community, tribal identity is more about cultural identity than biology. There is no distinct DNA identity by tribe, and her reliance on such a test to comfortably support her claims is appalling.
More atrociously is the manner in which Warren has appropriated this identity for her own benefit in both her personal and private life. She has repeatedly listed herself as Native American in many professional settings, from the Association of American Law Schools directory, to the University of Pennsylvania Law School, to Harvard Law School. She has consistently listed herself as Native American in her applications and hiring materials. In their defense, Harvard insisted that her ancestry did not play a role in their hiring decisions.
However, in 1996 a piece in Fordham Law review promoted Elizabeth Warren as Harvard Law School’s first “woman of color” when scrutinized about the school’s lack of diversity.
Furthermore, in a feature for a cookbook titled "Pow Wow Chow," Elizabeth Warren not only apparently plagiarized recipes from others, including a French chef, but also signed her name as “Elizabeth Warren — Cherokee.” Moving past the title of the cookbook, which again is literally "Pow Wow Chow," the audacity Warren had to not only plagiarize recipes, but to once again promote herself as part Native American is astounding.
The most surprising part in the situation is Warren’s attitude toward the entire incident. After releasing the results, she has paraded around the media as if she has proven something, carrying an attitude of having “won” this battle with President Trump. The fact that her mindset is utilizing this lack of evidence as a win further demonstrates how she is using this for her own personal agenda.
Warren has no identifiable Native American ancestor, no affiliation with any clan or involvement within the community, nor any connections to the language and culture. She did find a slight shadow of a connection from generations ago, comparable to the average American’s, and has extorted and amplified it for her own political gain. The unsettling truth is that this potential future presidential candidate has inappropriately taken advantage of an identity she has no right to. Instead of claiming victory and demanding Trump pay, Warren should acknowledge she has been wrongfully identifying herself for years and has played herself into proving herself wrong.