My sister, cousins, and I all believed that our great grandmother was half Cherokee. It was easy to believe, our ancestors were settlers in the frontier region of the Carolinas in the 1700s.

In fact, there is a town named after one of my relatives which is within walking distance of the Cherokee Reservation.

source google maps

I would have gladly wagered that our Indian heritage was true, but alas, multiple genetic tests have proved that our ancestors were Europeans. It was a romantic notion I proudly shared with friends, family and acquaintances over the years, but now we all accept that it wasn't true. Thankfully, although I heard the shared family tradition of my Cherokee great grandmother countless times, I never claimed it on any university or employment applications.

Nonetheless, I can identify with Elizabeth Warren, indeed it's not uncommon for Americans from the South and the South West to believe they have Native American ancestry. I'm even willing to concede that she believed it to be true when she allowed herself to be listed as a minority in the Association of American Law Schools Directory of Faculty in 1986, the year before she joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. It stayed that way until 1995 when she got tenure at the Harvard Law School. See Washington Post

Doubling Down on a 99.9% Unsure Thing

Once genetic testing became available, especially given the fact that conventional genealogy offers no support for her claims of Native American ancestry, she should have quietly been tested a decade ago. After receiving the results she could have issued an apology something like this:

Despite the oral traditions of Native American ancestors in my family tree, a recent DNA test has shown that this is not the case. Although I honestly believed it, I deeply regret my unintentional spreading of false and misleading information about my heritage. I sincerely apologize to the Cherokee nations and Native American people in general, and you can be assured I will continue to do everything in my capacity to make this right. I would welcome the opportunity to apologize to you in person and learn what I can do to right this wrong.

What she did instead was a slick PR campaign with a professional video complete with musical soundtrack doubling down on her bogus claim. A compliant (ideologically aligned) media was more than ready to offer cover – despite the fact that she has 99.9% European ancestry.

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CNN to the Rescue with “Strong Evidence”

But Warren now has documentation to back up her family lore -- an analysis of her genetic data performed by Carlos Bustamante, a professor of genetics at Stanford and adviser to Ancestry and 23 and Me. In a rollout video about Warren's heritage, the Massachusetts Democrat is seen sitting behind a laptop as she calls Bustamante. "Now, the President likes to call my mom a liar," Warren asks him. "What do the facts say?" Bustamante responds, "The facts suggest that you absolutely have a Native American ancestor in your pedigree." Warren is shown nodding. link

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Search YouTube for Debbie "White Dove" Porreco, an actual descendant of Pocahontas. She grew up on a reservation in Virginia, and was one of the first to call for Senator Warren to produce a DNA test. Now she is asking for an apology.

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If you'd like to learn more

A Cherokee Geneologist gelealogist has done a great job of examining Elizabeth Warren's family tree, and evaluating her various claims. Her site is thorough and well sourced website.

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Photos

Elizabeth Warren collage and effects by @roused
Google Maps screen capture
Two YouTube screen captures