Sen. Elizabeth Warren released Monday the results of a DNA test allegedly showing she has a very distant Native American ancestry.
Warren released the results of a genetic ancestry analysis conducted by Stanford University professor Carlos D. Bustamante to The Boston Globe, which shows with 99% certainty that Warren is 95% European. Further evidence shows this additional 5% ancestry is ‘likely Native American.’
Later in the day, The Cherokee Nation issued a statement responding to the report:
“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, who ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is prove. Senator Warren is undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage.”
– Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin, Jr.
