Indian delegates offer ways to test Elizabeth Warren's ancestry

Thursday, September 6, 2012  

Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, took center stage at the 2012 Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night but didn't address her claims of Indian ancestry.

So Indian delegates offered some ways Warren could prove her alleged heritage. “Someone needs to make her take a DNA test,” Harlyn Geronimo, a member of the Mescalero Apache Nation and a great-grandson of the legendary Apache leader Geronimo, told The New York Times.

“If she wants to claim it, then she can pay $100 and have it verified,” offered Helen McNeil, a Tlingit delegate from Alaska, The Boston Herald reported.

Jim La Pointe, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe who is a great-grandnephew of Crazy Horse, had a different test in mind. “I’d like to hear her speak her native language,” he told the Times.

Warren, who grew up in Oklahoma, has claimed both Cherokee and Delaware ancestry. However, she is unable to provide documentation and has refused to answer questions about her heritage.

Indian delegates at the DNC sought a meeting with Warren, who introduced former president Bill Clinton, but she refused.

Get the Story:
For Warren, Bad Blood Over Ethnic Claims (The New York Times 9/6)
Elizabeth Warren passes on chance to meet with Native American Dems (The Boston Herald 9/6)

Related Stories:
Elizabeth Warren doesn't want to address Indian claims at DNC (9/5)
Indian delegates at DNC seek a meeting with Elizabeth Warren (9/4)
Cole DeLuane: Elizabeth Warren and the politics of genocide (8/21)
NPR: Elizabeth Warren and questions about her 'Indian' heritage (8/9)
Cherokee women unable to get a meeting with Elizabeth Warren (6/22)
Opinion: Indian identity doesn't always come as an easy answer (06/18)
Opinion: Elizabeth Warren sticks to Indian background claims (6/12)
Opinion: Ethnic fraud with Elizabeth Warren's tenure at Harvard (6/11)
NPR: David Treuer and Mary Annette Pember talk Indian identity (6/8)
NPR 'Talk of the Nation' show to air segment on Indian ancestry (6/7)
Column: Indian ancestry claims common throughout Oklahoma (6/5)
Column: Elizabeth Warren has credible Cherokee ancestry claim (6/4)
Elizabeth Warren faces more criticism over Indian ancestry claim (6/1)
Elizabeth Warren defends self-identification as Native American (5/31)
Opinion: Dining out with Elizabeth Warren's 'Cherokee' recipes (5/29)
Elizabeth Warren cites mother for family's Indian heritage claim (5/25)
Another poll taken after Indian identity flap shows a tight race (5/24)
Poll shows a close Senate race despite flap over Indian identity (5/23)
Opinion: Senate candidate tripped up by Indian heritage claims (5/21)
WBUR: Does Elizabeth Warren get to claim 'minority' status? (5/17)
Opinion: Elizabeth Warren was an 'official minority' at Harvard (5/10)
David Treuer: Elizabeth Warren rightly claims Native heritage (5/7)
Kevin Noble Maillard: Senate candidate sees birther moment (5/7)
Senate candidate in Massachusetts defends Native identity (5/3)
Opinion: Is candidate Elizabeth Warren a Native American? (5/2)
Senate candidate in Massachusetts has a Cherokee ancestor (5/1)
Column: Democratic candidate accused of being a fake Indian (4/30)