Elizabeth Warren’s DNA Test Contradicts Her Previous Stories About Native American Ancestry

 

Elizabeth Warren recently released the results of a DNA test which she claims proves that she is of Native American descent.

The claim in the report is that it is likely that Elizabeth Warren has a Native American ancestor from 8 generations ago. If we assume that a generation is 25 years, and given that Warren was born in 1949, that would this Native American ancestor was born sometime around 1749, well before the founding.

Let’s assume for a moment that this analysis is correct. How does this square with previous claims about Warren’s heritage? Her brother said in 2012 “[Our] grandfather is part Delaware, a little bitty bit, way back, and [our] grandmother is part Cherokee.”

If that’s the case, wouldn’t wouldn’t we expect to see a lot more Indian DNA, and much more recently?  It implies that there should be Indian DNA as late as 4 generations back, which is significantly outside the range (between 6 and 10 generations) estimated by the DNA analysis as to when she had a Native American ancestor.

How does she explain this contradiction? I mean, either brother is wrong about whether his grandmother is Cherokee, or the conclusion of the analysis of the DNA test is wrong about when her Native American ancestor lived. If the test actually demonstrates that her brother is wrong about what she said, then wasn’t she still wrong when she claimed to be a Native American, since she used that story as the basis for her claim?

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  1. Freeven Member
    Freeven
    @Freeven

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Freeven (View Comment):
    Like the Birther stuff, it just makes it look like the Right has lost its collective mind. Go after her on something that actually matters to people.

    You will have to tell the Cherokee Nation they are one with the birthers because they seem to think it matters.

    LOL. Liberals now scolding actual Native Americans for daring to contradict…

    I saw that, and what I got out of it is that 1) the DNA test is not conclusive; and 2) while DNA testing can be used to determine lineage, the tribe sets the rules for “tribal affiliation.” I don’t know what is meant by “tribal affiliation” (perhaps something akin to citizenship?), but apparently the tribe draws a distinction between it and lineage. I’ll admit to not being aware of everything Warren has claimed (mostly because I just don’t care), but I’ve assumed her claims are with regard to lineage.

    • #91
  2. J Ro Member
    J Ro
    @JRo

    Doctor Robert (View Comment):

    Elizabeth Warren has 1/64 to 1/1024 Amerind DNA. The DNA involved is apparently Peruvian.

    1/64 is 1.6% and 1/1024 is 0.098% (I did those in my head). The mind reels.

    1/64 is a single ancestor 6 generations ago (assuming no consanguinuity) and 1/1024 is a single ancestor 10 generations ago.

    The average white American has 0.2% Amerind DNA.

    So my senior senator has shown that she is half as much an American Indian as an average American. She has proven herself to be a Fake Indian.

    This is effing laughable.

    There are so many ways to look at this. If one of Warren’s 2,046 immediate ancestors (ten generations) was Native American, then Warren is only 489 parts per million (ppm) Native American. 

    The atmosphere is only 400 ppm carbon dioxide, and many claim that is enough to destroy life as we know it.

    • #92
  3. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    Freeven (View Comment):

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Freeven (View Comment):
    Like the Birther stuff, it just makes it look like the Right has lost its collective mind. Go after her on something that actually matters to people.

    You will have to tell the Cherokee Nation they are one with the birthers because they seem to think it matters.

    LOL. Liberals now scolding actual Native Americans for daring to contradict…

    I saw that, and what I got out of it is that 1) the DNA test is not conclusive; and 2) while DNA testing can be used to determine lineage, the tribe sets the rules for “tribal affiliation.” I don’t know what is meant by “tribal affiliation” (perhaps something akin to citizenship?), but apparently the tribe draws a distinction between it and lineage. I’ll admit to not being aware of everything Warren has claimed (mostly because I just don’t care), but I’ve assumed her claims are with regard to lineage.

    Here’s just one of the whoppers she told. Note the specific claim she makes to be Cherokee…. (oh yeah, she plagiarized  the recipes as well)….

     

    From the Elizabeth Warren Wiki

    Investigative reporter Michael Patrick Leahy[4] traced Ms. Rowsey to a book titled Pow Wow Chow: A Collection of Recipes from Families of the Five Civilized Tribes: Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek & Seminole[5].

    In the Pow Wow Chow cookbook were recipes allegedly authored by Warren, as reported by Daily Mail[6]:

    The allegedly Cherokee recipes included[7] Cold Omelets with Crab Meat[8], Crab with Tomato Mayonnaise Dressing,[9] Herbed Tomatoes,[10] and Mexican Oatmeal Soup[11]:

    Boston Radio host Howie Carr discovered that three of Warren’s recipes appeared to be plagiarized[12]:

    The two recipes, “Cold Omelets with Crab Meat” and “Crab with Tomato Mayonnaise Dressing,” appear in an article titled “Cold Omelets with Crab Meat,” written by Pierre Franey of the New York Times News Service that was published in the August 22, 1979 edition of the Virgin Islands Daily News, a copy of which can be seen here.

    Ms. Warren’s 1984 recipe for Crab with Tomato Mayonnaise Dressing  is a word-for-word copy of Mr. Franey’s 1979 recipe.

    Mrs. Warren’s 1984 recipe for Cold Omelets with Crab Meat contains all four of the ingredients listed in Mr. Franey’s 1979 recipe in the exact same portion but lists five additional ingredients. More significantly, her instructions are virtually a word for word copy of Mr. Franey’s instructions from this 1979 article. Both instructions specify the use of a “seven inch Teflon pan.” …

    Ms. Warren’s instructions are word-for-word copies of Mr. Franey’s 1979 instructions for this recipe, with one exception. Ms. Warren says, “Let cook until firm and lightly brown…” and Mr. Franey says “Let cook until firm and lightly browned…” [emphasis added] …

    The third potentially plagiarized recipe, “Herbed Tomatoes,” appears to be copied from this 1959 recipe from Better Homes and Garden.

    • #93
  4. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    Freeven (View Comment):

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Freeven (View Comment):
    Like the Birther stuff, it just makes it look like the Right has lost its collective mind. Go after her on something that actually matters to people.

    You will have to tell the Cherokee Nation they are one with the birthers because they seem to think it matters.

    LOL. Liberals now scolding actual Native Americans for daring to contradict…

    I saw that, and what I got out of it is that 1) the DNA test is not conclusive; and 2) while DNA testing can be used to determine lineage, the tribe sets the rules for “tribal affiliation.” I don’t know what is meant by “tribal affiliation” (perhaps something akin to citizenship?), but apparently the tribe draws a distinction between it and lineage. I’ll admit to not being aware of everything Warren has claimed (mostly because I just don’t care), but I’ve assumed her claims are with regard to lineage.

    • #94
  5. J Ro Member
    J Ro
    @JRo

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    You will have to tell the Cherokee Nation they are one with the birthers because they seem to think it matters.

    LOL. Liberals now scolding actual Native Americans for daring to contradict.

    Wait till they find out Cherokees (and other tribes) had African American slaves and went to court to keep them after emancipation!

    • #95
  6. The Cloaked Gaijin Member
    The Cloaked Gaijin
    @TheCloakedGaijin

    (Why does Elizabeth Warren think she could be elected president?  She’s about the only person who is more shrill than Hillary Clinton.  She’ll also be 71 years old in 2002.)

    Who in the United States isn’t part North American Indian, especially if you have ancestors from near Oklahoma or the Southwest?

    I think I’m 1/32nd.  I mentioned this to a friend who said that he thought he was 1/16th.  My relatives took a DNA test that showed no North American Indian ancestry though.

    Isn’t this like being a descendant of Charlemagne.  It’s almost impossible for a person with European ancestry NOT to be a descendant of Charlemagne.

    I wonder what the average percentage is for a US citizen whose family has mostly lived in the United States for the past 100 years.  Would that percentage be about the same as that of Elizabeth Warren?

    Besides those DNA tests are often faulty.  They can’t even always identify identical triplets.

    • #96
  7. DrewInWisconsin Member
    DrewInWisconsin
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Freeven (View Comment):
    I’ll admit to not being aware of everything Warren has claimed (mostly because I just don’t care), but I’ve assumed her claims are with regard to lineage.

    You’ve just made a lot of judgments about how this is bad for conservatives, but now admit you never bothered to inform yourself on exactly what she claimed?

    • #97
  8. DrewInWisconsin Member
    DrewInWisconsin
    @DrewInWisconsin

    When Warren ran for the Senate and her fake lineage first came out, Native Americans complained back then, too. But the press and the left (but I repeat myself) did what they could to bury their complaints. That was one of those moments I realized that Native Americans are fairly low on the left’s Grievance Hierarchy.

     

    • #98
  9. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Kozak (View Comment):
    The third potentially plagiarized recipe, “Herbed Tomatoes,” appears to be copied from this 1959 recipe from Better Homes and Garden.

    Hah! The imperialist bastards at Better Homes and Gardens’ blatant cultural appropriation of Herbed Tomatoes will not stand!

    The People, united, shall never be defeated!
    The People, united, shall never be defeated!

    • #99
  10. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    Straight up from here:

    1. Elizabeth Warren claims Cherokee heritage

    2. President Trump mocks here

    3. Warren DNA test comes back 1/1,024th positive 

    4. Trump is impeached 

    5. President Sacheen Littlefeather

    • #100
  11. Instugator Thatcher
    Instugator
    @Instugator

    Freeven (View Comment):
    I’ll admit to not being aware of everything Warren has claimed (mostly because I just don’t care), but I’ve assumed her claims are with regard to lineage.

    Nope. Family membership from specific tribes. Cherokee and Delaware.

    Here is a list of claims as compiled by Benny Johnson, journalist with The Daily Caller and recorded by Twitchy.

    1997 Fordham Law Review piece described Elizabeth Warren as Harvard Law School’s “first woman of color.” – I wonder where they got that idea?

    Elizabeth Warren self-identified as a “Native American” in the The Association of American Law Schools Directory of law professors in every edition printed between 1986 -1995.

    After becoming a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Warren demanded the University change her faculty listed ethnicity from “white” to “Native American.”

    Warren was identified by Harvard Law as a “woman of color.” Harvard promoted Warren’s hire as expanding their campus diversity by hiring a woman with “minority background” onto their faculty.

    Warren claimed that her mother and father had to elope due to her mom’s obvious Indian heritage and the white bigotry of her father’s family.

    Warren submitted multiple recipes for the Indian cookbook “Pow Wow Chow” and signed her name, “Elizabeth Warren – Cherokee”

    Warren used offensive, racially charged language to defend her claims of Native American heritage, declaring that her family had “high cheekbones” like “all the Indians do.”

    Warren’s DNA report did not measure actual Native American DNA. The report actually measured Colombian, Mexican and Peruvian DNA. Of which Warren *may* have a tiny, tiny fraction – possibly.

    Conclusion

    It is very difficult to argue that Warren did not commit racial fraud. She used the advantages in the system to advance her career with no evidence (to this day) that she is actually Native American. Democrats defending her behavior on this point is dubious – at best.

    • #101
  12. Instugator Thatcher
    Instugator
    @Instugator

    EJHill (View Comment):

    Straight up from here:

    1. Elizabeth Warren claims Cherokee heritage

    2. President Trump mocks here

    3. Warren DNA test comes back 1/1,024th positive

    4. Trump is impeached

    5. President Sacheen Littlefeather

    no no no – it is “Straightforward from here” first used by Sally Kohn to make Hillary President by impeaching President Trump and VP Pence which somehow ends up in a special election that Hillary miraculously wins.

     

    • #102
  13. DrewInWisconsin Member
    DrewInWisconsin
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Has Shaun King weighed in yet? Would like to know his thoughts.

    • #103
  14. Instugator Thatcher
    Instugator
    @Instugator

    • #104
  15. Instugator Thatcher
    Instugator
    @Instugator

    I am not yet tired of all the winning.

    • #105
  16. Keith SF Inactive
    Keith SF
    @KeithSF

    Doctor Robert (View Comment):

    Elizabeth Warren has 1/64 to 1/1024 Amerind DNA. The DNA involved is apparently Peruvian.

    1/64 is 1.6% and 1/1024 is 0.098% (I did those in my head). The mind reels.

    1/64 is a single ancestor 6 generations ago (assuming no consanguinuity) and 1/1024 is a single ancestor 10 generations ago.

    The average white American has 0.2% Amerind DNA.

    So my senior senator has shown that she is half as much an American Indian as an average American. She has proven herself to be a Fake Indian.

    This is effing laughable.

    Rachel Dolezal is more Black than Elizabeth Warren is Indian!

    I think we all owe Rachel an apology. And an academic post somewhere.

     

    • #106
  17. kylez Member
    kylez
    @kylez

    Ancestry has a picture of my Indian ggg-grandmother, born about 1859, and that (and possible other Indian ancestry) did not turn up in my 23 and Me DNA report. Which doesn’t mean it’s false, but for various reasons they’re not bringing it out. 

    • #107
  18. Keith SF Inactive
    Keith SF
    @KeithSF

    Valiuth (View Comment):

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    Well I don’t think black people though would view having some white ancestry as relevant to their blackness either.

    I still chuckle at Obama and his being the first African American president.

    His mom was white, and his dad was African. So he had zero % of the “African American” experience in his ancestry.

    On the other hand maybe he is the most literal African American that there can be. So chalk one up for technically correct. The best kind of correct.

    Anyone remember Teresa Heinz Kerry way back during the 2004 Presidential campaign? 

    “I’m an African American.”

    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1084513/posts

     

    • #108
  19. Joseph Stanko Coolidge
    Joseph Stanko
    @JosephStanko

    Kozak (View Comment):

    LOL. Liberals now scolding actual Native Americans for daring to contradict

    Fauxcahontas…

     

    I love the comment that says “Democrats are the only reason you indians are even alive.”

    I wonder if Mr. “Red Pill Philosophy” has ever even heard of Andrew Jackson?

    • #109
  20. James Lileks Contributor
    James Lileks
    @jameslileks

    Freeven (View Comment):
    I’ve never had a problem with Warren’s claim that she is part American Indian. I have no way of knowing whether she is or isn’t, and those who have called the claim a lie don’t either. Further, I simply don’t care. Whether she is or isn’t won’t change anyone’s mind about her. There’s plenty enough to object to in her politics and other public statements without chasing our tails on foolish non-issues.

    As others have noted, it’s an illustrative example for those who don’t pay attention to the insanity of identity politics. It means every argument she makes is wrong-footed from the get-go, because she told a whopper to give herself  ethnic cred. 

    It’s not a non-issue. It’s central to the Left’s precepts: blood confers moral authority. Skin color, eye shape, DNA details – these are invaluable facts that must be taken into consideration when you judge the arguments. 

    • #110
  21. PedroIg Member
    PedroIg
    @PedroIg

    Valiuth (View Comment):

    PHenry (View Comment):
    And extraordinary few of us are pure blood of any race

    Actually, no one is a pure blood of any race because there is no genetic standard for any race. People aren’t like dogs, cattle, or even most agricultural crops. No population of humans no matter how remote is inbred enough to be considered by genetic standards to be pure breeding. You would need 10 generations of back crossing to achieve a pure bred line of any organism.

    This is why the whole racial theories of the early 20th century were ultimately unscientific.

    I read somewhere that Iceland, due to its obvious remoteness, is the one of the best opportunities that geneticists have to study a relatively “pure” (my word, not theirs) gene pool since there has been so little outside influence (comparatively) on it.  I’m not sure how many generations back the current Icelandic ethnic strain goes though.

    • #111
  22. Joe P Member
    Joe P
    @JoeP

    Freeven (View Comment):
    Go after her on something that actually matters to people

    Whether or not a politician is a liar used to matter to people.

    • #112
  23. Freeven Member
    Freeven
    @Freeven

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Freeven (View Comment):

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Freeven (View Comment):
    Like the Birther stuff, it just makes it look like the Right has lost its collective mind. Go after her on something that actually matters to people.

    You will have to tell the Cherokee Nation they are one with the birthers because they seem to think it matters.

    LOL. Liberals now scolding actual Native Americans for daring to contradict…

    I saw that, and what I got out of it is that 1) the DNA test is not conclusive; and 2) while DNA testing can be used to determine lineage, the tribe sets the rules for “tribal affiliation.” I don’t know what is meant by “tribal affiliation” (perhaps something akin to citizenship?), but apparently the tribe draws a distinction between it and lineage. I’ll admit to not being aware of everything Warren has claimed (mostly because I just don’t care), but I’ve assumed her claims are with regard to lineage.

    Thanks for the visual. It does add some perspective.

    • #113
  24. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    The Cloaked Gaijin (View Comment):

    Isn’t this like being a descendant of Charlemagne. It’s almost impossible for a person with European ancestry NOT to be a descendant of Charlemagne.

     

    “In more quantitative terms, ~10% of the men who reside within the borders of the Mongol Empire as it was at the death of Genghis Khan may carry his Y chromosome, and so ~0.5% of men in the world, about 16 million individuals alive today, do so.”

    This guy…..

    • #114
  25. Freeven Member
    Freeven
    @Freeven

    Joe P (View Comment):

    Freeven (View Comment):
    Go after her on something that actually matters to people

    Whether or not a politician is a liar used to matter to people.

    It matters to people when the other side lies. When it’s their guy? Not so much.

    The bigger point, to me, is whether this will change minds. I’d prefer the focus be less on Warren specifically and more on why racial preferences in hiring/admissions are so insidious. (I have no problem using Warren as Exhibit A in making that case.) But all Warren has to do is say it was part of her family’s lore that they were American Indian. Those so inclined will believe her, since just about every family has stories that get passed down that no one can verify. Those who call BS were never going to believe her anyway. 

    • #115
  26. Valiuth Member
    Valiuth
    @Valiuth

    PedroIg (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):

    PHenry (View Comment):
    And extraordinary few of us are pure blood of any race

    Actually, no one is a pure blood of any race because there is no genetic standard for any race. People aren’t like dogs, cattle, or even most agricultural crops. No population of humans no matter how remote is inbred enough to be considered by genetic standards to be pure breeding. You would need 10 generations of back crossing to achieve a pure bred line of any organism.

    This is why the whole racial theories of the early 20th century were ultimately unscientific.

    I read somewhere that Iceland, due to its obvious remoteness, is the one of the best opportunities that geneticists have to study a relatively “pure” (my word, not theirs) gene pool since there has been so little outside influence (comparatively) on it. I’m not sure how many generations back the current Icelandic ethnic strain goes though.

    Yes Iceland is a human geneticist dream, they also have fairly good family lineage records. Some Jewish communities are also really good too. Still compared to livestock or pure bred dogs the Icelanders are all muts. 

    • #116
  27. Valiuth Member
    Valiuth
    @Valiuth

    Joe P (View Comment):

    Freeven (View Comment):
    Go after her on something that actually matters to people

    Whether or not a politician is a liar used to matter to people.

    Yes but we live in the age of Trump. 

    • #117
  28. Freeven Member
    Freeven
    @Freeven

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    Freeven (View Comment):
    I’ve never had a problem with Warren’s claim that she is part American Indian. I have no way of knowing whether she is or isn’t, and those who have called the claim a lie don’t either. Further, I simply don’t care. Whether she is or isn’t won’t change anyone’s mind about her. There’s plenty enough to object to in her politics and other public statements without chasing our tails on foolish non-issues.

    As others have noted, it’s an illustrative example for those who don’t pay attention to the insanity of identity politics. It means every argument she makes is wrong-footed from the get-go, because she told a whopper to give herself ethnic cred.

    It’s not a non-issue. It’s central to the Left’s precepts: blood confers moral authority. Skin color, eye shape, DNA details – these are invaluable facts that must be taken into consideration when you judge the arguments.

    In the context of your last paragraph, I’m on board. Use Warren as a poster child for arguing against racial preferences. But that’s not what I see people doing. And that case needs to be made explicitly (as opposed to simply calling her a liar), because, as you say, many people don’t pay attention to the insanity of identify politics.

    • #118
  29. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    If Trump claimed he was half Indian he would be wearing a feather head dress every day because he knows his political supporters forced to choose between the obvious truth and his lies will pick his lies.

    Oh please . . .

    • #119
  30. Joe P Member
    Joe P
    @JoeP

    Valiuth (View Comment):

    Joe P (View Comment):

    Freeven (View Comment):
    Go after her on something that actually matters to people

    Whether or not a politician is a liar used to matter to people.

    Yes but we live in the age of Trump.

    You know, I’m actually going to do something I’m typically loathe to do, and point out that Trump’s lying is absolutely not the same as Warren’s. 

    Trump lies frequently, but his lies are essentially narcissistic in nature and rather transparent. He doesn’t lie for advantage in the typical way that would be expected of people trying to strategically pursue a specific outcome. Largely because he doesn’t pursue anything in a strategic sense; he improvises and iterates his way towards whatever it is he wants. The lying is usually just a byproduct of not really thinking while he’s in the middle of doing whatever it is he’s doing.

    Deliberately engaging in this sort of shameless, ethnic fraud for at least 9 years in order to secure career advancement and financial gain is a much more deliberate and pre-meditated behavior. Doubling down on it in the particular fashion she did, by getting a DNA test that shows she’s not an Indian at all and then claim it shows she’s an Indian, is something a lot more brazen and deliberately deceptive.

    Lying is bad, but deliberate, premeditated lying that insults everyone’s intelligence is worse than reflexive lying that’s really lying to yourself which happens to be externalized.

    • #120
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