When I worked at the radio station we’d get a call now and then from Sam, a faithful caller who was also an American Indian. He began his calls the same way: “Migwich,” he’d say. If I recall correctly, it meant hello, let’s talk. Mostly he called about local absurdities, but if you wanted to talk about Indian culture, he was up for it. A low-key, kind, and fascinating man, perfect for late-night talk radio. He reminded us of the range of Indian cultures, how crude the “F-Troop” childhood stereotypes really were. Me Chief for many moon! Heap big wampum for braves! It’s like reducing all European languages down to Chaucerian English.

Anyway. The Boston Herald reports:

Elizabeth Warren was touting her claim of Cherokee heritage as early as 1984, according to a cookbook titled “Pow Wow Chow” edited by her cousin that includes Warren’s recipes for a savory crab omelet and spicy barbecued beans.

Warren, who has been under fire for claiming Indian lineage despite a lack of documentation, is identified as “Elizabeth Warren, Cherokee” under each of five recipes she contributed.

At this point that’s like a certain cartoon canine proffering a business card that reads “Wile E. Coyote, Genius.” 

One Cherokee tribe genealogist said the cookbook was “Silly,” adding:

 “Cherokees don’t even traditionally have powwows.”

Didn’t she get a twinge in the cheekbones when she was asked to contribute to the book? Heck no: she was 1/32nd Indian, which meant a deep soulful affinity for powwows and all that Indian stuff. You suspect Warren once fixed someone in the faculty lounge with a baleful stare and said  “Don’t make me go on the warpath over this.” And whoever she was talking to nearly bit through his cheek to keep from laughing. 

UPDATE: Elizabeth Warren has now clarified her biography, and says she was born in Kenya.

Comments:


doc molloy
Joined
Feb '12
doc molloy

Pow Wow Chow.. wow, what you get away with in 84.  'Five Tribes families' is that like Chinese five spice? I wonder if seared scalped scallops is in the book?

The PC'ness of it all.. Is there a politically correct cookbook?

tabula rasa
Joined
Jun '10
tabula rasa

This is my favorite story of the year. Pretentious liberal friend of humanity plays the fake race card to advance her career: it just doesn't get any better than this.

Diane Ellis

I find it amusing that you tied the Obama Kenya booklet news to Elizabeth Warren; that's where my own thinking went as well.  It doesn't surprise me that Obama allowed himself to be represented as foreign born to get ahead, just as Elizabeth Warren milked her alleged 1/32nd Native heritage for all that it was worth. 

Sumomitch
Joined
Mar '12
Robert Mitchell

They both remind me of that old New Yorker cartoon of an old Yankee farmer telling the kid behind his Apples stand "For them that wants organic, they're organic."

Mel Foil
Joined
Jun '10
etoiledunord

I think miigwetch means "thanks," or in that case, "thanks for taking my call."

Basil Fawlty
Joined
Mar '11
Basil Fawlty

I love the wit (Jim Russell?) who referenced another cookbook from a Harvard faculty member: Bow Wow Chow.

Edit:  Sorry.  Probably should have given credit to John Courtade on Amazon.

Edited on May 18, 2012 at 1:54am
Caroline
Joined
May '10
Caroline

Go read the reviews at Amazon.  

WI Con
Joined
Jan '11
Kowaliczko Tom

To again tie Obama & Warren together, that is propably why neither will release the personnel / student records. I recall a theory bandied about during the birther phase that he applied as a foreign born/African student. If he did - its over.

David Williamson
Joined
Mar '11
David Williamson

James Lileks: 

UPDATE: Elizabeth Warren has now clarified her biography, and says she was born in Kenya. · 

Did she have any recipes for dog?

What is it with these socialists, er, liberals that allows them to get away with inventing their pasts? It's almost like they are using a fake minority status to give them an unfair advantage, or something?

Update: Wouldn't it be interesting to see the birthplace on Mr Obama's scholarship applications? (not that I am a birther, or anything - it would be a CoC violation)

Edited on May 18, 2012 at 2:37am
Susan in Seattle
Joined
Apr '11
Susan in Seattle
Caroline: Go read the reviews at Amazon.   · 20 minutes ago

Thank you, Caroline!  They're an amusing read.

Paul A. Rahe

James, there is another problem. The Cherokee never lived in any place near where one could acquire crabs to cook.

Western Chauvinist
Joined
Dec '10
Western Chauvinist
Caroline: Go read the reviews at Amazon.   · 42 minutes ago

Yes, Caroline, you clever girl! What made you think to read the reviews? I wish they had a rating system for reviews after reading through those. Here's one I'd Like:

I'm confused; each recipe calls for 0/32 measurements of ingredients -- that doesn't add up to anything. I have serious reservations about these recipes.

CJRun
Joined
Dec '10
CJRun

Look at my picture/avatar.  I am postively translucent.

This, to me, is why the Warren narrative rings false.  I am very dark, as was my Daddy, as soon as I am exposed to the Sun.  Never meant anything, to me.  I was born and raised overseas, so I was never exposed to colloquial prejudices, but my U.S. family is full of them.

While living in Seattle for work I met family members from out west that were very titillated to meet my grandmother's kid; it was not celebratory.  Because that was what it was and is.  One and two generations ago it was very unfashionable to be a product of a liason between a white and an indian.

That was and is the truth, even for families from the northeast.

That's why Warren's story struck me as fake; the implication that her family was so much more accepting than mine of this "taint', going back for generations.

That's not the way it was 20 years ago, nor 30, or 40.  After my trip out west, I hear my olive-skinned cousins sometimes say things, but refrain.

I think they think they have Italian ancestory.

doc molloy
Joined
Feb '12
doc molloy

Perhaps she should have claimed to be Cheyenne then she could've had her quota and Dakota too..

CuriousJohn
Joined
Feb '12
CuriousJohn

I haven't heard that one before.  That will come out one day, and it will be glorious.  Not that I think he was born in Kenyan. However, it will be just one more nail in his coffin.

Kowaliczko Tom:  he applied as a foreign born/African student. If he did - its over. · 51 minutes ago
JustinC
Joined
Feb '11
JustinC

The Warren campaign is putting out these absurd defenses in an attempt to trivialize the offense, and they are succeeding in making this a "silly issue".  She has the liberal vote, will never get the conservative vote, and the undecided (supposed pragmatists) will tire of this as an irrelevant issue.  The Warren campaign will win this issue, because the the only way to lose is to show who was harmed by her faking minority status for personal gain.  The "independent voter" needs to see real harm caused, otherwise all they will see is a non-issue.

Now, let me get back to laughing.  Pow Wow Chow!  LOL

doc molloy
Joined
Feb '12
doc molloy

Uh oh.. Back to Obama being born in Kenya again

The birth that keeps on giving.. maybe HE really is The One!

Goddess of Discord
Joined
Apr '11
Goddess of Discord
Paul A. Rahe: James, there is another problem. The Cherokee never lived in any place near where one could acquire crabs to cook. · 3 hours ago

Crawfish, maybe.

DocJay
Joined
Jul '11
DocJay

Tom Kowaliczko and Curious John. There are, as far as I know, no records of how Obama applied to Occidental. Did he apply as a foreigner or an American? What were his SAT scores( I'll bet lower than Bush's 1206), and what did his passport state when he checked out the tolerant nation of Pakistan.

Wylee Coyote
Joined
Jul '10
Wylee Coyote

James Lileks:

At this point that’s like a certain cartoon canine proffering a business card that reads “Wile E. Coyote, Genius.”

Super Genius, actually.  It's an advanced degree.


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