Elizabeth Warren and Indian heritage, checking off boxes

[Tybee]

I saw yesterday that someone running against Elizabeth Warren is using the campaign slogan, vote for a real and not a fake Indian. He is mocking her claim to Native American heritage.

I have been doing lots of genealogy this year on my mom's family and have found that I have Native American ancestors . Unlike the senator, I have names and birthdates that identify folks. So along with mostly English, Scottish, Irish, and some German and Swiss, I now have some native American ancestors, who were Cherokee, Mohawk, Choctaw, and Pamunkey.

I've always hated those boxes that they have you check when you apply for a job, as to your heritage. Can I switch boxes, or is that silly? I think identify politics is stupid, and I have ancestors who were English and killed Indians and I have English ancestors who were killed by Indians, and I have ancestors who were Cherokee Indians who were killed by other Indians, who were Catawbas.

Do any of you wonder which box to check? Do you think Elizabeth Warren pulled a fast one to get that job? Or do you think she was right to claim Native American heritage?

[Tammy]

I always want a box that simply says "human".

[Tybee]

Wouldn't that be great, Tammy.

[JaneV2.0]

Some people of mixed heritage check "other."

Until I delved into it, my siblings and I thought we had Native American antecedents (because my grandfather 1) had a profile like the guy who was featured on the nickel and 2) was a kidder. Both my tracing of his bloodline and my DNA results proved that canard wrong. But I don't fault Elizabeth Warren for believing family lore.

[Tybee]

I never saw an "other" box, but maybe I just did not see it!

[JaneV2.0]

It depends on the form, I guess. I'm sure they are adding new classifications all the time, though.

[Yppej]

I was always told I was part Cherokee, as was Elizabeth Warren, but I didn't use it to benefit from affirmative action. 1) It was not proven, and when I spent several years intensively tracing my roots - travel to genealogical libraries, the national archives, hiring professional genealogists, etc. - I concluded it was a myth. 2) Even if I had found a distant ancestor, for Cherokees that person has to be on the Dawes Roll for you to claim tribal membership. 3) I was not disadvantaged by a heritage that no one associated me with.

Ian Frazier wrote in "On the Rez" about the appeal of Native American culture, but without trying to appropriate it, whereas Elizabeth Warren has not been particularly responsive to the concerns of others of this supposed heritage of hers, nor as a public figure has she done the work I would have expected to verify her claims.

Having travelled to several reservations in the West and seen real poverty amongst people who cannot pass, it's ironic that highly assimilated Eastern tribes like the Pequots are the ones cashing in on their ethnic heritage. And it's definitely surprising that Warren listed herself that way when she was a privileged professor.

Overall I think Warren has done a good job as my Senator, but Trump did get a good zinger in calling her Pocahontas. She should acknowledge her advantages instead of trying to create or claim disadvantages that need to be remedied via the affirmative action directory she listed herself in.

[JaneV2.0]

I agree that Warren hardly distinguished herself with that fiction or belief.
I never identified with Native American heritage, so finding I had none didn't faze me. Some of my siblings undoubtedly feel let down.

[Williamsmith]

Looks a little like Elizabeth........I'd say it's still a possibility.

[Yppej]

The Atlantic wrote an article saying she could clear everything up with a DNA test, but she hasn't taken one.