Comments on: Elizabeth Warren, Native American

By: Razib Khan

Razib Khan — Thu, 03 May 2012 03:42:32 +0000

If the son says his mother was Cherokee, does that make it so?

this is 1894, not 2012. if someone is claiming american indian heritage then it is not because he wants a plum position as an ethnic studies professor. don’t be stupid. the most likely reason someone would claim native ancestry in 1894 is that they are have black ancestry.

By: Ken James

Ken James — Thu, 03 May 2012 02:21:43 +0000

#23 – That 1894 document is the marriage certificate of the son of the ggg-grandmother. If the son says his mother was Cherokee, does that make it so? The ggg-grandmother never lived in Oklahoma. She was born in North Carolina in 1794 and died in Tennessee after 1860. If there is a connection it’s from that area, not Oklahoma. It’s still plausible, but much more difficult to prove. At least one genealogist shows the parents of the ggg-grandmother and they were not Cherokee. Maybe the family lore goes even beyond that.

By: ackbark

ackbark — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:14:30 +0000

Elizabeth Warren Cherokee Heritage Backed Up by 1894 Document,

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/01/elizabeth-warren-native-american-heritage_n_1467398.html?ref=elections-2012

“Christopher Child of the New England Historic and Genealogy Society said Monday he found an 1894 document in which Warren’s great-great-great grandmother is listed as Cherokee, which would make the Harvard Law School professor 1/32nd American Indian.”

By: Charles Nydorf

Charles Nydorf — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:42:28 +0000

Craniometry would be helpful in defining what it means to “look Indian.” Elizabeth Warren, to my eyes, does resemble many Cherokee people.

By: Darkseid

Darkseid — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:11:01 +0000

http://news.yahoo.com/former-native-american-senator-reacts-elizabeth-warren-minority-033013111.html
looks like she might have to back that up. i’d guess she’ll just never mention it again;)

By: NE43

NE43 — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:58:49 +0000

So you think Carrie Underwood looks part Native American? Warren looks no less so than CU. It’s a tempest in a teapot. Gotcha campaigning.

By: Steve Sailer

Steve Sailer — Tue, 01 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

NFL quarterback Sam Bradford, from Oklahoma, says he is only 1/16th Cherokee, but he looks more than that. So, it’s kind of random.

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:55:41 +0000

#7: I know it’s a cliche, but: don’t hate the player, hate the game.
#11: I wouldn’t have guessed anything by looking at her, but now that I’m thinking about it: her nose and cheeks really remind of my wife and her relatives, who have 20-30% Native American ancestry. No physical trace? Maybe, maybe not, I don’t know.

By: Naughtius Maximus

Naughtius Maximus — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:26:30 +0000

What do you think of Sykes new book?

By: iberian

iberian — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 03:39:37 +0000

Why so many white Americans claim a “indian” grandmother, and show so few genes from her? – Well, maybe because they are speaking about the same grandmother…

By: Dwight E. Howell

Dwight E. Howell — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 02:59:36 +0000

My family lore suggests the Cherokee heavily mixed with the Howell and Bivens families. In Lawrence County TN their are plenty of people of Cherokee descent but I wouldn’t care to wager about how much native American DNA they have.

By: DK

DK — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 01:43:50 +0000

I don’t have an an access to the database that has it but here ( http://attackmachine.com/blog/2012/04/29/elizabeth-warren-native-american/ ) it is claimed that in her two pre-Harvard positions at Texas and Pennsylvania she is identified as a minority faculty. Can anyone confirm?

By: Dm

Dm — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:33:34 +0000

In multiple choice ancestry surveys, great many people choose “Native American” simply because “White American” isn’t included. (Other choices may be in a form of “….. European” but many Americans recoil at the suggestion that they belong to some variety of the lowly Europeans. Some choose “Other” ancestry, writing in things like White, WASP, Caucasian, Caucasion, but many pick “Native American” just because it says “…. American”)

OTOH, many tribes are intensely uncomfortable with DNA genealogy because it implies their Asian origin, contrary to their origin myths which clearly state they have been local forever. So a DNA match won’t give one any standing with the tribes anyway. Ditto in Hawaii, if a white person discovers native Hawaiian heritage in a DNA test, he or she still remains a ha’ole, because continuous cultural affiliation is just as required for Hawaiian identity as the ancestry.

By: Razib Khan

Razib Khan — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 23:16:01 +0000

#11, get your calipers out!

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 23:09:13 +0000

Warren is not merely white, but white.

But seriously, whatever Native American ancestry she may have, it’s so minimal as to have left no physical trace whatsoever.

By: Razib Khan

Razib Khan — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:18:51 +0000

#9, send me your genotype at contactgnxp -at- gnxp – dot- com and i can confirm that for you. hgdp has native and siberian samples.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:17:39 +0000

I noticed a small amount of Asian in my 23andme profile and thought it came from my father’s side, where there is rumored NA ancestry. But when my father was profiled, it was 0% Asian. I’m pretty sure the Asian in mine probably came from Russian ancestors on my mother’s side.

By: Razib Khan

Razib Khan — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:15:34 +0000

#6, i’m really just interested in the genetics. sorry. politics is kind of complicated, and you never know how people are going to take things.

we are looking at a dishonest and unscrupulous person who is extremely likely to become dishonest and unscrupulous politician.

dishonest and unscrupulous politician hey? that made me laugh. in any case, as a matter of substance, does it really matter? a large number of politicians (e.g., al gore, george w. bush) benefit from nepotism too. that gets made an issue, but it doesn’t seem to have much traction.

By: DK

DK — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:09:22 +0000

The important thing for voters to know: did Elizabeth Warren benefit from affirmative action based on her family’s lore? If yes, we are looking at a dishonest and unscrupulous person who is extremely likely to become dishonest and unscrupulous politician.

By: masa

masa — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:07:57 +0000

Ok, it “comes to your attention,” but could you dig a little if you’re going to write and publish a piece. You do correctly assert that, “apparently Harvard claimed Warren as a minority faculty member during its periodical head counts,” but your focus on Ms. Warren’s claims of Native heritage gives one the impression she is claiming minority status. She’s in the middle of an election and I perceive this as a smear campaign (not your article, but the recent original articles.) It is important to clarify that she didn’t assert her Native ancestry to garner easy entry at Harvard Law school. This is the portrait being painted. Just go read the comments of the actual news reports which are the source of this “to do.”