Today, after @JulianCastro’s news, discussion by mostly non-Indigenous ppl who still support #ElizabethWarren’s DNA political ploy was again met w dissent from Indigenous scholars.
I, an #Indigenous scientist, remind that Warren is NOT Native American: theconversation.com/two-native-ame… 1/
I, an #Indigenous scientist, remind that Warren is NOT Native American: theconversation.com/two-native-ame… 1/
Any estimation of Warren’s supposed “Native American” ancestry is based on statistical INFERENCE reliant on % similarity w short chromosome segment that recently admixed Indigenous individuals from Central & South America happen to also share. And it’s poorly sampled (N=37). 2/
But she’s not claiming to have a Central/South American ancestor, is she? (Let’s also consider WHY people want to claim US Indigenous and not, say, Indigenous heritage with groups south of the border?AeroMexico’s farcical ad may touch on the issue: .) 3/
Warren has failed to demonstrate requisite evidence to support lineal descent to a Cherokee ancestor. But despite this has claimed on a law registry, on college HR forms (and a powwow cookbook, if I recall) to be Cherokee... even when no Cherokee nation has claimed her 4/
I point to the excellent work of Cherokee genealogist @pollysgdaughter who, after an exhaustive records search, has yet to uncover any evidence that corroborates Warren’s story: pollysgranddaughter.com/p/elizabeth-wa… 5/
Native Americans are not well-represented in genetic studies nor in flawed estimations of our % ancestry.
“Native American DNA” also contributes to commercial exploitation & potential usurping of sovereignty that enables many to live. Don’t buy the hype:
“Native American DNA” also contributes to commercial exploitation & potential usurping of sovereignty that enables many to live. Don’t buy the hype:
For other excellent scholarly perspectives on why Warren is NOT Native American, refer to this excellent syllabus by @PepePierce @rebeccanagle: criticalethnicstudiesjournal.org/blog/2018/12/1…
