DNA test now doesn't really put the cat back in the bag. For, me the question was never, does she meet some One Drop or Blood Quantum standard?
The question was, is she actually Cherokee like she claims? Did Harvard actually believe the claim when they listed her as Native American and called her a person of color on their faculty?
Me? My father is Brazilian. I'm half-Brazilian by blood. More than that: I speak the language. I read Brazilian history and literature. I lived in Brazil. I went to school there. I held jobs there. I was hired for a job here in the US specifically because my employer needed someone who could work closely with their Brazilian clients.
But I would hesitate to call myself Brazilian - or even part Brazilian. My Portuguese is pretty good, but it's not really complete. I still have an accent, and my vocabulary is lacking, especially in recent neologisms. I've spent more time out of Brazil than in Brazil. For me to claim to speak as a Brazilian, with a Brazilian voice about Brazilian issues, would be an arrogant lie.
Or take Rachel Dolezal: By her deeds, she has more claim to minority status than Elizabeth Warren does.
Or take Bill Clinton. There's a certain silliness to labeling him "America's first black president", but there is some reason there too. While he never experienced the prejudice of skin color, he did experience the prejudice and obstacles of growing up poor in the South. Compare with Barack Obama, who is indeed black, but had a very different life experience than most African-Americans.
Warren claims to be Cherokee. But she's a member of no tribe. She's not active in any Cherokee interest groups. She has not inherited and does not practice any Cherokee customs. She does not even know of any traditional Cherokee foods.
When she was calling herself a Cherokee at Harvard, it's not like she was any kind of resource for Native American students who might want advice on navigating the American university system, for someone coming from a Reservation background. It's not like she was bringing a Native American perspective to policy discussions with other faculty.
This DNA test only serves to underline how silly her claim was, and how silly Harvard was in publishing that claim uncritically. The real question isn't "is Warren Cherokee?" The real question is, "what is even the point of diversity?"