Elizabeth Warren claimed some Native American ancestry through family lore. This is not at all unusual in Oklahoma where it seems every white person whose family has lived here for 3 or more generations has some connection to an "ancient Cherokee princess."
Most of those claims are bogus (or at least unconfirmed) but many are not. There are thousands of ostensibly white people living white lives who really do have some Native American ancestry. Membership in many tribes is predicated on blood quantum, i.e., there is indeed a genetic component. Warren's family history apparently includes some affiliation with Delaware and/or Cherokee people. The
CDIB for the Delaware Nation is equivalent to just one Native great grandparent; for the Eastern Band of Cherokee it only takes one great great grandparent to have been Native. In other words, not only did Warren's DNA analysis reveal that she in fact does have Native American ancestry, she might have enough to justify membership in one or both of the tribes her family lore suggested she had.
There is no question that Elizabeth Warren's claims of Native
ancestry were supported by the DNA test results obtained.
Her gaffe – and I'm indeed disappointed in her for this – is in failing to use this experience to advance the cause of people who actually identify as Native American. A lot of those folks have truly been hurt by her claim. They're feeling yet more erasure and that Warren has used their suffering to advance her career. As absolutely generous and forgiving to her as I can characterize her actions, she's been myopic. Others would use words like grifting, callous, etc. She needs to – publicly – step back and let/invite some Native voices to explain why her actions on this were so misguided and hurtful. She needs to reproach her own behavior and seek ways with Native elders that she can dedicate her time in power to help the communities who've been hurt by her. If she fails to do that, her candidacy is toast (although that's only one reason to do this).