'Inappropriate and wrong': Cherokee Nation official throws ice-cold water on Elizabeth Warren's DNA test of Native American heritage

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

• A Cherokee Nation official rebuked Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts after a DNA test report published Monday asserted there is evidence to "strongly support" Warren's claim to have Native American ancestors.
• Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. called the test cited by Warren's report "useless" in determining tribal citizenship and alleged she was "undermining tribal interests" with her "continued claims of tribal heritage."
• Dr. Kim TallBear, an associate professor for Native American studies at the University of Alberta, also criticized Warren for claiming Native American heritage and accused her of failing to back up those claims by meeting with other Cherokee Nation members.

A Cherokee Nation official rebuked Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts after a DNA test report published Monday asserted there is evidence to "strong support" Warren's claim to have Native American ancestors.

Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. called the test cited by Warren's report "useless" in determining tribal citizenship and alleged she was "undermining tribal interests" with her "continued claims of tribal heritage."

"A DNA test is useless to determine tribal citizenship. Current DNA tests do not even distinguish whether a person's ancestors were indigenous to North or South America," Hoskin said in a statement.

"Using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong." Hoskin added. "It makes a mockery out of DNA tests and its legitimate uses while also dishonoring legitimate tribal governments and their citizens, whose ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is proven."

Dr. Kim TallBear, an associate professor for Native American studies at the University of Alberta, also criticized Warren for claiming Native American heritage and accused her of failing to back up her claim by meeting with other Cherokee Nation members.

"For Elizabeth Warren to center a Native American ancestry test as the next move in her fight with Republicans is to make yet another strike - even if unintended- against tribal sovereignty," Kim TallBear said in a statement.

"She continues to defend her ancestry claims as important despite her historical record of refusing to meet with Cherokee Nation community members who challenge her claims," Kim TallBear added.

Warren has long contended that she had Native American ancestry. President Donald Trump has harangued Warren on the issue since before he took office.

Trump accused Warren of using her self-described heritage to advance her political career and taunted her by suggesting she should take an ancestry test - even offering to donate $1 million to charity if she agreed to take a DNA test that "shows you're an Indian."

After news of the report got out on Monday, Trump backtracked and said he would only pay if he could administer the test himself.

Fact-checkers were previously unable to determine whether Warren is of Native American heritage, but, according to their findings, the lack of proof did not "preclude Warren from having traces of Native American heritage," The Washington Post reported in September 2012.