Elizabeth Warren: Mom says I'm Native American (I bet "mom" also told her she was smart)

Politico ^ | 5/25/2012 | By MJ LEE

[tobyhill]

An exasperated Elizabeth Warren told reporters Thursday that she’s certain about her Native American roots “because my mother told me so.”

Surrounded by a group of reporters, the Democratic Massachusetts Senate candidate was repeatedly questioned about why she hasn’t produced documentation to prove that she is part Native American. After several minutes of grilling, Warren said, “I am proud of my family and I am proud of my heritage.”

“And does it include Indian background?” one reporter asked, according to the first report by masslive.com that was aired on several local Boston TV stations

[nevermorelenore]

the Cherokee books are somewhat cooked, too...

documentation was so messed up, that at one point everyone who claimed to have ANY Cherokee heritage, became 100%, and that is one reason there are many “white Cherokees” ( new term, feel like we have the liberty to coin a few ourselves, thanks to the MSM ).

anyway, everyone was given a free pass, and the fact that some, with only a fraction Cherokee, were given 100% on the books, and the documenting started at that point....

[jiggyboy]

“he controversy surrounding her ancestry hasn’t seriously damaged Warren” means either that the poll is a lie, or MA voters are truly hopeless (see my tagline).

Sticking to this lie, with no evidence to back it up, and evidence from the Cherokee elders (?) themselves, that it’s bogus, shows Warren to be a true liberal — facts don’t matter, deliberate lies on even the smallest matters (plagarism of recipes, paging Joe Biden) are not second nature but first nature, and Diversity Uber Alles.

[armymarinemom]

I have never, ever tried to trade on it, and I have always listed myself as ‘white’ on forms when it is asked.

Ditto.


This is my grandfather. I don't think anyone in my family has ever declared anything for a place in line or benefits. We all check white. Most Americans are 100% mutt.

[OKSooner]

Part Cherokee, really?

This uh... woman... has a standing invite here in Northeastern Oklahoma. Spotting the poseur of the day is literally an everyday thing for us.

[gov_bean_ counter]

Mom, mom, momma sez...

[gov_bean_ counter]

Mom, mom, momma sez...

[762X51]

Yeah, and Baraq’s mama told him he was a natural born citizen.

[massgopguy]

Her great-great-great grandfather was in the Tennessee militia that rounded up the Cherokee for the Trail of Tears. She’s like a German that’s in denial about a Nazi past.

[mass55th]

My mother always told us that our great-great grandmother was full-blooded Ojibwa, but I've never been able to prove it, so I don't mention it.

Your comment in the title: I bet "mom" also told her she was smart, reminded me of what my mother used to say to us kids: "When they handed out brains, you thought they said pains, and you said you didn't want any."

[vette6387]

“It’s time that the truth be told about Elizabeth Warren. She’s from Beverly Hills and she used to be the secretary for a rich banker named Milburn Drysdale.”

Jane Hathaway (Nancy Kulp): But she only played a moron on a TV series.

[Baynative]

My Indian friends all look like Elizabeth Warren

[Baynative]

I was born in Oakland, CA. So, whenever I fill out an application that asks for ethnicity, I indicate "Native American".

[darkangel82]

Hey, no fair insulting the first place Indians like that.

[Honorary Serb]

Let’s cut through several layers of cr@p on this issue.

MANY people from Old American families (i.e., families that have been in this country for many generations, going back to the mid-19th century or earlier) believe that they have American Indian ancestry. That applies especially to white Old Americans, but also to many blacks as well. For this discussion, let’s focus on the whites.

White people from Old American families who claim American Indian ancestry may or may not have any basis other than family legend for their claims. (Nowadays, one could in principle do DNA testing to confirm or falsify family legends, but few people have done so.) Nowadays, most whites who claim Indian ancestry are proud of it—that was not always true in the past.

However, I have NEVER heard of anyone using their purported small percentage of Indian ancestry for “affirmative action” purposes, preference in hiring, filling quotas of “people of color”, etc. until the Warren case!!!!

It is LUDICROUS to call a white woman who is one-sixteenth Cherokee a “woman of color”, even if her Indian ancestry can be confirmed with a DNA test!!!! How many hundreds of other white people believe that they have Indian ancestry, and NEVER claim to be anything other than white?

Moreover, this incident shows up the total bankruptcy of the whole racial quota business, which has had a major role in giving us the worst President in American history, Barack Hussein obama!!!!

[Zakeet]

Hey, no fair insulting the first place Indians like that.

... and here's why they are leading the American League Central ...

[exDemMom]

This is my grandfather.

Hmm, he looks a tad young to be a grandfather.

But, seriously, I'm with you. Supposedly, my great-grandma was half Cherokee, and I may have some other Native American ancestry. I've never once tried to use that heritage to get any special advantages.

The majority of Americans whose ancestors came here during the 1800s or earlier probably have some Native American ancestry. It's fun to talk about, but really doesn't mean anything substantial.

[armymarinemom]

I don’t have a photo of him as an adult on my computer. He also looks very good for a dead man.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Her maternal great grandmother was “Shrieking Weasel” of the Poohawk tribe, and her maternal great grandfather was “Chief Broken Rubber” of the Fugawi (Hekawi) tribe.

Inspired by the great Chiricahua Apache leader Geronimo, her paternal grandmother called herself “Newjerseyho” whose husband(?) was a cowboy(?) known only as “Ramrod”.

She is believed to be a second cousin to Ward Churchill, the last surviving member of the “Umhumamummum” tribe of Southern North Dakota at West Hoople.

[Brown Deer]

Warren answered, “Because my mother told me so. This is how I live. My mother, my grandmother, my family. This is my family."

Elizabeth Warren's maternal grandmother was Bethania Crawford (wife of Harry Reed). Below is her ancestry. If Elizabeth is 1/32 Cherokee then her grandmother would be 1/8 Cherokee and one of her great grandparents would be full blooded Cherokee Indian. Which of the eight persons listed on the right does she claim to be a full blooded Cherokee Indian?

“She would be 1⁄32nd of Elizabeth Warren’s total ancestry,” noted genealogist Christopher Child said, referring to the candidate’s great-great-great-grandmother, O.C. Sarah Smith, who is listed on an Oklahoma marriage certificate as Cherokee. Smith is an ancestor on Warren’s mother’s side, Child said…

Interesting, since Oma was married in Tennessee and her ancestors were Irish and Swedish. ;-)

Warren said, “I am proud of my family and I am proud of my heritage.”

How can she be if she knows nothing about it?

8

Jonathan Houston CRAWFORD

=>

B:

1800

P:

Tennessee

M:

15 SEP 1819

4

Preston H. CRAWFORD

P:

Bledsoe Co., TN

B:

ABT 1824

D:

23 JAN 1841

P:

Tennessee

P:

Jackson Co., TN

M:

P:

9

Neoma Sarah SMITH

=>

D:

B:

1794

P:

P:

North Carolina

D:

1858

P:

Overton Co., TN

2

John Houston CRAWFORD

10

William Thomas MARSH

=>

B:

26 MAR 1858

B:

OCT 1797

P:

Laclede Co., MO

P:

Surry Co., NC

M:

1874

M:

15 OCT 1817

P:

Missouri

5

Edith MARSH

P:

Surry Co., NC

D:

23 JAN 1924

B:

5 MAR 1826

D:

OCT 1867

P:

Hughes Co., OK

P:

Bledsoe Co., TN

P:

Laclede Co., MO

D:

24 JUN 1871

P:

Laclede Co., MO

11

Edith PAUL

B:

1797

P:

North Carolina

D:

P:

1

Bethania Elvina CRAWFORD

B:

29 OCT 1875

12

Abraham BOWEN

=>

P:

Lebanon, Laclede Co., MO

B:

7 JUL 1794

D:

15 NOV 1969

P:

Jefferson Co., WV

P:

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Co., OK

M:

6 AUG 1817

6

George Washington BOWEN

P:

Ross Co., OH

B:

14 FEB 1827

D:

22 FEB 1875

P:

Marion Co., IN

P:

Indianapolis, Marion Co., IN

M:

1 JAN 1846

P:

Camden, Ray Co., MO

13

Ruth SMITH

=>

D:

14 JAN 1907

B:

28 OCT 1799

P:

Clarksville, Johnson Co., AR

P:

Washington Co., PA

D:

9 APR 1887

P:

Marion Co., IN

3

Paulina Ann BOWEN

14

Daniel W. CLARK

=>

B:

APR 1858

B:

1793

P:

Camden, Ray Co., MO

P:

Virginia

D:

JAN 1905

M:

27 MAY 1817

P:

Clarksville, Johnson Co., AR

7

Bethania CLARK

P:

Tazewell Co., VA

B:

27 FEB 1828

D:

1870

P:

Kentucky

P:

Camden, Ray Co., MO

D:

1 JAN 1926

P:

Johnson Co., AR

15

Mary MATNEY

=>

B:

15 FEB 1797

P:

Tazewell Co., VA

D:

1846

P:

Indiana

[Eva]

This whole thing about Warren being part Indian has reminded me of a story in my own family.

My uncle told us the story about my great Aunt Gertie. It was the first time that my grandmother’s brother brought Gertie home to meet the family and everyone was assembled at my Great Grandmother’s house to meet the bride. This was about 1915 and this was a country family, the men mostly worked for the RR and the women ran the farms or taught school. I guess that my great uncle had strayed as far as the next state, working for the RR and met Gertie.

Well, Gertie was something else. Small, dark haired, with braids and very nervous. After all this was quite a gathering, my grandmother had five brothers and one sister, an Paul was the youngest, so most of the siblings all had wives and kids, but my mother and her brother were the only kids present. So Gerty decided to entertain the toddlers by putting on a show and pretending that she was an Indian princess. She danced and did cartwheels and jumped around like some kind of circus entertainer and told the kids that she was a real Indian. ...and that’s the story that we were told our whole lives, that Gertie was a full blooded Indian.

It wasn’t until I ran into one of Gertie’s sons on a genealogy web site that I learned the truth. He had actually heard the story of Gertie’s performance but he didn’t know that my uncle (my mother’s brother) believed it, his whole life and was passing the story down to us. That’s how family legends get started.