Yesterday I posted about how Elizabeth Warren’s campaign acknowledged that she self-identified as Native American on forms she filled out for the Association of American Law Schools in the mid-1980s through 1994, but that she still was searching for the genealogical evidence to support her claim.
According to the Boston Herald (added- Cover here)(h/t Instapundit) Warren found the proof last night, in the form of her great-great-great grandmother being Cherokee:
Desperately scrambling to validate Democrat Elizabeth Warren’s Native American heritage amid questions about whether she used her minority status to further her career, the Harvard Law professor’s campaign last night finally came up with what they claim is a Cherokee connection — her great-great-great-grandmother.
“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.
The controversy will not be over, as further reported by the Herald:
Suzan Shown Harjo, a former executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, expressed outrage yesterday after learning that Warren had identified herself as a Native American on law school records without documentation.
“If you believe you are these things then that’s fine and dandy, but that doesn’t give you the right to claim yourself as Native American,” said Harjo, who said Warren might have taken a job another Native American could have received.
On what basis does someone who is 1/32nd of anything claim that 1/32nd as ethnicity or race for any purpose? And is it believable that Warren had no purpose in claiming Native American status when she was building her career in a field which desperately sought minority, and particularly Native American, members.
The issue, though, is larger than Warren personally and goes to the ethos of Warren’s campaign.
How ironic that the new liberal lioness has resorted to counting drops of blood for her self-identification.
Update: I’m reminded that my wife’s family are descendents of the Jews who were exiled from Spain and lived in Turkey for centuries (retaining their religion and language) until immigrating to the U.S. in the 20th Century. What box should my kids check? Veit?
And Ann Althouse has interesting observations on Warren’s potentially shifting motivations.
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