Deb Haaland stands by Sen. Elizabeth Warren amid DNA doubts

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) has faced criticism in Indian Country for releasing a DNA analysis which she said shows she has a Native ancestor.

But Deb Haaland, one of the first two Native women elected to Congress, isn't one of those detractors. She called Warren a "sister in the struggle" following the release of the DNA results in October and told The New York Times that the test had nothing to do with tribal sovereignty.

“I absolutely respect tribes’ authority to determine who are tribal members,” Haaland, a Democratic who will be representing New Mexico's 1st Congressional District, told The Times. “But I don’t think that’s what Elizabeth Warren was doing. She was merely looking to find a connection to her past and that’s exactly what she did.”

Thank you @SenWarren and @repbenraylujan for your support! I look forward to working with you both to assure we #FliptheSenate #FliptheHouse #TakeItBack pic.twitter.com/xUAnJ2CIgT
— Deb Haaland (@Deb4CongressNM) July 17, 2018

Warren, who grew up in Oklahoma, has previously claimed Cherokee or Delaware ancestry. But she has freely admitted that none of her ancestors appear on any tribal rolls despite what the DNA analysis shows.

"I understand that tribal membership is determined by tribes -- and only by tribes," Warren told the National Congress of American Indians earlier this year.

The Native heritage issue first arose during Warren's 2012 campaign. Her Republican opponent, Scott Brown, and his campaign repeatedly derided her claims but voters in Massachusetts weren't swayed by the "Pocahontas" insults or the "war whoops" and "tomahawk chops" directed at her.

Voters easily re-elected Warren in October, just a couple of weeks after she went public with the DNA results. Some liberal activists and Democratic supporters told The Times that the issue could affect a possible presidential run in 2020, one in which she could face Republican Donald Trump, who has repeatedly used the "Pocahontas" slur.

The Times suggest that Warren might be making announcement about her presidential aspirations in the coming weeks.