Native American students weigh-in on Sen. Warren DNA test

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren released a DNA test that she said shows strong evidence of her Native American ancestry, but the results have been met with skepticism from President Trump and Native Americans.

The results were released in a campaign video that show Sen. Warren has a Native American Ancestor dating back six to ten generations.

Warren is currently seeking reelection to a second term and is a potential 2020 presidential contender.

The results of the test caught the attention of students at Brown University. Jenna Knueppel and Daniel Motley are members of the organization ‘Native Americans at Brown who said that it’s more than just blood that makes someone native.

“I do not necessarily accept the genealogy report and I think if Senator Warren made claims to Native ancestry, it has to be more than just saying this is my percentage of blood,” Knueppel said.

“It’s having actual connections to the land,” Motley said. “Having actual connections to the community and the members that lived there.”

Motley is from Arizona and part of the Tohono O’odham Nation, Knueppel is from Wisconsin and is part of the Sokaogon Chippewa Community at Mole Lake. The two tell ABC 6 they can trace their ancestry back hundreds of years.

They believe the test used by Sen. Warren is dangerous to Native communities.

“A tool used to displace and disenfranchise Native Americans,” Motley said.

“Minimize indigenous people and to dilute the perception of what it means to be Native,” Knueppel added. “She would have to know where her people came from or at least make past attempts to learn who her people were.”

Warren claimed to be part Cherokee. The results of her test prompted a statement from Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. that reads:

“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,” Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. said. “Sovereign tribal nations set their own legal requirements for citizenship, and while DNA tests can be used to determine lineage, such as paternity to an individual, it is not evidence for tribal affiliation. Using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong. 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. Senator Warren is undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage.”

Warren took to Twitter to respond to the Cherokee Nation and to President Trump’s insults after the test results were released.