Elizabeth Warren is a Democrat who is a candidate running in the 2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts. She is running against incumbent Scott Brown, who is a Republican. There have been some accusations that she used a false claim of minority status to advance her career. A genealogist has found evidence that Elizabeth Warren really does have Cherokee ancestry.
For whatever reason, it has somehow become acceptable for politicians to question the heritage of the candidates who are running against them. I’m not entirely certain what they hope to achieve by these efforts, but it happens fairly frequently. If I had to guess, the purpose could be an attempt to make the opposing candidate appear somewhat disingenuous.
One example of this took place in Massachusetts. Incumbent Republican Senator Scott Brown made an insinuation that Democrat Elizabeth Warren, who is running against him in the 2012 election, used her minority status to further her career. It has been suggested that her claim that she had Cherokee ancestry was a lie.
A genealogist named Christopher Child, who is of the New England Historic and Genealogy Society, did some genealogy research. He started his research when media interest about Warren’s family tree emerged. At first, he was unable to find a link between Warren’s family and the Native Americans who lived in Oklahoma, where Warren’s family is from.
Further investigation, however, turned up evidence that Elizabeth Warren really does have Cherokee ancestry. Christopher Child found that Elizabeth Warren had a great-great-great grandmother named O.C. Sarah Smith. He found her listed on her son’s 1894 marriage license. On that document, O.C. Sarah Smith is listed as a Cherokee.
This document is enough evidence to validate Elizabeth Warren’s claim that she has Native American ancestry. It makes her 1 / 32 American Indian (and, more specifically, of the Cherokee nation). More genealogy research will need to be done in order to fill out more of Warren’s family tree.
So, that clears up the question about whether or not Elizabeth Warren lied about having Cherokee ancestry. Clearly, she was telling the truth about her heritage. As to whether or not she used her minority status to further her career, well, this is not a question that can be answered simply by doing some genealogy research, and digging through marriage certificates and other documents. I suppose the two politicians can fight about that issue for as long as they feel politically motivated to do so.
Image by MYSTERY PILL on Flickr