Why the #KHive Won’t Switch to Warren, and You Shouldn’t, Either.
By: Smart Ass Dem-Inist
Tags: Elizabeth Warren, Democrats, 2020 Democratic Primary, Progressive, Kamala Harris

Warren’s Problematic History/Relationship with Indigneous People

Elizabeth Warren pretended to be a woman of color for years. https://web.archive.org/web/20140428203447/http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/04/29/elizabeth-warren-was-listed-minority-professor-law-directories-and/yBZTdrH3Qt8xRu6KZkLDlO/story.html?camp=pm She listed herself as “American Indian” with the AALS (American Association of Law Schools — the organization that a person applies with in order to try to get a position as a law professor), but she later unchecked the box, because she said she didn’t get “invited to events & groups” she’d hoped for.

3. In 2012, her own staff begged her to stop calling herself Native American because genealogists had proven her only tie was through an in-law, but she refused, and she KNEW all this years ago. https://nypost.com/2012/05/21/a-recipe-for-trouble/

4. She took a DNA test because of a dare made by Donald Trump, without asking indigenous leaders of the tribes involved, and she didn’t publicly apologize.

5. Trump said he’d give $1M to the charity of her choice if she took the test & proved she was Native American. She used that test, which is not how tribal citizenship is determined, to “prove” it, & she asked for the money. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-warren-million-offer-dna/

6. BUT — her being an Ivy League professor and pretending to not be aware that tribal citizenship is not determined by a DNA test taxes credulity.

7. AND — She asked for the $1M but didn’t really pursue it much — did it not matter that much to get that amount for a needed cause/charity?

8. Her “myths debunked” website only talks about why it’s offensive for Trump to call her Pocahontas, not anything about her role.

9. She said she thought she was indigneous because her grandfather “had cheekbones like an Indian.” (This is an horrible stereotype — imagine if she had claimed to be a member of another racial/ethnic minority because of a physical feature — it would be patently offensive to claim to be a member of a particular racial or ethnic group because a relative had “lips like a x,” “eyes like a y,” etc. Also, the term “Indian” historically inaccurate, and it’s hard to believe a highly-educated person was so naive for 3+ decades as to use this term and claim “cheekbones” as a basis for tribal identity). https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/05/is-elizabeth-warren-native-american-or-what/257415/

10. She contributed to a cookbook called Pow Wow Chow (a supposed collection of Native American Recipes). https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2146628/Elizabeth-Warrens-Pow-Wow-Chow-Cherokee-recipes-word-word-COPIES-famous-FRENCH-chefs-techniques.html

11. Warren’s “contributions” to Pow Wow Chow were recipes she stole from a French chef. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2146628/Elizabeth-Warrens-Pow-Wow-Chow-Cherokee-recipes-word-word-COPIES-famous-FRENCH-chefs-techniques.html

12. She signed “her” recipes as “Elizabeth Warren, Cherokee.” https://nypost.com/2012/05/21/a-recipe-for-trouble/

13. Warren’s husband, Bruce Mann, also contributed to the “Pow Wow Chow” cookbook. His recipe, Oriental Beef Stir Fry, was plagiarized, word for word from the Oswego (NY) Palladium Times on January 24, 1983. He listed himself as a “Cherokee Indian” in the cookbook. http://www.fultonhistory.com/Process%20small/Newspapers/Oswego%20Palladium/Oswego%20Palladium%20Jan-Feb%201983%20pdf/Newspaper%20%20Oswego%20Palladium%20Jan-Feb%201983%20-%200282.pdf

14. “Pow Wow Chow” was the work of her cousin — a work that was offensive (and the cousin should have/did know better, because she worked for an indigenous museum,) and that was sold for a profit. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2146628/Elizabeth-Warrens-Pow-Wow-Chow-Cherokee-recipes-word-word-COPIES-famous-FRENCH-chefs-techniques.html

15. Warren contributed a recipe of Crab with Tomato Mayonnaise Dressing to this cookbook. WTF? We should believe a traditional Native recipe used Mayonnaise??! https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2146628/Elizabeth-Warrens-Pow-Wow-Chow-Cherokee-recipes-word-word-COPIES-famous-FRENCH-chefs-techniques.html

16. The book is still being sold, all the recipes are offensive, & they are not indigenous recipes (one is for “Mexican soup.”). She has not recanted it, and she used the (non-indigenous) cousin to support her claim of supposedly being Cherokee. https://web.archive.org/web/20120521091038/http://allthingscherokee.com/cart/catalog/cooking-books/pow-wow-chow-cookbook-60.html

17. Warren made things worse by taking a DNA test, which has NOTHING to do with determining who is Cherokee, because of a DARE with Trump, which was a form of violence to indigenous people. https://www.hcn.org/articles/indian-country-news-elizabeth-warrens-half-mea-culpa-on-native-ancestry

18. She’s a hypocrite — she checked and unchecked the “Native American” box (that identifies a person by race/ethnicity) when it was convenient. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/elizabeth-warrens-american-indian-claim-11549576347

19. She compared the accusations against her native heritage to the birther accusations against Obama.

20. Harvard touted her as its first woman of color in 1996, and it was mentioned in a 1997 Fordham Law Review article. She never corrected this.

21. She identified only as Native American for her bar registration and to get a job as a law professor.

22. Her non-apology in a bowling alley to Native Americans is gross.

23. Warrren claimed at one time that part of the basis for believing she/her family were indigenous is because she had “family photos” that confirmed this belief. This is beyond insulting and strongly suggests that her idea of “confirmation” of tribal identity (which anyone, especially someone with a doctorate degree, should know is not determined by “photos”) was to have pictures of people who supposedly “looked indigenous.” In other words, either she or someone in her family most likely took pictures of themselves appropriating stereotypical and/or rarely worn indigenous attire, such as headdresses, and/or that these people were in “red face.” Not only are such photographs/behavior nothing to brag about, they are beyond degrading and are worsened by the fact that she used them as a partial basis for her claims to be Native American.

24. The Delaware tribe, which is one of the tribal nations she claimed to be a member of, wants nothing to do with her. Why should a white woman let herself off the hook instead of doing something to truly make this up to them (if it’s even possible)? https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/delaware-tribal-council-to-skip-meeting-with-elizabeth-warren/ar-BBYeuXm?ocid=st