>>This isn’t unreasonable. Many families “enhance” their histories in some way, either deliberately or through the years like the Telephone game where what is said at the beginning of the game resembles not at all what is said at the end. <<
The author misses the important point here. She used that family lore to get financial aid, which means those funds were withheld from REAL Native Americans. She also used it in other ways to advance her career all the while with no confirmation.
She is a liar who used a distant family story to benefit herself to the detriment of others.