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There is absolutely NO DOUBT she already tried that, anonymously, and didn't get the answer she wanted.
So she reached out to the "Dr. Fraud Brigade."
I believe that your scenario is most likely what happened.
I will concede that she may have believed there might have been some Indian heritage in her background. Old Pioneer families abound with stories of some relative that had “high cheekbones” giving rise to claims that they may have had an Indian great great great grandparent. I’ve heard it 1000 times. But it was a thing that people, especially from Oklahoma, said, and most of the time it is not true.
In Warren’s case, if people in the family did talk about that as something that was possibly in the family heritage, she should have had more evidence and more blood than 1/32nd before claiming to be Native American when she applied for teaching positions. (1 32nd was what she had at best if her family lore was true). It’s just wrong to claim Indian blood at that level, especially if your known ancestors were the ones herding Indians on the Trail of Tears, which hers were.