Native American group: Elizabeth Warren ‘better be able to defend’ ancestry claim

A prominent Native American group says Massachusetts Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren had “better be able to defend” her past claims of being an Indian-American minority.

The Democratic candidate is facing questions about her heritage following the revelation on Friday that she described herself as a Native American minority in professional law school directories during the 1980s and ’90s.

“Once you put that down, you better be able to defend it,” Ray Ramirez of the Native American Rights Fund told The Daily Caller on Monday.

Warren, who no longer publicly refers to herself as Native American, has disputed that she claimed Indian-American minority status then to give herself a professional advantage.

Asked for evidence of her ancestry to back up the candidate’s past statements, a Warren spokeswoman told TheDC on Monday that the campaign is “working on digging up some sort of evidence to appease” inquirers.

But the campaign hasn’t been able to immediately provide any documentation. The Boston Herald reported Friday that the Warren campaign said the “tales of Warren’s Cherokee and Delaware tribe ancestors have been passed down through family lore.”

Typically the Northeastern tribal groups that actually engaged in battle were representative warrior groups. They could have been born in any number of tributary tribes (like the Mingo, or non-confederation Iroquois) and been taken as a warrior candidate to a warrior elite.

This happened big time in 1648 when a very bad winter beat up everybody ~ the Iroquois were reported to have forced a tribute of about 15,000 men suitable for service as warriors.

The Pequot were certainly an organized warrior elite of some consequence up until 1648. Afterward they were still a warrior elite but they were no longer of consequence.

That period of time also saw the Iroquois defeat the Mohicans, who were then adopted by the Oneida ~ right into the ranks of warriors. War was, as it happened in those days, a private matter, but business was business. So, if the Pequot were adopted by the Mohicans, that had to be earlier than 1740 because the Mohicans had been adopted themselves by the Oneida.

Or, your reference is to the Mahicans, a totally different coastal group probably speaking the same language as the Pequot. I'd suspect they got absorbed by one of their tributary tribes, but someone with more information on NE tribes might well know exactly what happened.

They are back, this time equipped with a casino ~ giving them a long life!

The Oneida at Lake Winnebago also have a casino. The Muncee Band, the greater part of the tribe in that area, ARE the remnant of the Mohicans and the Brothertons ~ to the extent the Brothertons didn't wander off with the Kickapoo.

I follow these handful of tribes very carefully when they get an historic reference so I can see if I can spot one of my ancestors marrying in for a year or two (one of them did a couple of dozen brides over the years, at least 3 of whom were Indians now in tribes located up at Sault St Marie.

They probably have a little blue card in their pocket saying they are members of whatever tribe that is that hands out scholarships.

White folks been here 500 years ~ many marriages have been made ~ the Old Americans (as they were known up to about 100 years ago) didn't check too hard on race, but they did check ownership lest someone come along and claim title to the kids.

Things changed when we got overrun with Europeans.

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