Elizabeth Warren: Offensive and Harmful

Why Offensive? by Twila

It is that she used the claim to advance her career. She started using the claim at the age of 37, and then moved into the Ivy League as a professor after making the claim. She used it for nine years until she became a permanent hire at Harvard and then she dropped it, apparently to avoid the stigma attached to being an affirmative action hire. This woman is not just some Joe Blow walking down the street. She is running for the US Congress, and if elected, will be voting on things concerning REAL Natives. Also, her genealogy has been done and she has no Native American ancestry going back to well before the Trail of Tears in 1838. She has never tried to do anything to help Native communities nor has she ever tried to get involved with the group of Native American professors who support each other and mentor each other and work with tribes helping them. While she does her job teaching one class for over $300,000 a year, we have people going without running water. We have an alarming rate of youth suicide. We have a high percentage of violence against Native women. Our health care system could be improved. People should not have to be on waiting lists for life saving services or eye glasses or hearing aids, but they are. Warren knows about none of this nor does she care about any of it. She claimed to be Cherokee long enough to get what she could out of it and then stopped.

Why Harmful? by David

Anyone who thinks a fake Indian in the Senate isn't dangerous for tribes doesn't understand the potential for damage. Warren has dug in her heels on her false claim. As a lawmaker, she has

the potential for impacting the sovereignty of Indian tribes by supporting or introducing harmful legislation that could benefit fakes and change the entire paradigm of Indian identity. But even if there were no potential for harm from a Warren-influenced Congress, the Cherokee people and all tribes demand respect for our nations, our laws and our sovereignty. When Warren claims to be a Cherokee, it isn't just a word. Its a loaded word, filled with genocide, tragedy and even triumph. By claiming that word, she claims those things for herself and they do not belong to her. This battle isn't new. I have had EW in might cross hairs since the 80s when she first published a plagiarized recipe in the offensive book, Powwow Chow. The difference here, as it was with Ward Churchill, is that her candidacy gave the issue of ethnic identity fraud a national platform. And make no mistake about it, fake Cherokees, Sioux and Apaches are rampant. The 2010 U.S. Census shows nearly 1 million Americans claimed to be Cherokees. There are only 250,000 enrolled Cherokees in all three federally recognized Cherokee governments. That means the wannabes outnumber us 2 to 1! They have reached critical mass, forming fake tribes, gaining state recognition and sucking down federal monies intended for Indian people. With EW in Congress, they will have their voice. Already, a fake Cherokee tribe out of Florida has approached Congress asking for the termination of the Cherokee Nation and Eastern Band of Cherokees because our governments won't recognize them. With enough numbers, they too could have a voice in Congress and the days of termination could return with a vengeance.