--- title: Elizabeth Warren: DNA Test Shows Native American Ancestry description: Sen. Elizabeth Warren, whom Trump has called the "Fake Pocahontas," revealed a DNA test she says shows her Native American ancestry. canonical: https://time.com/5424597/elizabeth-warren-dna-test-native-american-ancestry/ author: Billy Perrigo article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-15T12:01:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:02:57.071Z article:section: Politics og:title: Elizabeth Warren DNA Test Shows Native American Ancestry og:description: Trump has dubbed Warren the "Fake Pocahontas" og:url: https://time.com/5424597/elizabeth-warren-dna-test-native-american-ancestry/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte2f6aee8fe8538e0/69893c9e4ee262f7a03131c2/gettyimages-584266220.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4251 og:image:height: 2391 og:image:alt: Democratic National Convention: Day Four og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Elizabeth Warren DNA Test Shows Native American Ancestry twitter:description: Trump has dubbed Warren the "Fake Pocahontas" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte2f6aee8fe8538e0/69893c9e4ee262f7a03131c2/gettyimages-584266220.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Elizabeth Warren Just Shared a DNA Test Showing She Has Native American Ancestry > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=16b9ff10-7ec7-4818-be5d-97f4969b4743&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Elizabeth Warren's Family Story [Watch (HLS stream): Elizabeth Warren's Family Story](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SfSLBwW3.m3u8) (5:37)  _Published 2018-10-15. Elizabeth Warren's Family Story_  by [Billy Perrigo](https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/)  ## Billy Perrigo Correspondent Oct 15, 2018 12:01 PM UTC Elizabeth Warren's Family Story  by [Billy Perrigo](https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/)  ## Billy Perrigo Correspondent Oct 15, 2018 12:01 PM UTC Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren published a DNA test on Monday that she says shows that her claims to Native American ancestry have a basis in fact. President Donald Trump has alleged that Warren, seen as a potential [presidential competitor](http://time.com/5389522/elizabeth-warren-25th-amendment-trump/) in 2020, used false claims about her heritage to advance her career as a lawyer. He has dubbed Warren the “[fake Pocahontas](http://time.com/5038848/donald-trump-elizabeth-warren-response-pocahontas/).” “She used the fact that she was Native American to advance her career,” Trump has said. “Elizabeth Warren is a total fraud. I know it. Other people who work with her know it.”= > [](https://twitter.com/elizabethforma/status/1051783184390664192) “I will give you a million dollars to your favorite charity, paid for by Trump, if you take the test and it shows you’re an Indian,” Trump said in July. “I have a feeling she will say no.” Warren shared [a video and a website](https://elizabethwarren.com/fact-squad/heritage/) of testimonials from her colleagues at Harvard University and elsewhere saying her ancestry had no impact on her hiring. Those testimonials support an [investigation](https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2018/09/01/did-claiming-native-american-heritage-actually-help-elizabeth-warren-get-ahead-but-complicated/wUZZcrKKEOUv5Spnb7IO0K/story.html) done by The Boston _Globe_ which concluded, “At every step of her remarkable rise in the legal profession, the people responsible for hiring her saw her as a white woman.” Dr. Carlos Bustamante, a professor of genetics at Stanford University, said an analysis of Warren’s genome turned up evidence of Native American ancestry. “In the senator’s genome, we did find five segments of Native American ancestry, with very high confidence, where we believe the error rate is less than one in 1,000,” Dr. Bustamante says in a video shared by Warren on Twitter. “This isn’t just about casual racism,” said Warren. “Native communities have faced discrimination, neglect and violence for generations. And Trump can say whatever he wants about me, but mocking Native Americans or any group in order to try and get at me? That’s not what America stands for.” ## Transcript [00:00] She said she's Native American, and I said [00:04] Pocahontas. Pocahontas, I apologize to you. I [00:08] apologize. To you I apologize. To [00:13] the fake Pocahontas, I won't apologize. I hear some of [00:14] you are [00:20] Republicans. I am a Republican, registerd. Yes. What [00:22] do you think of him calling her Pocahauntus? Well I [00:24] think it's ridiculous. Yeah, I think it's silly. I [00:28] think it's crap. He's talking about stuff he doesn't have [00:30] any idea about. It's offensive to me. Not just as Betsy's [00:34] cousin but as a Native American. They feel like an [00:37] attack on me and my. My mum, but mostly my [00:38] grandmother. And my mama's not around [00:42] to defend herself. My mother was born in Eastern [00:46] Oklahoma. It had been Indian territory until just a few [00:50] years earlier when it had become a state. My daddy [00:53] always said he fell head over heels inlove with my [00:56] mother the first time he saw her. But my daddy's [01:00] parents, the Herrings, were bitterly opposed to their [01:03] marrying because my mother's family, the Reeds, was [01:06] part Native American. This sort of discrimination was [01:09] common at the time. So when my mama was 19 and [01:13] my daddy was 20, they eloped, and together they built [01:16] a family. My three older brothers In me. [01:20] But how did dad Herring feel about daddy marrying [01:22] mother? It was not the happiest time I'm sure. [01:28] I think they had a real riot over that. My family grew up [01:32] on the ragged edge of the middle class. My three [01:34] brothers all went off to the military when I was just a [01:36] kid. My life then took some twists and turns as life [01:40] does. Went to college, dropped out, married at 19, [01:43] went to commuter college, had a kid, graduated from [01:46] law school, had another kid, got divorced, married [01:49] Bruce, and started teaching. I used my momma's grit [01:52] to get through commuter college and law school. I used [01:55] my dad's relentless optimism when I was balancing [01:58] babies and books. But my background played Warren [02:02] wouldn't mind hiring. What does Warren translate into [02:06] Cherokee as? Spreading bull? [ LAUGH ] They call her a [02:09] pocahantas. No criticism from me. [ LAUGH ] You know [02:11] Elizabeth Warren, right? [ SOUND ] Most people find [02:15] offensive is Senator Warren lying about her heritage to [02:19] advance her career. Do you remember her heritage [02:22] ever coming up during the hiring process? No. No. No, [02:26] her heritage had no bearing on her hiring. Period. I [02:29] was chair of the committe that year, if ethnicity was [02:31] even part of the discussion I would have known about [02:33] it. Her name, with respect to racial minority hires, no, [02:37] never. That's nonsense. Her reputation as a teacher [02:40] was stellar. We decided to hire her because she was [02:43] the best there was on the market. Elizabeth was [02:45] revered as perhaps the best teacher on the faculty. [02:48] She is a tremendous teacher, and Important [02:52] scholar. She was a trail blazer. She is the hardest [02:55] working person I have probably ever come across. [03:00] She's just been a giant in the field, she's probably one [03:03] of the hundred best law professors of the last half [03:06] century and to try to belittle that with this nonsense is [03:10] very unfair [ NOISE ] And [03:15] we will very gently take that kit and we will slowly toss [03:18] it. It'll be very gentle. And we will say, I will give you a [03:22] million dollars to your favorite charity, paid for by [03:25] Trump if you take the test and it shows you're an idiot. [03:27] [ APPLAUSE ] [ SOUND ] Hello? Hi, this [03:32] is Elizabeth Warren. Is Doctor Bustamante in, please? I [03:36] am Carlos Bustamante, and I've advised companies in [03:39] the direct- to- consumer space, including [03:41] Ancestry. com, 23 And Me, and Helix. In the Senator's [03:45] genome, we did find five segment of Native American [03:48] ancestry with very high confidence. But we believe the [03:51] error rate is less than one in a thousand. Now the [03:54] president likes to call my mom a liar, what do the facts [03:57] say? The facts suggest that you absolutely have a [04:01] Native American ancestor in your pedigree. Ok. We [04:04] come from Oklahoma. When we were born they said [04:07] these are the parents, these are your Grandparents, [04:10] these are your aunts an uncles. Their word was always [04:13] their bond. [ CROSSTALK ] They were idols. That's [04:13] right. Well that's what Bessie's been saying [04:17] I'm not enrolled in a tribe, and only tribes determin [04:20] tribal citizenship. I understand and respect that [04:23] distinction, but my family history, is my family history. [04:27] Who, Pocahontas? This isn't just about casual [04:31] racism, war hoops and tomahawk chops, native [04:35] communities have faced discrimination, neglect and [04:38] violence for generations. And Trump can say whatever [04:41] he wants about me, but mocking Native Americans or [04:45] any group in order to try and get at me, that's not [04:49] what America stands for. Some people question my [04:53] heritage and my family history. Maybe they do it to [04:56] insult me, maybe they do it to distract from the kinds [04:59] of changes I'm fighting for, and the kind of change I'm [05:02] trying to bring to Washington. Maybe they do it [05:06] because they think politics is a blood sport [ MUSIC ] [05:09] But my parents were real people, the love they shared, [05:12] the struggles they endured, the family they built, the [05:15] story they lived will always be etched on my heart, and [05:20] no one Not even the President of the United States will [05:21] ever take it away from me. [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5424597/elizabeth-warren-dna-test-native-american-ancestry/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5424597/elizabeth-warren-dna-test-native-american-ancestry/"},"headline":"Elizabeth Warren Just Shared a DNA Test Showing She Has Native American Ancestry","datePublished":"2018-10-15T12:01:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-13T08:02:57.071Z","description":"Sen. 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