--- title: Cherokee Nation Calls Elizabeth Warren's DNA Test 'Wrong' description: The Cherokee Nation called Sen. Elizabeth Warren's DNA test to prove her Native American ancestry "inappropriate and wrong." canonical: https://time.com/5425427/cherokee-nation-responds-elizabeth-warrens-dna-test/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-15T23:03:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T21:45:16.987Z article:section: Politics og:title: Cherokee Nation Calls Elizabeth Warren's DNA Test 'Inappropriate and Wrong' og:description: The Cherokee Nation said Warren is "undermining tribal interests" og:url: https://time.com/5425427/cherokee-nation-responds-elizabeth-warrens-dna-test/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd828c0b7b6a95775/6988e08586f68e86356e6b1e/171004-elizabeth-warren-equifax-2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 171004-elizabeth-warren-equifax-2 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cherokee Nation Calls Elizabeth Warren's DNA Test 'Inappropriate and Wrong' twitter:description: The Cherokee Nation said Warren is "undermining tribal interests" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd828c0b7b6a95775/6988e08586f68e86356e6b1e/171004-elizabeth-warren-equifax-2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Cherokee Nation Calls Elizabeth Warren's DNA Test 'Inappropriate and Wrong' by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Oct 15, 2018 11:03 PM UTC  Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., questions Richard Smith, CEO of Equifax, during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing in Dirksen on the company's security breach on October 4, 2017. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., questions Richard Smith, CEO of Equifax, during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing in Dirksen on the company's security breach on October 4, 2017.Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call,Inc. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Oct 15, 2018 11:03 PM UTC The Cherokee Nation called [Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s DNA test](http://time.com/5424597/elizabeth-warren-dna-test-native-american-ancestry/) to prove her Native American ancestry “inappropriate and wrong” in a statement Monday. “Sovereign tribal nations set their own legal requirements for citizenship, and while DNA tests can be used to determine lineage, such as paternity to an individual, it is not evidence for tribal affiliation,” the Cherokee Nation’s Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. [said](http://www.cherokee.org/News/Stories/20181015%5FCherokee-Nation-responds-to-Senator-Warrens-DNA-test). “Using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong.” Earlier Monday, Warren published a [DNA test](http://time.com/5424597/elizabeth-warren-dna-test-native-american-ancestry/) to show that she has some Native American ancestry. This was in response to frequent allegations by President Trump that she used false claims of her heritage to advance her career. Trump has repeatedly disparaged Warren by referring to her as [“Pocahontas.”](http://time.com/5038848/donald-trump-elizabeth-warren-response-pocahontas/) But according to Hoskin, Warren’s attempt to prove her heritage means little to the Cherokee Nation. “A DNA test is useless to determine tribal citizenship,” he said. “Current DNA tests do not even distinguish whether a person’s ancestors were indigenous to North or South America.” He continued: “It makes a mockery out of DNA tests and its legitimate uses while also dishonoring legitimate tribal governments and their citizens, whose ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is proven. Sen. Warren is undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5425427/cherokee-nation-responds-elizabeth-warrens-dna-test/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5425427/cherokee-nation-responds-elizabeth-warrens-dna-test/"},"headline":"Cherokee Nation Calls Elizabeth Warren's DNA Test 'Inappropriate and Wrong'","datePublished":"2018-10-15T23:03:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:45:16.987Z","description":"The Cherokee Nation said Warren is \"undermining tribal interests\"","url":"https://time.com/5425427/cherokee-nation-responds-elizabeth-warrens-dna-test/","keywords":["Senate","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd828c0b7b6a95775/6988e08586f68e86356e6b1e/171004-elizabeth-warren-equifax-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd828c0b7b6a95775/6988e08586f68e86356e6b1e/171004-elizabeth-warren-equifax-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"171004-elizabeth-warren-equifax-2","caption":"Equifax Hearing","creditText":"Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call,Inc.","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/senate/","name":"Senate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5425427/cherokee-nation-responds-elizabeth-warrens-dna-test/","name":"Cherokee Nation Calls Elizabeth Warren's DNA Test 'Inappropriate and Wrong'"}}]}] ```