Cherokees to protest Warren

Cherokee group to protest Elizabeth Warren outside state Democratic convention in Springfield

By Robert RizzutoA group of protesters led by Cherokee Indians upset about Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren's heritage claims are planning to protest outside the state Democratic Convention in Springfield on Saturday.

In an email from Twila Barnes, an amateur Cherokee genealogist in Missouri who has taken the lead with a new website targeting Warren, it states that the Harvard Law School professor's endorsement from Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick was disrespectful to Native Americans in light of the controversy.

"Governor Deval Patrick's recent support of her and his statement that this is a non-issue is an arrogant slap in the face and a direct attack on sovereignty and the Cherokee's legal right to determine citizenship," Barnes said in the email. "Elizabeth Warren and others like her must understand OUR history belongs to us and no one has the right to try to rewrite it or make up fictitious stories so they can fit in it or take advantage of it. Only those who meet the requirements under Cherokee law should claim to be Cherokee."Cherokees to protest Warren at convention

By Hillary ChabotCherokees angered by Elizabeth Warren’s claims of Native American heritage said today they’ll stand in silent protest against the embattled Senate candidate during Saturday’s Democratic Convention in Springfield.

“I believe we need a presence there. Warren hasn’t recanted her claims or apologized to the Cherokee people,” said David Cornsilk, a 53-year-old citizen of Cherokee Nation who co-created a group called “Cherokees Demand Truth from Elizabeth Warren.”

The protest will come as Warren’s Democratic rival Marisa DeFranco pushes to get 15 percent of delegate support at the Saturday convention in order to get on the ballot. Warren nabbed Gov. Deval Patrick’s endorsement yesterday, only three days before the convention as questions continue about whether she used her alleged roots to get a teaching job at Harvard Law School and the University of Pennsylvania.

Cornsilk said Warren’s admission today that she did inform both ivy league schools of her alleged American Indian ties points to her character. Warren had originally said she didn’t know the universities were listing her as Native American until she read about it in the Boston Herald.More complaints and criticism

Tribe-ulations for Liz Warren as Cherokees plan protest

By Hillary ChabotNative Americans—outraged by Elizabeth Warren’s admission yesterday that she told her Ivy League bosses about her purported tribal roots—accused the embattled Democrat of snubbing them and vowed to protest at tomorrow’s state convention even as she scrambled to placate supporters.

“If she really wanted to reach out to our native people and have a discussion about issues that are affecting us, then she needs to talk to our tribal media,” said Rhonda Levando Gayton, president of the Native American Journalists Association.

Rob Capriccioso, a reporter with Indian Country Today, said he has reached out to Warren’s campaign several times for an interview since May 15 and has been blown off. Capriccioso said there is a growing skepticism in Native American circles about Warren.

“Her ‘high cheekbones’ recollection, her failed Native networking while in academia and odd explanations of it, the possibility that Harvard promoted her as a Native professor without any documentation ... and the attempts by her campaign to paint Indian concerns as a nonissue have all been problematic,” Capriccioso said.About Elizabeth Warren's Family Story About Being Cherokee

By Debbie ReeseInstead of asking voters to move on, she could say that:

The hard reality is that she doesn't know what it means to be a Cherokee, and that her heartfelt pride is based on romantic ideas and stereotypes. That she embraced that identity uncritically because schools in the U.S. don't teach children that, in addition to the federal and state government, there are tribal governments with inherent powers to determine who its citizens are. She could point out that, instead of an education about tribal governments, students learn about Indians at the First Thanksgiving, and how they did cool things like using every part of the buffalo, and that it is sad that Indians are all gone, now.

In other words, she'd be saying she is ignorant, and that America's collective ignorance can't go on unchecked because it gets in the way of being able to see American Indians in today's society for who we are. Instead of knowing American Indians as we should, Americans choose to know and love them in an abstract stereotypical way that does more harm than good.(Excerpted from Debbie Reese's American Indians in Children's Literature, 5/31/12.)

According to UrbanDictionary.com, the Correct Term for Elizabeth Warren Is 'Pretendian'

By Joel B. Pollak1. American Indian Princess syndromeWhen blonde and blue eyed white girls look to see if their great great grand mother was part of some Native American tribe. Then they go around saying that they are part Native, even though they might not even have enough blood line to get a Native blood card. They also never took part in their tribe's cultural heritage until they found out they were "1/32" Native, then becoming obsessive they search and learn as much as they can. Often Natives despise them, as they are fake, wannabe white girls that want to be brown, powerful princesses of the earth. Also, they try to take grant and scholarship money that is allocated to the Native American minority population.It sounds like "Pretendian" Elizabeth Warren has a textbook case!Comment:  Alas, Warren does fit the "Indian princess" definition pretty well.

For more on Elizabeth Warren, see Warren Told Schools She Was Native and Cherokee Website Targets Warren.