General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: DNA Heritage Tests - Why Would E. Warren or Anybody Bother? [View all]Freelancer
(2,107 posts)It isn't surprising at all that she might have been led to think she was NA. Most people with little actual genealogical knowledge that come from Oklahoma just assume there's tribal connection there somewhere.
I was told I was part Cherokee, and totally bought into it. I was even on the freaking local powwow committee for years (wasn't asked to leave -- we just stopped having them). It turns out that, although all my cousins are NA, I'm not. Ironically, I look far more "native" than they do. Nobody told my dad that having a great aunt that's Cherokee doesn't make you Cherokee.
"But she was my aunt." "She was an aunt by marriage, Dad, forfuxake." "So?" <That's what an Oklahoman genealogical conversation with parents is like.
In regard to DNA, it could determine Warren's parents, but not NA status. Also, a number of tribes, most I believe, adopted people going way back. So, DNA percentages and tribal descent fractions -- 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, etc. -- probably aren't going to line-up.