General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Warren listed race as 'American Indian' on Texas bar registration [View all]Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)Nor are all those experiences the same. A Native American born and raised in Oklahoma is going to have a profoundly different experience than one who was raised on a reservation in Arizona. The example you give also site ancestry from a very different geographical area, which isn't the same as your own neighborhood, which probably has a number of Native Americans within a short distance.
DNA is also a piss poor indication of Native American heritage and identity, which is why Warren apologized to the Cherokee Nation for citing it after they took exception.
The bottom line is that Native American identity is a lot more complex than most realize and it defies most analogies used to try to explain it.
What I think is the biggest tragedy here is not that Warren at one point identified as Native American, but rather that so many feel that was so wrong. I think the plight of Native Americans would be improved if more realized how connected they are to us.