Long mocked by Trump as ‘Pocahontas’, US Senator Elizabeth Warren releases DNA evidence of Native American ancestry

US Senator Elizabeth Warren on Monday released the results of a DNA analysis that strongly supports she has some Native American ancestry, a rebuttal to President Donald Trump and other critics who have long derided her claim.

The Massachusetts Democrat and potential 2020 presidential contender challenged Trump to make good on his pledge to donate US$1 million to charity if she provided proof of Native American heritage, a moment that was caught on video. Trump falsely denied ever making the offer.

The DNA analysis on Warren was done by Stanford University professor Carlos D. Bustamante. He concluded the great majority of Warren’s ancestry is European but added “the results strongly support the existence of an unadmixed Native American ancestor.”

In his report, Bustamante, a prominent expert in the field of DNA analysis, said he analysed Warren’s sample without knowing the identity of the donor. He concluded that Warren’s pure Native American ancestor likely lived six to 10 generations ago, and that it was impossible to determine the individual’s tribal connection.

If Warren’s Native American ancestry was six generations removed, it could mesh with an 1894 document the New England Genealogical Society previously unearthed suggesting Warren’s great-great-great-grandmother, O.C. Sarah Smith, was at least partially Native American, making Warren 1/32nd Native American.

The Boston Globe, which first reported the results of the DNA analysis, noted that if Warren’s ancestor was 10 generations removed, she would be only 1/1024th Native American. Such a finding could potentially further excite her critics instead of quieting them.

Warren on Monday also released a video produced by her Senate re-election campaign. In it, she says: “The president likes to call my mom a liar. What do the facts say?”