Elizabeth Warren’s ancestor was actually a militia member who rounded up Cherokee Indians

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has been one of POTUS Donald Trump’s most vociferous critics, and she has particularly bristled at his reference to her as “Pocahontas,” a jab at her alleged Native American heritage which she has used in the past as a means of advancing her academic career prior to politics.

As such, in a bid to silence the president’s criticisms and to ‘prove’ her ancestry, Warren had a DNA test performed recently, the results of which she made public on Monday.

To say that this stunt has backfired on her in a big way is an understatement. In fact, it’s fair to say that she nuked her own credibility on claims that she has Cherokee lineage.

First, the test results. According to published reports, the test was conducted by a Stanford genetics professor, who concluded that there is “strong evidence” Warren’s heritage included Native American DNA “six to 10 generations ago,” CNBC noted.

However, “the parameters of the test left open the possibility that Warren was only 1/1,024 Native American – a tiny fraction that the Massachusetts Democrat’s opponents were quick to point out,” the network reported. (Related: Navajo code-talker honored by Trump destroys Liz Warren with epic one-liner.)

But it gets even worse for “Fauxcohontas.” According to Michael Patrick Leahy writing for Breitbart News, an ancestor of Warren’s actually corralled Cherokee Indians for the deadly Trail of Tears:

For over a quarter of a century, Elizabeth Warren has described herself as a Native American. When recently asked to provide evidence of her ancestry, she pointed to an unsubstantiated claim on an 1894 Oklahoma Territory marriage license application by her great-great grand uncle William J. Crawford that his mother, O.C. Sarah Smith Crawford, Ms. Warren’s great-great-great grandmother, was a Cherokee.  

After researching her story, it is obvious that her “family lore” is just fiction.

Leahy writes that O.C. Sarah Smith Crawford has no Cherokee lineage and, in the census of 1860, was listed as “white.” Moreover, her husband – Warren’s great-great-great grandfather Jonathan Crawford, “was apparently a member of the Tennessee Militia who rounded up Cherokees from their family homes in the Southeastern United States and herded them into government-built stockades” in what was called Ross’s Landing at the time (now Chattanooga) – “the point of origin for the horrific Trail of Tears, which began in January 1837.”

Oops.

Let’s go to the real historical record

Jonathan Crawford served in the East Tennessee Mounted Infantry Volunteer Militia, which was commanded by Brig. Gen. R. G. Dunlap from late 1835 to late 1836. While serving, Jonathan Crawford was a member of Capt. Richard E. Waterhouse’s company under Dunlap.

“These were the troops responsible for removing Cherokee families from homes they had lived in for generations in the three states that the Cherokee Nations had considered their homelands for centuries: Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee,” Leahy writes.

The involuntary removal of Cherokees from their homes weren’t really rife with violence. However, members of the tribe would sometimes receive a “brutal welcome” when they arrived at the quickly-built containment areas at Ross’s Landing.

While Jonathan Crawford most likely did not join regular Army troops escorting the Cherokees along the Trail of Tears, he did fight in the Second Seminole War in Florida. Leahy notes that Crawford’s service and the dates have been verified and corroborated by existing documents.

All of this, of course, prompted POTUS Trump to tweet Tuesday, “Pocahontas (the bad version), sometimes referred to as Elizabeth Warren, is getting slammed. She took a bogus DNA test and it showed that she may be 1/1024, far less than the average American. Now Cherokee Nation denies her, ‘DNA test is useless.’ Even they don’t want her. Phony!”

Pocahontas (the bad version), sometimes referred to as Elizabeth Warren, is getting slammed. She took a bogus DNA test and it showed that she may be 1/1024, far less than the average American. Now Cherokee Nation denies her, “DNA test is useless.” Even they don’t want her. Phony!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2018

He’s right; the Cherokee Nation has heavily criticized Warren and her test. “A DNA test is useless to determine tribal citizenship,” Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. said in a statement, USA Today reports. “Current DNA tests do not even distinguish whether a person’s ancestors were indigenous to North or South America.”

Read more about the Elizabeth Warren Native American hoax at Hoax.news.

Sources include:

CNBC.com

Breitbart.com

NewsTarget.com