and she'll know for sure. If there is any Native American DNA, it should show up.

Last I heard they have 800,000 samples.

That said many of US that thought we were part Indian have ruled it out to to DNA testing.

In my own case, seems my Indian grandma (who was indeed Indian) was not really the grandma I thought she was nor did anyone else in the family. I've yet to tell this to her great granddaughter who doesn't know the reality of what happened in 1920.

Nope. Ancestry got my mother's wrong. She came back as 25% Native American, but her granddaughter (my daughter) came back with 0% Native American using a different DNA service. Something's not right.

We have excellent genealogy documentation, and there are no Native Americans in her ancestry.

Just how much information does 23andMe collect? Much more than consumers may imagine unless they read the fine print. Purchasing the test and submitting DNA creates a potentially indelible electronic record of your genomic sequence in 23andMe’s database, along with a composite mosaic of additional health, lifestyle, and consumer generated personal details. In addition to the information the consumer actively sends, 23andMe employs numerous techniques to collect and track additional details through social media, web beacons, and consumer IP addresses such as compiling personal photos, place of employment, a record of every website the consumer clicks on, and real time tracking of the consumer’s location. 23andMe uses this data internally for marketing purposes and shares the data for research if the consumer provides consent.

But- the fine print also contains a provision that permits 23andMe to unilaterally modify its privacy policy at any time, effectively changing current promised limitations. Wojcicki’s positive intentions aside, she is not the sole party controlling the data. If 23andMe follows in Google’s footsteps, then the private information may not stay private. Indeed, Google Ventures managing partner Bill Maris (a financial supporter of 23andMe) has dismissively challenged, “What are you worried about? Your genome isn’t really secret.” If 23andMe modifies its policy to widely sell consumer data without consent, the lightning nature of electronic data sharing means Pandora’s Box is open.

the people who think it’s some conspiracy are the same type of people who believe in the Illuminati.

Since he only donated to that site, she would never have found him but for 23andMe.

We'd given up finding him because of the secrecy built into the sperm donor process (28 years ago) - and voila - a perfect match. (They've met; she now has half-siblings (one of whom looks strikingly like her; it is likely she'll have other surprise half-siblings eventually from more matches with donor siblings.)

Definitely be careful, read the fine print, set privacy settings, etc. But if you are looking for more than just for theoretical ancestry, the match can only come from the entity that has the relative's DNA.

So I wouldn't rely on it for anything useful.

And two full siblings can have different amounts of DNA.

For example, my brother's testing showed he had 8 percent Scandinavian, and yet I had none. How is this possible? The same way he can have a Y chromosome or I can have blue eyes. Full siblings have the same ancestors, but they get a different MIX of their DNA. And we don't get precisely 1/4 of our DNA from each of our grandparents, 1/8 from each our great-grandparents, etc. We might not only look much more like one of our grandparents, we might have inherited more DNA from that grandparent.

I’ve recently done some DNA testing, 3 so far and have uploaded to a few sites that can break it down further. I do have NA DNA as well as Mayan, aboriginal, etc. I also have tested my mtDNA and find my mother’s line came from Africa. We all come from somewhere, have family lore, etc. to me, I am of all people and I don’t now identify myself with any one ethnicity. When asked on an application now what am I, I will say other. On another note, even siblings will not match identically where DNA is concerned. So having Sen Warren do DNA testing to prove heritage could still be inconclusive. We get 50% from our parents and the rest is helter skater from previous generations. Since I have a lot of family from Germany, I pray I’m not connected to double down dirty don.......

The Republicans, as they often do, seized on what they saw as a mistake by Warren and magnified it beyond belief. However, I do think it would be to her advantage to apologize and say she had just heard the family stories, etc. A renewed commitment to working for Native causes couldn't hurt, either.

Given that a simple, inexpensive DNA test would resolve the issue, Warren's refusal to take such a test would given Republican opponents an easy way to attack her integrity.

One wonders if Warren hasn't already taken the DNA test and the results show no evidence of her having Native American heritage.

All of the above presumes of course Warren does decide to run for president, something she has said she isn't planning on doing.

They called Obama a half breed and not truly black because of his white blood. Arguments with racists can't be rationally won.

will not leave it alone and it only gets worse each time trump opens his mouth about it. Of course, The RW will continue but at least she will have tried. IMHO

The truth doesn't matter anyway. Most of those damn fool Republican voters believe crazy shit like she got free tuition to Harvard by claiming to be NA. The fact that she never went to school at Harvard is irrelevant to them. They really are immune to reality.

she is trying to clear this up. But, I admit that trying to clear things up sometimes makes things worse. Damned it you do and damned if you don't.

She lightens her naturally dark hair, but looks like her father. Her mother looks very much Native American.

Maybe Warren should do the same thing and put this dispute to rest.

Yup!

0% Native American in both. She has believed that she had a Native American ancestor for so long that she can't let it go.

If you had ten siblings, you'd have ten different mixes of DNA (unless there were identical twins.)

My brother and I have the same ancestors, but he had 8 percent Scandinavian and I had none. (He also has a Y chromosome and I don't, so anything that's inherited on the Y chromosome I didn't get.)

She passed on what she was told. She can't back it up. As it appears to be something she was told, I feel for her.

In the 60s, my brother and I got told a few things but a number things about our family were not disclosed and we were told not to go there while my parents were alive. Two years ago, after decades of effort and some progress, we finally got some closure on the things we wanted to find out. I had an unusual personal connection with an elderly great uncle over a short period of time that I had to try to understand more about. I learned about horrible things that happened to him but became very proud of how he dealt with them - even though they were tragic and effectively ruined his life.

She was told she had Native American ancestors as a child. Why would she not believe that?

It doesn't matter. Either she did or she did not, and either way it's completely irrelevant.

She doesn't have to take a DNA test. She can simply say that she was told that as a child and has no reason to doubt it.

She should shrug the entire nonsensical controversy off and say that she is doing so.

IT DOES NOT MATTER!

BTW. I was told that I have some Cherokee ancestry. Could be. I don't know. I don't care.

wants to blackmail him because he paid off porn stars he slept with while his wife was recovering from the birth of his son.

And yet that will not get a tenth of the coverage of Warren's side mention that she has Native American ancestors.

One places our Democracy in danger.

The other does nothing.

Guess which causes hair on fire?

And again, I'll say it: we suck at messaging.

Some branches of her family passed along the Native American ancestry, some didn't. There was a good article posted here on DU some time ago with genealogical info, interviews with some of Warren's cousins, and commentary about why some families hid NA ancestry.

And DNA is not always an answer. My older sister had hers done with the National Geographic Genomic Project which showed that she had some NA genes. The test I did with Ancestry did not show any NA traces. Neither of us showed any Nordic DNA but our little sister did when she was tested by 23 & Me.

Our documented genealogy shows no proven NA ancestors though some family branches claim that one ancestress was Cherokee - but provide nothing to prove this.

And it doesn't matter to me. It would be interesting if it could be proven and add to the family story. Otherwise it is not important.

I know that I'm of Scottish and Irish descent, and know who one great-grandparent was, since I met her when I was 10 years old. She was an irascible old lady who yelled at us kids.

Both of my parents are 93 years old now, so clearly there are some decent longevity genes in my background. Beyond that, I cannot see how any of the rest of it is significant.

I realize that it is important to some people to trace ancestry. One member of my family is working on that, and my father's parents were Mormons, so I'm sure there is information on their ancestors. For me, it is simply a matter of no interest, though.

And when it comes to political candidates, I care even less.

We have a letter to my great great grandfather from a cousin. They had a mystery about why their surname spelling had been changed two or three generations earlier.

My father's mother was very much into DAR and did a lot of research into the family history. When my Mom married into the family, she got into the research of her family.

I grew up with genealogy and most of what I like about it is the stories about the people. If I can get enough information I like to construct life stories. Grandmother wrote narratives about her family members she knew well enough to have the information so I have her stories to start with.

Genealogy is also a door into history - without my family history I never would have heard of the German Palatines who along with the Huguenots were hounded in Europe. I would not have read about the Regulators who protested and fought against the British in the Carolinas before the American Revolution began in the Northern colonies.

Genealogy also introduced me to the horrors of slavery early in my life. While transcribing wills from my Southern ancestors I had to come to terms with the fact that they described humans as property and treated them they same way they did their livestock. This was at the same time the March to Montgomery happened and the horrendous acts in Selma were being shown on TV - Selma where my great aunts and uncles lived, the descendants of those same slave owning ancestors.

It's that window into the past that keeps me studying my ( and friends') genealogy.

I just have never developed an interest in genealogy. My wife's side of the family, however, has researched all of that intensively. My wife, however, isn't much interested in it, either.

But recently I found some long lost cousins on my mother's side because of Ancestry. And it's too bad I didn't find them years ago, because my mother would have found her favorite cousin. They had both ended up spending the last years of their lives in the same state (not knowing they were just a few hours away.)

You had the same ancestors, but you got different mixes of DNA -- because you aren't clones.

The same thing happened with my brother and me. Ancestry nailed down the biggest part of our DNA to a couple counties where my father had geneologically traced our ancestry (we have dozens of 3-6th cousins there). But they said he had some Scandinavian DNA and I didn't. Not surprising.

The Repulicans, and their base, thrive on it sadly.

I agree, what does it matter. She shouldn't need to "prove" anything.

#neverthelessshepersisted

I have been told a number of things about my ancestry, but I am sure I would be surprised if I actually took a DNA test. If I had repeated was I was told, it doesn't mean I was lying, it just means that it was the only information I had on my background.

It's just mashed potatoes. Who cares? I was told my entire life that my great grandmother was native American, which may or may not be so.

Edited to add.
The slurs and "jokes" pointed at her are far more insulting than her claim of being native American.

.. did trump or the GOP question Marco Rubios heritage or Ted Cruz'? hell NO cus they are white males. But they questioned Obama's. Think about it! Warren should stand firm and tell the bullies to STFU! And we should to!

Obama was questioned, someone in the Bush campaign leaked out suggestions that McCain fathered a child with a black woman.

She is from India.

true.

I don't think she owes anyone an explanation.

was Cherokee because of a family myth just say it. It is obvious that she has claimed that she had Cherokee ancestry in the past and she was mistaken.

Allegedly, I have a considerable amount of Native American in me according to our family lore.
However, my doubts are very high that our family lore is nothing but legend.
That doesn't bother me a bit.

IF the republicans can put a man in the White House who has lied about every single fucking thing he has been asked.....why do we care what "they" will think?
Every time they bring it up.....counter the meaningless ancestral misunderstanding with the out and out lies that their guy told.

done. A real watchdog.

Alternatively, when we get the control, again, to head the Consumer Financial Protection office.

As with other senators, one needs executive experience and I don't know that she has.

Anyone who thinks it is a problem should read this well-researched article from The Atlantic:

and that is worth more than a few bucks.

If she were to take a DNA test and no Native American DNA were to show ... ummm ... I think she'd have a bit of a problem.

on the basis of ancestry claims. That claim has been thoroughly debunked, but Repugs refuse to acknowledge that. They keep using it because people repeat the claim without checking the facts, thus doing their bidding for them ...

and the pay she rec'd was hundreds of thousands of $.

Indian or not -- ?

If it was me, I'd get the DNA test to clear it up ONCE AND FOR ALL. Period.

I never used my family's claim of Native Am. ancestry being I was never certain.

If they are going to take it into account, they would need some proof, no?

with the Federal form they were required to have filled out; a form that just asked people to self-report race or races and didn't specify a certain minimum amount. It made no difference in hiring or firing or promotions or salary. It was only used as a way of seeing how well the Universities were doing in hiring people from diverse backgrounds.

She was never hired for anything based on any claim of minority status, and never received any special consideration. Harvard has publicly and officially stated those claims are complete bullshit.

DNA tests for Native American ancestory aren’t conclusive and even if they were it wouldn’t stop wingnuts from repeating the same lies you are repeating.

Ancestry is traced through birth records back to an enrolled tribe member. Had to go back to my grandmother via her registration in the Dawes rolls in 1907 through my father. My kids used my Cherokee Nation membership to prove theirs.

All that being said, there are likely many that have NA DNA that couldn't make the links necessary to gain tribal registration.

when they created the "roll," you weren't on the list. But your descendants would still contain your Native American DNA.

The rolls didn't document any previous intermarriage, so my documented 1/4 blood quanta might not show up fully on DNA testing.

The rolls document tribal membership at a point in time.

because AFTER he was hired he filled out a form and acknowledged some Indian ancestry. Nothing changed at all, and he didn't expect it to.

The same thing happened to Warren. After she was hired, she filled out a form, which the university used for its statistical purposes. It had no effect on her personally or her hiring.

Also, a DNA test wouldn't clear anything up. When DNA is passed down, you don't get the same amount of DNA from each of your grandparents, or great-grandparents, etc. DNA gets passed in clumps. So in my family, for example, the test showed my brother had 8% Scandinavian DNA and I had none. But we have exactly the same ancestors when our family tree is traced. I just got more Eastern Europe and he got more Scandinavian.

This is common. The only siblings that have the same DNA are identical twins.

on the financing of her education, or on her salary at her job.

And because of the way DNA is passed down, it is entirely possible to have some Native Americans in the family genealogy and not have them show up in DNA -- just like siblings get different batches of DNA.

Though Scott Brown worked hard to confuse people on that.

The most common false family history story is Native blood. So many people believe they have some. It was a very very common story to tell a couple of generations ago. It's such a common false story that it's a running joke in the genealogy community

I meet young people today that tell me they are 1/2 Indian or some such thing.

This is highly unlikely for one reason -- genocide.

The Indian population of this country was nearly extinguished due to laws like extermination, removal, assimilation, etc.

For those that have survived, the deserve to be recognized is warranted if that is WHAT THEY WANT.
Some do not seek recognition for an assortment of reasons, not that one can blame them!

It seems what was once a don't speak of it sort of thing is now popular in this day in age.

Reality is that there are very few Indian people that are full-bloods today and to say your grandmother was full-blooded, etc. it really a dicey thing to claim unless you have some sort of proof.

Lots of people were raised thinking they had Native American blood, and don't. I know in my own family there were rumors of it. As you have said, it was once common that children were told stories about being Native American, I guess for entertainment purposes? Now genealogical testing is turning those stories on their heads.

The claim often seems to be Cherokee. There’s usually even a percentage, like “1/18th” or something

then it might be false.

But I'm sure you know that it would depend on how thorough the genealogy search had been. There are a number of reasons a Native American might not have ended up on a Native American roll.

And I'm sure you know that the DNA tests wouldn't always show N.A. ancestry.

Trumpers base their argument on the fact she doesn’t have brown skin. One of my oldest bestest friends was on the Creek rolls and his appearance was decidedly Caucasian. Meanwhile, his younger brother is brown skinned and definitely looks native. Point is, you don’t have to be brown to be Native.

And as someone who has lived in the same state warren grew up in, it’s super common for people in Oklahoma to assume they have some form of native heritage. My wife grew up thinking she was at least partly native, based on family lore. She took a DNA test. Not a drop of native blood. Anyone who claims to be a “Cherokee activist” should be familiar with this dynamic and perhaps chill the fuck out.

However, for a variety of other reasons, I don't believe she would be a good candidate.

But this particular issue and how spectacularly uninformed people on the right (and a few on the left) are really gets my blood boiling.

Especially in the eastern part of the state where the so-called Five Civilized Tribes were settled. She grew up in OKC but I believe her family was from the northeastern part of the state.

I had a friend who was on the Choctaw rolls as one-eighth NA. I went to an Indian clinic with her and her blonde haired blue eyed children once in eastern Oklahoma and there were several there who looked just like them. Of course the RW smear machine doesn't care about facts or nuance or understanding; the whole point is just to demonize her in any way they can. She has to give up a presidential bid over this while dump can launder money, lie every time he opens his mouth, make money as president, cheat on his wife, etc. and it is all ok. The double standard is so gargantuan it is hard to fathom.

when talking about documenting NA heritage.
At the time when the rolls were created NA were being persecuted at every twist and turn many didn't want to be identified as NA. One of the biggest reasons is they didn't want the government and missionaries to come take their kids away. Another was they didn't want to be arrested for their religion. They did the same thing most of us would do in that situation, the denied their heritage and hid to survive.
This makes it nearly impossible for some to prove their quantum today. My father was a full blood, my mother 1/2 but because my father's family were never registered, I am listed as 1/4.

enough to get an invite to attend Haskell. But I look about as white as Warren ( not so my mother who looked like a full blooded Cherokee )

Elizabeth Warren is a great Senator and IMO would make a great President if she decides to run. It's damned sad that the right wing gets away with dividing us over such trivial nonsense while they support a child pretending to be President.

She is 21% Native American and I am 18% NA. Ancestry.com traces your DNA to broad regions of people. For instance, they lump Italy and Greece together, and Germany and France together. Their NA region comprises all of North and South America.

is to claim Native American ancestry, because there are so very many in fields of influence!








































NOT!

All you have to go by are the rolls. If you are not on one of the rolls, you aren't Indian as far as the Federal government is concerned.

I know of many bonafide Indian people (including my foster aunt who is 90) that don't care to do a DNA test to prove who they are as they know. My foster grandmother (my foster aunt's mother) was fluent in Cherokee and she was born in Batesville, Arkansas and removed to Oklahoma ~1915 where she was abducted. Sad sad story it is, but NO, these people are not related to me in any way, they are foster relations and that is the end of it.

Many others are in this boat, esp. those that are from adopted parents as I am. I never knew *who* Mother was but now, I know and no, not a drop of Indian blood to be found it seems. It is possible yes, but very unlikely. Men are far better to test the DNA on as it provides a lot more information.

Many (if not all) first nations permit registration based on any documented ancestor (however remote). The federal government would have to recognize all individuals that the sovereign nations recognize as members.

The documentation is required to obtain that membership, not to note it on a federal form. (Have you ever been required to document your non-native status?)

Even though she was adopted, everyone knows who bio-mom is (there were 10-ish kids taken from her, my sister was the youngest, so the older kids have memories, not to mention that mom claimed her, until my sister refused to keep sending money).

Without bio-mom's acknowledgement, she has to wait until bio-mom's death (and then alternate proof will be accepted).

That's why I know a bit about the requirements/process.

1/8 based on genealogy. After that my husband marked both white and N.A. on a form, after he had been hired -- just like Warren did. The form didn't specify any particular amount, just a person's self-identified race or races. It meant nothing for him other than he was proud of it, just like Warren was. And the university didn't ask for any documentation or pay him for it or use it for any personnel decisions. It was for statistical purposes only.

and they didn't specify any minimum amount and it wasn't required to be documented. And 1/4 would make no sense because 1/8 was the amount required to be on the rolls of the Cherokee nation, so I'm guessing that applied to other tribes, too.

paying hush money, laundering money, viciously attacking whole segments of our population, lying by the minute, taking us to the brink of nuclear war......


and WARREN NEEDS TO PROVE her family history as it was relayed to her?


W........T........F?


I can't believe people are still talking about this. And I can't believe I'm even bothering myself.

It's her right to accept the family lineage and cherish it. She may not want to find out if it's incorrect and that is her right.
She may not want to give DNA like many don't. You can't blame Warren. If it's wrong it's because someone got it wrong before her. It could have been a well-intentioned family member that got the genealogy wrong. Or they got what they could at the time and it was as accurate as it could be... but new documents are found all the time and they can change everything you ever thought about your lineage.
Some people don't want to know more or have what they cherish upended. Her ancestry isn't important, by any means... in the scheme of things and especially in politics.

She doesn't need to do anything, she isn't riding on the N.A. aspect and those who have tried to turn this into something are the ones that need to let it go. It matters as much as what kind of toilet paper I use. Her family history is for her family, not mine, not yours, not anyone else. It's a hobby, a personal/family story, a blurb.

It does not matter. This is not helpful, the republicans and especially Trump have us talking about this while he and the republican party are shitting down our throats and flagrantly destroying our government, stealing from the poor to give to the rich and stuff their god damned pockets. THAT MATTERS.

A quick P.S. for what it's worth - This isn't directed at Don. It's the article that pissed me off to no end.

Very well said!!!

Thank you
(And shame on you DUers who ran with this stale RW slander)

You can prove that he lied. In Warren's case, there is absolutely no similar proof that she lied about her heritage when she repeated a family story that she was - in small part - native American.

It was the Republicans who then made up claims that that claim helped "get her into Harvard". This ignores that she came to Harvard as a highly recruited law professor - and ancestry had nothing to do with it.

Purity tests are killing us.

When the constitution of the tribe was adopted in 1934, any resident of the reservation who was at least 1/4 Indian was put on the membership roll. But birth certificates of the parents or grandparents were lacking for some and their heritage is based on lore.

An example could be my mother-in-law who believes she is 1/4 Indian because she was told her father's mother, who died back in the 1920's, was Indian.

of where they were living at the time. Their descendants were still their descendants, however.

Those who weren't living on the reservation at the time the constitution of 1934 was adopted were left off the membership roll.

If it's true (I have my doubts), it would be a tiny fraction of my DNA, hardly enough to reap any kind of benefit - besides, the criteria for tribal citizenship are pretty stringent. One can't just walk in and be a member of a tribe.

Since it was vague, I never told my kids. That branch of the family would be hard to trace as my grandmother who was from Oklahoma lost both of her parents early. We know my grandfather came from Sicily and my aunt on another branch traced our German ancestors extensively.

But what gets me with this is...go back far enough and our common ancestors become much smaller. When we look at the photo of this blue dot that NASA got for us, we all need to remember we are from the same place! That being said, people of Native American and African ancestry do deserve a little but more since their treatment in recent history has been well documented. But we all do need to remember we are made of the same stuff and are sharing this planet here and now. ALL OF US! Pointing out who is what is not really helpful for the progression of where we go now on this planet that our modern life style has caused major damage to.

And admit why this meme is even on a supposedly liberal site.

Warren is too liberal for the party elite. These concerns are no more genuine that the concern over Burlington College. It's just paving the way.

Is this Birthergate2.0?

Claiming NA ancestry is somehow a career killer, but the GrOPer in chief is held accountable for NOTHING.

Let's be clear folks, we have to stop fighting with our hands tied behind us. The other side is NASTY and EVIL. They will not play fair. And if we want to win, we have to quit falling for bullshit bait like this.

THIS stupid trivial 'crisis' is consuming massive time and attention.

It's total insanity, collective. I can't take anymore...

Globe staff is looking for problems that don't amount to actual problems.

Always a good way to sell more papers-- pretend an irrelevant concern is a bomb waiting to happen. And it's a great narrative for the less-than-sincere to hang their pointy hats on.

Stuarts of Scotland and it was not just a family myth.

someone's DNA test would always line up with what would be learned through genealogy.

My brother and I have exactly the same genealogy, and the biggest numbers are roughly the same. But we're not identical twins, so we got different assortments of DNA. For example, he got 8% Scandinavian and I got none. I still have that ancestor but didn't end up with his DNA. On the other hand, I had some Eastern European and he didn't. This makes sense when you think about it. Siblings aren't clones, each made up of identical 1/4 sets from each grandparent. They are a mix, and sometimes a relative -- especially a distant relative -- might be left out of the mix.

I expect 5 plus years back including spouses.

just like when Pres. Obama released his short-form BC early in the birther nonsense controversy. Since it contradicted their accusation, they then insisted on seeing his long form BC, but even when he released that and had the officials from Hawaii certify his Hawaiian birth, the birthers still disputed the validiity.

At this point there is nothing more she can do to satisfy the detractors just like nothing Hillary could say or do could satisfy the media critics over her emails.

Families have these interesting ancestor stories that later turn out to be historically incorrect. So what? It happens.

I have Native American blood in my veins ( and that is how they would have said it, not use the word heritage), I would have believed every word they said. I would NEVER have questioned my parents. That should be something I would be proud of doing. As should she. This was just something else the POS repugs pulled from their dirty farking asses to use against a good person.

I respect that.

It takes some gumption to jump off a boat and create an entirely new identity for yourself, from scratch, in the American Wild West. The Mormons have baptized a few of my non-existent ancestors. Do you suppose that makes these ancestors real?

My last immigrant ancestor, on my mom's side, and the only documented one, was a mail order bride from Scandinavia to Salt Lake City. She didn't like sharing a husband so she ran off with a monogamous guy who was not Irish Catholic or Jewish. Nope, not Irish Catholic or Jewish in my family tree. When my grandma died she'd left some explicit instructions about how she was to be buried. The funeral home guy asked, "She's Jewish?" Not that my mom knew. She always figured her family as some kind of frontier Catholic and pacifist Christian dissidents. Her dad was a Conscientious Objector in World War II.

My paternal grandfather was a World War II Army Air officer, an Apollo Project Rocket Engineer, and had different birth dates listed on his military records, social security, and California driver's licence. He'd gone by a couple of names too. My dad had to clean up that mess when my grandpa passed. Life was different in Montana and Wyoming, way back when, before computer databases.

Nobody knows where the hell my grandpa's dad came from, he'd worked in Canada, Mexico, and Wild West U.S.A. as a mining and railroad engineer. He claimed Scots heritage.

My wife's Mexican ancestors, in a similar way, minimized their Native American ancestry. My wife's dad's family is native to the U.S. Southwest but they'd retreated to Mexico when their homeland was annexed, pushed out by the U.S. Army.

My wife's grandma brought them back as farm workers.

My wife's dad was born in a fieldworker's tent maybe 300 yards from a small farm my parents once owned.

Considering all Trump has said and done. Just amazing.