Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas

identity; the suppression of language, removal of children from their
families to live at boarding schools that forced assimilation. To these efforts
were added state-imposed rules about tribal membership: a definition of
who got to be Native American based in some cases on lineal descent from
an enrolled tribal member, in others on the concept of “blood quantum.”
Today, tribes determine their membership through a variety of ways—
but commercial ancestry testing isn’t one of them iii (18). “We don’t need a
swab in our mouth to prove who we are,” one person put it (19).
Some people are increasingly wishing to use commercial genetic
ancestry testing in order to seek out evidence of Native American ancestry.
There are complicated reasons for doing so. Many people, like former
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, have family legends of
Native Americans in their past; I constantly hear about people’s earnest
excitement about their “Cherokee great-grandmother,” and get questions
about how they might be able to use DNA to confirm this story. People
have even emailed me their genetic ancestry test results and asked me to
interpret them (20)! iv
We love having a story that connects us to the past. We love to imagine
our ancestors as living, interesting people doing interesting things. I
certainly love imagining my great-grandmother, who played the harp in a
vaudeville band. I’d like to believe that our love of music and our shared
ancestry connects us across the two generations that separate us. This is a
normal, healthy, and understandable fantasy. But having “Native American
DNA” is not what makes someone Native American (21). You may love
your family tradition of a Native American ancestor; you may feel an
affinity for your ancestor, as I do for mine. But that is not what makes a
person Native American any more than my ancestor makes me a vaudeville
harpist. Genetic testing can be a start to establishing a connection with one’s
Indigenous ancestry, but it can’t serve as a substitute for the work of
building ties to a community (22).
For Indigenous peoples this is not a minor or abstract issue: Giving
legitimacy to the notion that one can claim Native identity via a DNA test
or family legend without any connection to present-day tribes is an implicit
threat to tribal sovereignty. The illegitimate claiming of Native American
identity—and the reaping of benefits designated for minority-owned
businesses or other social or educational benefits—is a widespread