UPPING THE ANTIFA IN OREGON

Ancestry claims Warren-t caution at Native Q&A

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is set to take part in a presidential-candidate forum Monday in Iowa on issues affecting Native Americans, and participants say it will be difficult to ignore the Massachusetts Democrat’s questionable claims of having tribal ancestry.

“It’s going to be awkward for her even if she puts on a smile,” said Simon Moya-Smith, 36, a Native American activist.

Moya-Smith, of the Oglala-Lakota Nation, wants Warren to address the controversy sparked in 2012 after she claimed her mother was “part Cherokee and part Delaware,” then released a DNA test showing she was between 1/64th and 1/1,024th Cherokee.

“I think she should apologize. I think she owes an apology to all Natives. Just own it. Own that you’re not Native,” Moya-Smith said. “Nobody has ever called her an injun. Nobody has ever called her a redskin. Nobody has ever called her a prairie N-word. That’s not her identity. She doesn’t have to live it. We do.”

President Trump has dubbed Warren “Pocahontas” in an attempt to mock her ancestry claim.

The issue hasn’t come up during her two presidential debate appearances, and interviewers have yet to grill her about it.

But the flap remains a sensitive subject for Nation members.

“It’s a big deal in some circles for sure,” said Christine Nobiss of Global Indigenous Council Seeding Sovereignty, which is co-hosting the Frank LaMere Native American Presidential Forum in Sioux City.

“We have a panel of quite a few Native American leaders in the country that will be there to ask her questions. I wouldn’t be surprised if it came up,” Nobiss said.

Warren, who was rebuked by the Cherokees and apologized to the Nation in February, is scheduled to take the stage at 10 a.m. in front of more than a dozen Native American advocacy organizations.

She will be joined by fellow candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders, author Marianne Williamson, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, John Delaney, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Julián Castro, Mayor de Blasio and the Navajo Nation’s Mark Charles.

The event will kick off with a rendition of the national anthem sung in Lakota. The matters set to be discussed include voting rights for Native Americans, violence against indigenous women and a bill known as the Remove the Stain Act, which would revoke the medals of honor awarded to soldiers who took part in the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee.

More than 1,200 people have signed up to attend.

That’s not her identity. She doesn’t have to live it. We do. Simon Moya-Smith (left), of the Oglala-Lakota Nation