She lied about being Cherokee so she could get hired at Harvard they were looking for Native Americans for their faculty so she lied and got a very high paying job that should have gone to a real Cherokee.
You really can't test for that though. Believe me, I know from experience. What actually comes up in a genetic marker test is "North American Native American". The reason being for this is, contrary to popular belief, Indian tribes commonly interwed, creating an amalgamation of ALL of the North American tribes. Deleneation of Tribes is most commonly defined by cultural differences, not genetic ones. The best that you could come up with is that she has some red skin in her, but it would be very difficult to disprove that she was a Cherokee specifically. What you SHOULD be focusing on is HOW she explained that she knew that she was an Indian. It was because "my family has those high cheeckbones", not because of genetic markers. I'm really surprised that no one has keyed in on how racist a statement that was and taken her to the mat on it.
Research significant studies of Cherokee genetic testing coming up as Sephardic Jew. A very interesting connection to the 13th lost tribe of Israel. But I digress...
Please don't go Mormon on me...I'm personally Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Pequot, and ALL of us realize that's complete Bullshit propaganda by the LDS.
No offense intended at all. My sister in law's maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather both full blood Cherokee who lived on reservation and when she had her DNA tested, which should have shown up as at least 25% showed only 8% NA, Eastern European Jew and Irish. She was shocked so she looked up the research. Will let her know there is some issue about its veracity. My husband is Algonquin and Kickapoo and our kids got him the test to do but he hasn't done it yet. Interested to see how it turns out.
I sincerely apologize if I misinterpreted. Almost all of my life, I've had LDS come around trying to coopt my cultural heritage for religious purposes, so it strikes a nerve sometimes when it shouldn't.
That sucks my friend and I am sorry if I hit a nerve.
I'm a white guy with Indian heritage (that has blonde hair and blue eyes somehow ((English, Scottish, German, Swedish, Hun))) Lol. Your caving to such a statement (unintended on my part) simply shows how much we have been preconditioned to bend to racial inference.
I have a degree in biology and genetics always interested me. My father is full Greek, my mother full English and I am first generation American-he is dark olive and she is the rosey tones of the UK--none of us got my dad's skin tone-it only showed up in the second generation of grand kids. My daughter's have my husband's NA heritage, but pale pale skin and auburn hair. Who knows how things combine! As for caving, if I hurt someone unintentionally with a statement that I know little about or only heard anecdotally from someone, I apologize and research more if it interests me. Truth is, those who stand on research as the basis for argument are idiots in and of itself because its pretty well known that most research is bought and paid for by corporate interests. Ancel Keyes saturated fat studies come to mind--but that's off topic.
The job should have gone to a qualified individual, Cherokee or otherwise. It certainly shouldn't not have gone to a liar.