Sen. Elizabeth Warren. D-Mass., addressed claims that she has made about her Native American heritage, during an appearance at the National Congress of American Indians in Washington, D.C.
"My mother's family was part Native American. And my daddy's parents were bitterly opposed to their relationship. So in 1932, when Mother was 19 and Daddy had just turned 20, they eloped," the Massachusetts Democrat said at the event, according to The Boston Globe.
"The story they lived will always be a part of me. And no one — not even the president of the United States — will ever take that part of me away," Warren said.
President Donald Trump has criticized Warren for her claims, calling her "Pocahontas."
"It is deeply offensive that this president keeps a portrait of Andrew Jackson hanging in the Oval Office, honoring a man who did his best to wipe out Native people. But the kind of violence President Jackson and his allies perpetrated isn't just an ugly chapter in a history book. Violence remains part of life today.
"The majority of violent crimes experienced by Native Americans are perpetrated by non-Natives, and more than half — half — of Native women have experienced sexual violence," Warren said.
"You won't find my family members on any rolls, and I'm not enrolled in a tribe. And I want to make something clear. I respect that distinction. I understand that tribal membership is determined by tribes — and only by tribes," Warren said in her remarks.
The senator also responded to criticism that she had used Native American status to advance her career, saying she "never used my family tree to get a break or get ahead."
In her first formal speech before the group, Warren pledged to support Native American issues and planned stronger outreach to tribes.
"I'm here today to make a promise: Every time someone brings up my family's story, I'm going to use it to lift up the story of your families and your communities," Warren said at the event.
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