According to Warren and her brothers, older family members told them during their childhood that they had Native American ancestry. In 2012, she said that "being Native American has been part of my story, I guess, since the day I was born". In 1984, Warren contributed recipes to a Native American cookbook and identified herself as Cherokee. "The Washington Post" reported that in 1986, Warren identified her race as "American Indian" on a State Bar of Texas write-in form used for statistical information gathering, but added that there was "no indication it was used for professional advancement". A comprehensive "Boston Globe" investigation concluded that her reported ethnicity played no role in her rise in the academic legal profession. In February 2019, Warren apologized for having identified as Native American.