The Cherokee Nation has hit out at a Democratic senator after she released a DNA test suggesting she has Native American heritage calling it "inappropriate and wrong".

Senator Elizabeth Warren revealed the results of the DNA test on Monday after Donald Trump repeatedly mocked her claim of Native American ancestry and referred to her as "Pocahontas".

Ms Warren has previously said her mother, who is from Oklahoma, has a Cherokee ancestor and used the DNA result - which suggests a Native ancestor between six to ten generations back - to support her statements.

However the announcement has provoked the ire of the Cherokee Nation, headquartered in Oklahoma, which has accused Ms Warren of "undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage."

“Using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong,” Chuck Hoskin Jr, the Cherokee Nation Secretary of State, said in a statement.

“It makes a mockery out of DNA tests and its legitimate uses while also dishonoring legitimate tribal governments and their citizens, whose ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is proven.”