SPRINGFIELD -- Although questions over her claims of Native American ancestry have continued to dog U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the years since her 2012 campaign, the Massachusetts Democrat this week said she doesn't plan on proving her heritage with a DNA test.

Warren, during an interview on WGBY-TV's "Connecting Point," largely dismissed a Berkshire Eagle editorial's call for her to "take the spit test" and set the record straight on whether or not she has Native American ancestry.

The senator said she believes the issue was "fully litigated" during the 2012 campaign when her opponent then-Sen. Scott Brown continuously questioned her claims of Native American heritage.

Warren added that while the issue has continued to pop up in her 2018 re-election bid, she doesn't see it as being a major concern to most Massachusetts voters.

"The way I see it, at the end of the day, what the people of Massachusetts said is they cared a whole lot more about their families than they did about my background," she said. "My brothers and I, we grew up in Oklahoma, we know our story from our mom and our dad, and our grandmothers and our grandfather, and from our aunts."

Warren further said she believes her family member's claims of Native American ancestry have been sufficient, at least for her, in addressing any questions that could be raised on the issue.

"It's been just fine for my brothers and me," she said.

Warren has faced questions about her Native American ancestry since the Boston Herald reported in 2012 that a Harvard Law spokesman had referred to her as Native American.

The Democrat, who had reportedly claimed family ties to Cherokee and Delaware tribes, said she was unaware that the university had promoted her as a minority professor, according to the Associated Press.

Despite winning the 2012 election, Warren has continued to address questions raised about her heritage in 2018.

She told the National Congress of American Indians last month that she understands why some think "there's hay to be made" over questions surrounding her Native American ancestry claims, noting her family members won't be found on any rolls and she's not enrolled in a tribe.

"I want to make something clear. I respect that distinction. I understand that tribal membership is determined by tribes -- and only by tribes. I never used my family tree to get a break or get ahead. I never used it to advance my career," she reportedly told the organization.

Those on both sides of the political aisle, however, have criticized Warren's ancestry claims, including President Donald Trump and a group of Cherokees, who called them "harmful and offensive" during her 2012 campaign.

Republicans running against Warren in 2018, have also questioned the Democrat's efforts to defend her heritage in the speech to the Native American group.

Several Republicans have announced bids to unseat Warren in 2018, including: Beth Lindstrom, a former aide to Mitt Romney and manager of Scott Brown's 2010 Senate bid; John Kingston, a Winchester businessman; State Rep. Geoff Diehl, R-Whitman; Allen Rodney Waters, of Mashpee, Darius Mitchell, of Lowell, and Heidi Wellman, of Braintree.

Shiva Ayyadurai, an entrepreneur who filed to run as Republican, meanwhile, announced in November that he would cut ties with the GOP and run as an independent.