No (DNA) Bullying

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Roberta Estes

There are hardly any hobbies that hold more passion than genealogy. Once hooked by the bug, most people never retire and one of the things they worry about passing down to their family are their genealogy records – even if the family of today isn’t terribly interested.

So it’s easy to understand the degree of passion and enthusiasm, but sometimes this passion can kind of go astray and it crosses the line from something positive to something not nearly so nice.

Genetic genealogy is the latest tool in the genealogists’ arsenal, but it introduces some new challenges and unfortunately, with the increased number of people testing, we’re seeing some examples of what I consider bullying – for DNA, for identification and for information.

Bullying is unwelcome aggressive behavior that involves repeated threats, physical or electronic contact or a real or perceived imbalance of power. Generally, the victim feels they can’t make it stop. This has become especially prevalent in the cyber age. And bullying is not just about kids.

I’m going to look at 3 types of situations. It’s easy to see both perspectives, but bullying by any other name is still bullying, even though the bully probably doesn’t see it that way. Guaranteed, the recipient does.

You’ve Got the DNA I Need

Let’s say that Aunt Gladys is the last person alive in a particular line who can provide DNA to represent that line. But Aunt Gladys, for whatever reason, doesn’t want to test. It’s fine to discuss this, to talk about her concerns, and perhaps you can find a solution to address them, like testing anonymously.

But let’s say that Aunt Gladys simply says “no,” end of story. What then?

Yes, Aunt Gladys carries the information that you need, but it’s HER DNA that needs to be tested, and if she says no, then her decision should be respected, as difficult as it may be and as unreasonable as it may seem. Maybe Aunt Gladys knows something you don’t – like she is adopted or some other secret that she does not wish to reveal. Badgering Aunt Gladys from this point forward is going to do nothing other than cause hard feelings and make Aunt Gladys want to avoid you.

You may think you’re “just discussing” but from her perspective, you may be bullying. Now, it’s OK to beg and cry once, but if you’re slipped into the realm of “if you don’t test, I’ll tell Uncle Harvey that you scratched his car back in 1953,” you’ve stepped over that line.

Won’t Answer E-Mails

I can’t tell you how often I hear this story. “I match with person XYZ and they won’t share their information.” Most of the time, they won’t answer e-mails. And the question follows, of course, as to why they tested in the first place.

These tests have been around for a number of years now. Many people have died or moved or the purpose of the test was fulfilled and they aren’t interested beyond that. Think of your Aunt Gladys. If you did convince her to test, it wouldn’t be for her, but for you and she certainly would not be interested in answering random e-mails.

There could be a number of reasons, depending on the testing company used, that someone might not answer. In particular, many people test at 23andMe for health reasons. It doesn’t matter to them if you’re a first cousin or any other relation, they simply aren’t interested or don’t have the answers for you.

It’s alright to send 2 or 3 e-mails to someone. E-mails do get lost sometimes. But beyond that, you’ve put yourself into the nuisance category. But you can be even worse than a nuisance.

I know of one case where someone googled the e-mail of their contact, discovered the person was a doctor, and called them at the office. That is over the line into cyber-stalking. If they wanted to answer the e-mail, they would have. If they don’t want to, their decision needs to be respected.

I Know You Know

This situation can get even uglier. I’ve heard of two or three situations recently. One was at Ancestry where someone had a DNA match and their trees matched as well. At first the contact was cordial, but then it deteriorated into one person insisting that the other person had information they weren’t divulging and from there it deteriorated even further.

This is a hobby. It’s supposed to be fun. This is not 7th grade.

Adoptions

However, there are other situations much more volatile and potentially serious. In some cases, often in adoptions, people don’t want contact. Sometimes it’s the parent and sometimes it’s the adoptee. But those aren’t the only people involved. There are sometimes half-siblings that are found or cousins.

For the adoptees and the parents, there are laws in each state that govern the release of their legal paperwork to protect both parties. Either party can opt out at any time.

But for inadvertently discovered family connections, this isn’t true. Think of the person who doesn’t know they are adopted, for example, who discovers a half-sibling and through that half sibling their biological mother. Neither person may welcome or be prepared for this discovery or contact.

Imagine this at the dinner table with the family gathered, “Hey guess what, I got a half-sibling match today on my DNA. I wonder if that’s some kind of mistake. How could that be?”

So if you match someone as a half sibling or a cousin, and they don’t want to continue the conversation, be kind and respectful, and leave the door open to them if they change their mind in the future. Pushing them can only be hurtful and nonproductive.

Dirty Old (and Formerly Young) Men

And then, there’s the case of the family pervert. Every family seems to have one. But it’s not always who you think it is. By the very nature of being a pervert, they hide their actions – and they can be very, very good at it. Practice makes perfect.

Let’s say that Jane likes genealogy, but she was molested as a child by Cousin Fred. Some of the family knows about this, and some don’t believe it. The family was split by this incident, but it was years in the past now. Jane wants nothing to do with Fred’s side of the family.

(By the way, if you think this doesn’t happen, it does. About 20% of woman have been raped, 30% of them by family members (incest), many more molested, and children often by relatives or close family friends. 15% of sexual assault victims are under the age of 12. Many childhood cases are never prosecuted because the children are too young to testify. Perverts and pedophiles don’t wear t-shirts announcing such or have a “P” tattooed on their forehead. Often family members find it hard to believe and don’t, regardless of the evidence, casting the victimized child in the position of being a liar and “troublemaker.” Need convincing? Think of what Ariel Castro’s family said and how well he hid his dark side and the Boston bombers’ family comments about their innocence in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.)

Jane’s an adult now and DNA tests. She has a match and discovers that it’s on Fred’s side of the family. Jane tells the person that she doesn’t want anything to do with that side of the family, has no genealogy information and wants no contact. The match doesn’t believe Jane and then becomes insistent, then demanding, then accusatory, then threatening.

This is clearly over the line. Jane said she didn’t want any continued contact. That should have been the end of the discussion.

But let’s say this one gets worse. Let’s say that because of this, Cousin Fred wakes up and decides that Jane is interesting again and begins to stalk Jane, and her children……

Does this make you shake in your shoes? It should. Criminals not only aren’t always playing with a full deck, but don’t play by any of the same rules as the rest of us. Cousin Fred might just be very grateful for that information about Jane and view it as a wonderful “opportunity,” provided by his “supportive” family member who has now endangered both Jane and her children.

Who’s Yer Daddy?

In another recent situation, John discovered by DNA testing that he is not the biological child of his father. He subsequently discovered that his mother was raped by another male, married to another close family member. When John discovered that information, he promptly lost interest in genealogy altogether.

A year or so later, John matched someone closely who was insistent that he provide them with how he was related to them. John knew, but he did not feel that it was any of their business and he certainly did not want to explain any of the situation to the perpetrator’s family member, who, by the way, had already mentioned what a good person the perpetrator was. However, the person continued to harass and badger John until he changed his e-mail address.

I so wanted to ask these people, “What part of “NO” don’t you understand?”

Mama’s Baby, Daddy’s Maybe

In one final example, adoptees often make contact with their birth mother first, and then, if at all, with their birth father. Sometimes the birth mothers are not cooperative with the (now adult) child about the identity of their father. Often, this is horribly frustrating to the adoptee. In at least one case, I know of a birth mother who would never tell, leaving the child an envelope when she died. The child was just sure the father’s name was in the envelope, but it was not. I can only imagine that level of disappointment.

Why would someone be so reticent to divulge this information? The primary reasons seem to be that either the mother doesn’t know due to a variety of circumstances that can range from intoxication to rape, the woman never told the father that she had a baby and placed the child for adoption, the father was abusive and the mother was/is afraid of him/his family, the father was married, or the father was a relative, which means not only might the father still be alive, the mother may still have a relationship of some type with him. The mother may have lied for years to protect herself, and in doing so, protected the father as well.

Clearly, this situation has a lot of potential to “shift” a lot of lives and not always in positive ways. One woman didn’t want to make contact with her child other than one time because she had never told her husband of 30 years that she had a child before their marriage. One woman made contact, but did not want to divulge that the child’s father was her older brother, still alive. Victims often keep the secrets of their attackers out of misplaced shame and guilt. Think Oprah here. Mother may not be simply being stubborn, but acting like the victim she is and trying to preserve whatever shreds of dignity are left to her. She may also be embarrassed by a lapse in judgment. One adoptee realized when counting forward from her birth date that she was conceived right at New Years and when she realized that, she figured out that her mother, who drank heavily when she was younger, probably did not know who her father was, and didn’t want to admit that.

As frustrating as this is for the adoptee, the birth mother does have the right not to have her life turned upside down. Badgering her will only result in losing the potential for a relationship from the current time forward. Being respectful, understanding and gentle may open the door for future information.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I can hear Aretha now.

If you haven’t walked a mile in their moccasins, so to speak, you can’t possibly know the situation of the person on the other end of your request for DNA or information. Don’t make the mistake of stepping over the line from excitement into bully behavior.

Think of the potential situations the person on the other end may be dealing with. Ultimately, if they say no, then no it is and no should be enough without an explanation of why. Generally bullying doesn’t work anyway, because someone who feels like you are threatening them or being too aggressive will clam right up and it will be that proverbial cold day in Hades before they tell you anything. It’s important to keep communications from sounding like you’re demanding or entitled. My mother always said “you’ll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” I always found that very irritating, probably because I needed to hear it just then – but regardless – it’s true.

Keep in mind, genetic genealogy is about genealogy. It’s a hobby. It’s fun. If it becomes otherwise and puts people at jeopardy, then we need to take a step back and take a deep breath.

Most people don’t mean to cross the line into bullying. They just get excited and sometimes desperate. Hopefully this discussion will help us all be more aware of where the polite line is in communicating with our family members and matches.

If you are the victim of information bullying, cyber-stalking or someone puts you in an uncomfortable situation, there are steps you can take to remedy the situation. Most bullying sites are directed at adolescents, but the advice still applies.

If you know you don’t want contact initially, then make your accounts anonymous or don’t respond to requests. If you realize that you don’t want contact after the initial contact, for whatever reason, say so. After that, do not engage in communications with someone who is attempting to bully you. If they threaten you or threaten to reveal information or your identity if you don’t give them information or do something, that action falls into the blackmail realm, which a crime. Complying with a threat to protect yourself or your family generally only results in more of the same. You are not dealing with a nice person. At this point, you are way beyond genealogy and your own internal “danger” sign should be flashing bright neon red.

If disengaging does not take care of the problem, save all messages/contacts and contact your attorney who may advise you to contact the police or the FBI if the problem crosses state lines. Depending on what state you/they live in and exactly what they have done, you may have a variety of options if they won’t stop, especially if they do something that does in fact manage to turn your life upside down and/or a crime is involved, like blackmail. Of course, this is akin to closing the barn door after the cow leaves. Hopefully, the person causing the problem is simply an over-zealous genealogist, means you no harm, realizes what they have done or are doing, and will get a grip and compose themselves long before this point.

Bullying of course is not because of DNA or unique to genetic genealogy, but the new products introduce new social situations that we have not previously had tools to discover nor the opportunity to address in quite the same way.

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Proving Native American Ancestry Using DNA

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Roberta Estes

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Every day, I receive e-mails very similar to this one.

“My family has always said that we were part Native American. I want to prove this so that I can receive help with money for college.”

The reasons vary, and not everyone wants to prove their heritage in order to qualify for some type of assistance. Some want to find their tribe and join to reclaim their lost heritage. Some want to honor their persecuted and hidden ancestors, undoing some of the wickedness of the past, and some simply seek the truth. Regardless of why, they are all searching for information lost to them.

I’d like to talk about three topics in proving Native Ancestry. First, I’d like to do some myth-busting. Second, I’d like to talk a little about conventional research and third, I’d like to discuss what DNA can, and can’t, do for you.

As you read this blog, please click on the links. I’m not going to repeat something I’ve already covered elsewhere.

Myth-Busting

Myth 1 – Free College

There is no free college for Native Americans. There are sometimes scholarships and grants available, mostly by the individual tribes themselves, for their official members.

Myth 2 – Joining a Tribe

Many people think that if they can only figure out which tribe their ancestor descends from, they can join. This is untrue. Each tribe is a sovereign nation, and they get to determine their criteria for membership. Most tribes require a specific percentage of Native “blood,” called blood quantum, in addition to being able to document which tribal member you descend from. Some tribes require as much as 25% Native heritage, and most require at least 1/16^th Native heritage, which is one great-great grandparent. If you don’t know who in your family was a tribal member it’s unlikely that you would be able to meet the blood quantum requirement.

Myth 3 – DNA Testing Will Reveal my Tribe

Generally, DNA testing does not provide us with the information needed to determine a tribe, although it can clearly tell, using y-line or mitochondrial DNA testing, whether your direct paternal or maternal line was or was not Native. Sometimes you will be able to infer a tribe based on your matches and their documented history, but the definition of tribes, their names and locations have changed over time. We are working on improving this ability, but the science simply isn’t there yet and the number of Native people who have tested remains small.

Simply put, most federally recognized tribes aren’t interested in more tribal members. More members mean a smaller piece of the pie for existing members. The pot of resources, whatever resources you’re discussing, is only so large and it must be shared by all tribal members.

What is a Tribe?

Tribes in the US fall into two categories. When most people think about tribes they are talking about federally recognized tribes. Those are tribes that have some continuity with the past, such as they have always been a tribe, or they still retain tribal lands, etc., and the federal government recognizes them as such. These are the tribes that qualify for government programs and many own casinos. As you might imagine, with the influx of casino money, the desire to join a tribe has increased significantly.

The second category is non-federally recognized tribes. Some are state recognized and others, not at all. State recognition does not in any way guarantee federal or state funding and there are no universal standards for state recognition. In other words, your mileage may vary, widely. Non-federally recognized tribes are often run as non-profit entities. In many cases, these tribes will help people research and document their genealogy and may be more open to tribal membership for those connecting with their Native heritage.

Be aware that some “tribes” that fall into the non-federally recognized category may be less than ethical. Some tend to come and go. In one case, to apply to join, one had to provide information such as social security numbers and a complete family pedigree including your children. In some cases, membership is very expensive, hundreds of dollars, but is available to almost anyone for the right price. When evaluating tribes that are not federally recognized, if something sounds fishy, it probably is. Caution is the watchword.

In general, the federally recognized tribes do not feel kindly towards the non-federally recognized tribes and view them as “fake,” interlopers trying to get part of that pie. Of course, the non-federally recognized tribes feel differently; that they are reclaiming their heritage denied them. Native American politics is nothing new and is fraught with landmines.

No federally recognized tribes, to the best of my knowledge, have considered DNA testing as a criteria for membership. No federally recognized tribe has endorsed or participated in DNA testing that I’m aware of. This does not mean that individuals have not privately tested.

Traditional Genealogy Research

Given the criteria for membership in federally recognized tribes, traditional genealogy is the only way to obtain the type of information required. If your family history includes a tribal name, and east of the Mississippi, that most often is Cherokee, contact the various Cherokee tribes to inquire about membership criteria. If the membership criteria is 25% blood quantum, and you must live on the reservation, you’re toast…..no need to continue that line of research if your goal is to join the tribe.

If your goal is simply to find your Native ancestor, that’s another matter entirely. Begin by using the traditional research tools.

First, look at where your ancestor or that family line was located. Did they migrate from elsewhere? How were they listed in the census? Was someone listed as other than white, indicating mixed race? Check the records where they lived, tax records and others to see if there is any indication of non-European heritage. Remember that your non-white ancestor would have retained their “darker” countenance for at least 2 generations after being admixed. Many Native people were admixed very early.

So first, check the normal genealogy records and look for hints and traces of non-European ancestry.

Second, turn to Native resources that might reflect the Native people in the areas where your family is or was found. The Access Genealogy site is absolutely wonderful and has an amazingly complete set of records including searchable tribal rolls. In addition, I add information almost daily to the Native Heritage Project at www.nativeheritageproject.com, which is searchable. There are many more resources including several collections at Ancestry.com.

Hopefully, these records will help narrow your focus in your family tree to a particular person or two, not just a general branch. Family rumors like “Grandma was a Cherokee Princess” are particularly unuseful. What they more likely mean is that there was indeed some Native ancestry someplace in her line. Cherokee has become a generic word like Kleenex. It may also have meant that Indian heritage was claimed to cover much less desirable African heritage. Institutionalized discrimination existed against any people of color in pre-1967 America, but Indians generally retained some rights that people of African ancestry did not. Laws varied by state and time. Take a look at my blog about Anti-Miscegenation Laws and when they were overturned.

Now, let’s look at DNA testing to see what it can do for you.

DNA Testing to Prove Native Ancestry

There are three types of DNA testing that you can do to prove Native Ancestry. Two are very focused on specific family lines, and one is much more general.

Mitochondrial for your direct maternal line.
Y-line for your direct paternal line – if you are a male. Sorry ladies.
Autosomal to test your ethnic mix and one direct marker test for Native ancestors.

On a pedigree chart, these genealogical lines look like this:

You can see the path that the blue Y chromosome takes down the paternal line to the brother and the path the red mitochondrial DNA takes down the maternal line to both the brother and the sister. Autosomal tests the DNA of all of the 16 ancestral lines shown here, but in a different sort of way.

Let’s look at each type of testing separately.

Y-Line DNA – For Paternal Line Testing for Males

The Y-line testing tests the Y chromosome which is passed intact from father to son with no DNA from the mother. This is the blue square on the pedigree chart. In this way, it remains the same in each generation, allowing us to compare it to others with a similar surname to see if we are from the same “Smith” family, for example, or to others with different surnames, in the case of adoption or Native heritage. Native American genetics isn’t terribly different than adoptees in this situation, because different English surnames were adopted by various family members, into the late 1800s and sometimes into the early 1900s, depending on the location.

Y-line DNA can tell you whether or not you descend from a common male genealogically when compared to another testing participant. Small mutations do take place and accumulate over time, and we depend on those so that we don’t all “look alike” genetically. It can also tell you by identifying your deep ancestral clan, called a haplogroup, whether or not you descend from early Native Americans who were here before contact with Europeans. For that matter, it can also tell you if you descend from those of African, European or Asian ancestry.

Scientists know today that there are only two primary haplogroups indicating deep ancestry that are found among Native American males who were here prior to contact with Indo-Europeans, and those haplogroups are C and Q3. It is not accurate to say that all C and Q3 individuals exist only in the American Native population, but the American Native population is part of the larger group worldwide that comprises C and Q3. We find some haplogroup C and Q3 in Europe but none in African populations, although we do learn more every single day in this infant science.

This sometimes becomes confusing, because the single most common male haplogroup among current Cherokee tribal members who have tested is R1b. How can this be, you ask? Clearly, one of three possibilities exists:

The Cherokee (or those tribes who were assimilated into the Cherokee) adopted a European male into the tribe or a European male fathered a child that was subsequently raised as Cherokee.
The R1b ancestor was not adopted into the tribe, maintained their European/American identity but married a Cherokee individual woman and their descendants are recognized as Cherokee today.
There is some level of R1b admixture in the Native population that preceded contact with Europeans that we have not yet identified.

Because of the unique haplogroups for Native Americans who preceded European contact, Y-line is the only way to positively confirm that a specific line is or is not of Native American descent. This obviously applies to all of the individuals in the pedigree chart who directly descend from the oldest known ancestor in this paternal line.

Y-line testing does not indicate anything about the contributions of the other ancestors in this family tree. In other words, you could be 3/4^th Native, with only the direct paternal line being European, and this test would tell you nothing at all about those other three Native lines.

When ordering DNA tests at Family Tree DNA, which is where I recommend that you test, everyone is encouraged to join projects. There are several types of projects, but to begin with, you should join your surname project. Not only does this group you with others whom you are likely to match, but this also assures that you receive the project based discounts. I blogged about how to find and join relevant projects.

You can test at 12, 25, 37, 67 or 111 marker “locations” on the Y chromosome. I generally recommend 37 or 67 to begin which gives you enough to work with but isn’t terribly expensive. At Family Tree DNA, you can always upgrade later, but it’s less expensive in total to test more initially.

Family Tree DNA provides significant tools for Y-line DNA as well as Mitochondrial DNA. At Family Tree DNA, for all their tests, you are provided with the e-mail addresses of your matches. At Ancestry and 23andMe, you contact matches through their internal message system. My experience has been that direct e-mails have a better response rate.

The person looking for Native Heritage will be most interested in their haplogroup designation. If your haplogroup is either Q or C, you’ll want to join your haplogroup project, minimally, as well as other relevant Native American projects, and work with the administrators for further testing. Remember, neither haplogroup Q nor C are always Native, so deeper testing may be in order. You may also match others with confirmed Native heritage, including a tribe.

If the haplogroup is not Native, then you’ll have to take a look at possible reasons why.

One can never interpret non-Native haplogroup results of any one line to answer the much broader questions of, “do I have Native heritage”, “how much” and “where?” What you can do at that point is to continue to test other lines in order to discover the identity of your Native American ancestor.

Obviously, the Y-line test is only for males. Ladies, I feel your pain. However, these next tests are for both sexes.

Mitochondrial DNA – For Direct Maternal Line Testing for Both Sexes

Mitochondrial DNA is inherited by all children from their mother only, with no admixture from the father. Women obtain their mitochondrial DNA from their mother, who got it from their mother, on up the line into infinity. This is the red circle on the right hand side of the pedigree chart. Like Y-line DNA, mitochondrial DNA is passed intact from one generation to the next, except for an occasional mutation that allows us to identify family members and family lines.

Unfortunately, it does not follow any surname. In fact the surname changes with every generation when women marry. This makes it more challenging to work with genealogically, but certainly not impossible. Because of the surname changes in every generation, there are no “surname” projects for mitochondrial DNA, per se, but there are other types of projects. For example, the Mothers of Acadia project is using mitochondrial DNA to reconstruct the Acadian families including those of Native American heritage.

There are three levels of testing you can take for mitochondrial DNA at Family Tree DNA, which is where I recommend that you test. The mtDNA, the mtDNAPlus and the Full Sequence. The mtDNA test is a starter test that will provide you with a base haplogroup, but will leave people searching for Native ancestry needing a more complete test for full haplogroup identification confirming Native ancestry. I strongly recommend the full sequence test, but if the budget just won’t allow that, then the mtDNAPlus will do until you can afford to upgrade. Family Tree DNA is the only major lab that tests the full sequence region, plus, they have the largest matching data base in the industry.

To put this in perspective for you, the mtDNA and the mtDNAPlus tests both test about 10% of your mitochondrial DNA and the full sequence test tests all of your 16,569 mitochondrial locations. You can then compare them with other people who have taken any of those 3 tests. Pricing for the mtDNAPlus is currently $139 and the full sequence is $199.

MtDNA testing is not as popular as Y-line testing because it’s more difficult to use genealogically as last names change every generation. When you look at your matches, you have no idea whatsoever if you might be related to these people in a genealogically relevant time frame by looking at their last names. Those who have invested the effort to collaboratively work on their mtDNA matches, assuming a full sequence match and a shared geographical history as well, have been pleasantly surprised by what they’ve found.

A haplogroup assigning deep ancestry is provided through mitochondrial testing, so like the Y-line, depending on the haplogroup assigned, you will know if your ancestors were here before European contact. Maternal haplogroups that indicate Native heritage include A, B, C, D and X. Like Y-line DNA testing, none of these haplogroups are exclusive to Native Americans, so a full sequence level test will be required to confirm a Native American subgroup.

After you receive your results, you can enter the mtDNA and mtDNAPlus portions into public data bases. There are no public data bases for the full sequence segment because there may be medical implications in some of those mutations, so they are not displayed publicly although they are compared privately within the Family Tree DNA data base. You will want to enter your data and check for matches at www.mitosearch.org (upload directly from your matches page at Family Tree DNA), www.smgf.org and www.ancestry.com, although beware of Ancestry’s accuracy issues.

Update: As of 2019, mitosearch and SMGF no longer exist and Ancestry no longer sells Y and mitochondrial DNA tests, having destroyed their database.

Testing the Y-line and mitochondrial DNA individually gives us a great deal of very specific information about 2 lines in your pedigree chart. The best method of identifying Native American ancestors is indeed to test as many lines on your DNA pedigree chart using this methodology as possible. Let’s take a minute to look at how to create a DNA pedigree chart.

DNA Pedigree Chart

If your Y-line and mitochondrial DNA have proven not to be Native, that doesn’t mean that the rest of your lines aren’t.

Let’s take a look at how to create a DNA pedigree chart so that you can focus your Y-line and mitochondrial DNA testing for other lines.

The purpose of a DNA pedigree chart is to provide guidance in terms of inheritance and also to provide a way of documenting your progress. My chart is shown below, as an example.

You can see the Y-line of my father and the mitochondrial line of my mother, on both ends of the pedigree chart. At the top of each line, I have recorded the haplogroup information for each family. Color coding each line helps in tracking descendants who would carry the DNA of the ancestor of that line. For example, my mother’s father’s mother’s line is the yellow Miller line. I need to find a daughter of my grandfather’s sisters, or their children, or their daughter’s children, to test for that mitochondrial DNA line. Which reminds me, I need to call my cousin. Family reunions, picnics and holidays are great for this type of thing. Sadly, so are funerals.

I blogged about how to put together your own DNA pedigree chart. If you’re Native and adopted, then refer to the adoptee blog instead, or in addition.

But sometimes, we can’t find the right people in order to test, so we move to autosomal testing to help us fill in the blanks.

Autosomal Testing – For Both Sexes – The Rest of the Story

Autosomal DNA testing tests all of your 23 pairs of chromosomes that you inherit from both of your parents. You get half of each chromosome from each parent. You can see this pattern on the pedigree chart, represented by all of the 16 genealogical lines. Therefore, as you move up that tree, you should have inherited about 25% of your DNA from each grandparent, about 12.5% of your DNA from each great-grandparent, as have all of their other great-grandchildren.

Therefore beginning with your parents, you carry the following approximate amount of DNA from each of these ancestors. I say approximate, because while you do receive exactly 50% of your DNA from each parent, there is no guarantee that their parents DNA was admixed in your parents such that you receive exactly 25% from each grandparent, but it’s close. You can see the percentages in the chart below.

Generation	Relationship	% of Their DNA You Carry
1	Parents	50
2	Grandparents	25
3	Great-grandparents	12.5
4	GG-grandparents	6.25
5	GGG-grandparents	3.125
6	GGGG-grandparents	1.56
7	GGGGG-Grandparents	0.78

Given this chart, if the Native percentage is back beyond 6 generations and drops below the 1% threshold, it’s extremely difficult to discern today.

Autosomal testing will pick up relationships reliably back to about the 6^th or 7^th generations, and sporadically beyond that.

Autosomal testing provides you minimally with two things. First, with a list of “cousin matches” by percentage and estimated relationship. Second, percentages of ethnicity. It’s this second part that’s most important for the person seeking to prove Native American heritage.

Percentages of Ethnicity

As the field of genetic genealogy has moved forward, research has begun to indicate that certain autosomal markers are found in higher or lower frequencies in different ethnic populations.

For example, if someone has the Duffy Null allele, or genetic marker, we know they positively have African admixture. We don’t know how much African admixture, or from which line, or when that individual with African admixture entered their family tree, but we know for sure they existed.

Attempting to determine the population frequency of varying markers and what that means relative to other populations is the key to this analysis. Few markers are simply present or absent in populations, but are found in varying frequencies. Some populations are widely studied in the research literature, and others are virtually untouched. Thousands have only been recently discovered as part of the National Geographic, Genographic project.

The process of compiling this information in a meaningful manner so that it can be analyzed is a formidable task, as the information is often found in nearly inaccessible academic and forensic research publications. It’s difficult to determine sometimes if the DNA analysis of 29 individuals in a small village in northern Italy is, for example, representative of that village as a whole, of northern Italy, or more broadly for all of Italy. Is it representative of Italy today or Italy historically? These and other similar questions have to be answered fully before the data from autosomal testing can be useful and reliable.

Let’s take a look at all 3 of the contemporary autosomal tests and what they have to offer.

Note: as of 2019, MyHeritage is also a major player in the autosomal DNA testing space.

Family Tree DNA

Family Tree DNA sells the Family Finder test. Right now it is priced at $79 or bundled with attractive pricing with either the Y-line or mitochondrial DNA tests. I often like to use this tool in conjunction with the Y-line and mitochondrial DNA tests to see, if you match someone closely, whether you are actually related to them in a recent timeframe or if it is further back. Family Tree DNA is the only one of the autosomal testing companies that has the ability to do this type of advanced comparison. Compared to 23andMe and Geno 2.0, they are the only ones to offer traditional Y-line and mitochondrial DNA testing which provides individual marker results and matches.

In addition to a list of autosomal matches, you will receive your breakdown of ethnicity, by percent. The results below are for the same man with Native ancestry whose Geno 2.0 results are shown in the Geno 2.0 – First Peek blog.

You can read more about the Family Tree DNA autosomal product on their FAQ.

23andMe

Another company that sells autosomal testing is http://www.23andme.com. In addition to a list of cousins, you also receive admixture percentages, and their specialty, health traits. You also receive a paternal and maternal haplogroup, but with no markers for personal comparison. These Y-line and mitochondrial results are not as accurate at the Geno 2.0 nor the Family Tree DNA Y-line and mitochondrial DNA full sequence tests.

Be aware that while people who test at Family Tree DNA are interested in genealogy, the typical person at 23andMe tested for the health portion, not the genealogy portion, and may not answer contact requests or may know very little about their family history.

Right now, their test is $99, and you can download your results and upload them to Family Tree DNA for an additional $89, making the total price similar to the Family Tree DNA test. However, you need to be somewhat technically savvy to complete the download/upload process.

23andMe recently released a new version of their software which added quite a bit of resolution after years of being woefully behind. Native American wasn’t even a category previously.

Ancestry

Ancestry.com recently introduced an autosomal test. You receive matches and ethnicity percentages. However, their ethnicity percentages have significant issues and I would not recommend them at this time. Their cousin matches come with no analysis tools. So for now, just skip Ancestry and concentrate on the other resources.

One Last Autosomal Test

One marker value in particular, known as D9S919 is present in about 30% of the Native people. The value of 9 at this marker is not known to be present in any other ethnic group, so this mutation occurred after the Native people migrated across Beringia into the Americas, but long enough ago to be present in many descendants. You can test this marker individually at Family Tree DNA, which is the only lab that offers this test. If you have the value of 9 at this marker, it confirms Native heritage, but if you don’t carry 9, it does NOT disprove Native heritage. After all, many Native people don’t carry it.

To order this test, for existing Family Tree DNA clients, click on the “Order Upgrade” orange button on the right hand side of your personal page, then on “Advanced Test”, then enter “autosomal” in the drop down box, then you will see the list below. D9S919 is the last one and it costs $15. There may be a $10 one time transfer fee as well if your DNA sample is not in the Houston lab.

Swimming in Many Pools

As you can see there are lots of tools available to you that can be used individually or in conjunction with each other. Like anything else, the more work and effort you are willing to devote to the search, the more likely you are to be successful.

Most people test their Y-line and mitochondrial DNA, not just for Native ancestry, but to learn more about the lines they can test for themselves without reaching out to other family members.

Use your DNA pedigree chart to plan who to ask in your extended family to test for which lines.

Plan to test with multiple autosomal testing companies. Autosomal testing in particular is still in its infancy. I like to use the results of multiple companies, especially when you are dealing with small amounts of admixture. They use different markers, combinations, analysis tools and reference populations, so you can expect slightly different results. One company may pick up slight minority admixture while another may not. This has happened repeatedly with both my Native and African minority admixture.

GedMatch

After you obtain your results from either Family Tree DNA or 23andMe, you’ll want to download your raw data results and then upload the file to www.gedmatch.com. This is a privately run “donation” site, not associated with any of the testing companies, meaning there is no subscription or fee to use the tools, but they do appreciate and are funded by donations.

After uploading your results you can utilize several admixture tools to compare and contrast your results.

Getting Help

If you’re struggling with working through your family possibilities for who to test, I do offer a DNA Test Plan service.

If you would like a Personalized DNA Report for Y-line or mitochondrial results, those are available as well.

If you have what amounts to a quick question that I can answer in less than an hour, including prep, I offer the Quick Consult service.

For more extensive consulting, contact me. You can see my services here.

In Summary

Finding our Native ancestors is a way to pay homage to their lives and to the culture that was stripped from their descendants, ironically, by using their own DNA that has been gifted from them to us. Native people, after contact with Europeans were marginalized, and that’s the best that can be said. Many were killed, either intentionally or by European diseases, or enslaved. The results are that Native people left few if any individual records and those that might be available often can’t be identified or linked to them personally. For those who cannot unearth their Native ancestry using conventional genealogical means, genetic testing is the last hope left. Fortunately, the tools and our knowledge improve every day. We’re making great strides with what we can do, enlarging what was a pinhole into a keyhole, allowing us to peer into the past. So, click your heels, order your tests and let’s see where your DNA takes you.

______________________________________________________________

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I’m Adopted and I Don’t Know Where to Start

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Roberta Estes

This is one of the two most common querys that I receive.

I’ve addressed some of the adoptee resources in a previous blog, but in this one, I’m going to be very specific about which tests do what, what to expect, how to use them, where to purchase the tests and how much they cost in general terms. Remember when reading this, it’s meant as a guideline and you should always check current products and prices before purchasing.

We all begin with genetic genealogy to answer questions, but adoptees have a special circumstance wherein they generally know nothing at all about their birth parents. Today’s query told me that her birth certificate doesn’t even include a race.

First, all adoptees need to read my post on Adoptee Resources. I’m not an expert on how to deal with all of the bureaucratic and paperwork nightmares involved, which of course vary by state, but there are people who specialize in this and they have groups to help. Take advantage of them. Also, throughout the rest of this blog, be sure to click on the links. I’m not restating things that I’ve already covered elsewhere.

Now, let’s look at the 3 kinds of DNA testing that can benefit adoptees and just how they might use the results.

There are three kinds of DNA testing that you can do.

Mitochondrial for your direct maternal line.
Y-line for your direct paternal line – if you are a male. Sorry ladies.
Autosomal to test your ethnic mix and to find cousins related to you on any line.

On a pedigree chart, these genealogical lines look like this:

You can see the path that the Y chromosome takes down the paternal line to the brother and the path the mitochondrial DNA takes down the maternal line to both the brother and the sister. Autosomal tests the DNA of all of the 16 ancestral lines shown here, but in a different sort of way.

Let’s look at each one separately.

Y-Line DNA – For Paternal Line Testing for Males

The Y-line testing tests the Y chromosome which is passed intact from father to son with no DNA from the mother. This is the blue square on the pedigree chart. In this way, it remains the same in each generation, allowing us to compare it to others with a similar surname to see if we are from the same “Smith” family, for example, or to others with different surnames, in the case of adoption. Small mutations do take place and accumulate over time, and we depend on those so that we don’t all “look alike.”

The good news is that using comparison tools, we can determine a genetic surname in about one third of the cases. That’s pretty good odds for someone who started with no information at all.

Looking at the Estes surname project as an example, you can see in this colorized version that there are mutations shown, in color, even within family groups.

You can test at 12, 25, 37, 67 or 111 marker “locations” on the Y chromosome. In order to look for strong results you’re going to need to test at a minimum of 37 markers, preferably 67 or 111. At Family Tree DNA, which is where I recommend that you test, you can always upgrade later, but it’s less expensive in total to test more initially, plus you may well need the information to know who you match at the highest levels. Right now, 37 markers cost $119 and 67 markers are $199, but a sale is currently underway. You can also join the adoptee project to obtain the best pricing by joining a project.

Family Tree DNA also provides significant tools for Y-line DNA as well as Mitochondrial DNA as well. You can see both Family Tree and Ancestry results compared on this blog, which shows you how to use both companies’ tools. At Family Tree DNA, for all their tests, you are provided with the e-mail addresses of your matches. At Ancestry and 23andMe, you contact matches through thier internal message system. My experience has been that direct e-mails have a better response rate.

You can also order a DNA Report from my company, DNAeXplain, or directly from your personal page at Family Tree DNA, if you need assistance understanding either Y-line or mitochondrial DNA results and wringing every possible tidbit from the available tools.

Obviously, the Y-line test is only for males. Ladies, I feel your pain. However, these next tests are for both sexes.

Mitochondrial DNA – For Direct Maternal Line Testing for Both Sexes

Unfortunately, it does not follow any surname. In fact the surname changes with every generation when women marry. This makes it more challenging to work with genealogically, but certainly not impossible. Because of the surname changes in every generation, there are no “surname” projects for mitochondrial DNA, but the Mothers of Acadia project is using mitochondrial DNA to reconstruct the Acadian families.

There are three levels of testing you can take for mitochondrial DNA at Family Tree DNA, which is where I recommend that you test. The mtDNA, the mtDNAPlus and the Full Sequence. The mtDNA test is a starter test that will only leave adoptees needing more. I strongly recommend the full sequence test, but if the budget just won’t allow that, then the mtDNAPlus will do until you can afford to upgrade. Family Tree DNA is the only major lab that tests the full sequence region, plus, they have the largest matching data base in the industry.

To put this in perspective for you, the mtDNA and the mtDNAPlus tests both test about 10% of your mitochondrial DNA and the full sequence test tests all of your 16,569 mitochondrial locations. You can then compare them with other people who have taken any of those 3 tests. For adoptees, you’ll need the power of the full sequence test. Pricing for the mtDNAPlus is currently $139 and the full sequence is $199.

Update: Please note that as of 2019, Family Tree DNA is the only company providing mitochondrial DNA testing and matching. The rest are now obsolete.

If you match someone on either the Y-line or mitochondrial DNA, you may want to do some additional testing to see if you are closely related or if you are related back in time many generations. The good news is that autosomal testing is what you need and there are three autosomal pools to swim in, increasing your chances of a “hit.”

Autosomal Testing – The Rest of the Story – For Both Sexes

If there was a DNA test created for adoptees, this is it. This test can be used alone or in conjunction with the Y-line or mitochondrial DNA testing at Family Tree DNA. They are the only lab to have this advanced matching capability.

So, if you were to take an autosomal test, and another one of your grandparents grandchildren tested, you would match them at some predictable percentage of your DNA. You can see the “cheat-sheet” we use below, courtesy of the ISOGG wiki.

You can see that your grandparents other grandchildren are your first cousins, and you share approximately 12.5% of your autosomal DNA with them. Therefore, if you match someone at 12.5%, you are either first cousins, great-grandchildren/great-grandparents or another relative with 12.5 in their “box” below, as compared to you.

For an adoptee, this is the literal Holy Grail. You can match someone at the 25% level, or even the 50% level. Yes, siblings have found each other this way, although not to misset your expectations, it’s rare. Much more common are matches at smaller percentages, but even so, if you match someone who is cooperative, it’s not too difficult to work with their pedigree chart to get some idea who your parents might be. And even if you can’t figure that out, you know you are biologically related to them, something most adoptees have never experienced before aside from their own children.

The adoptee group and others are working on tools and standard procedures for adoptees, as there are ways to work with this information. I have also blogged about the basics of what autosomal DNA gives you, and how to use it.

There are three testing companies that sell autosomal DNA testing. I strongly suggest that you use all three of them, plus download your results to www.gedmatch.com and learn to use those tools, or work with someone on your behalf.

Family Tree DNA sells the Family Finder test. Right now it is priced at $199 or bundled with attractive pricing with either the Y-line or mitochondrial DNA tests. For adoptees, I often like to use this tool in conjunction with the Y-line and mitochondrial DNA tests to see, if you match someone closely, whether you are actually related to them in a recent timeframe or if it is further back. Autosomal testing will pick up relationships reliably back to about the 6^th or 7^th generations, and sporadically beyond that. In addition to a list of matches, you will receive your breakdown of ethnicity, by percent. The admixture portions are improving, but just use them as a guideline, especially for percentages below 10%, and that goes for all three companies, in general.

Another company that sells autosomal testing is www.23andme.com. In addition to a list of cousins, you also receive admixture percentages, and their specialty, health traits. For adoptees, this may be particularly important as well. Be aware that while people who test at Family Tree DNA are interested in genealogy, the typical person at 23andMe tested for the health portion, not the genealogy portion, and may not answer contact requests or may know very little about their family history. However, that doesn’t negate the possibility that you may find a very close match and you’ll never know if you don’t test. Right now, their test is $99, and you can download your results and upload them to Family Tree DNA for an additional $89, making the total price similar to the Family Tree DNA test. However, you need to be somewhat technically savvy to complete the download/upload process.

The third company is www.ancestry.com. Compared to either Family Tree DNA or 23andMe, their tools are sorely lacking, but they too offer a list of matches and ethnicity. I suggest that you simply ignore their ethnicity calculations at this point in time as they are quite misleading. The good news about Ancestry subscribers, which is who you’ll be matching, is that they too are quite interested in genealogy. Unfortunately, you don’t have the data tools you’ll need to see how you match. Again, that does not negate the importance of a close match, so I recommend fishing in this pool even though it certainly doesn’t stand up to either of the other two companies. Their price fluctuates but is floating someplace around $129. Also be aware to access the full feature set of matches including trees, you will need to subscribe to Ancestry as well in some capacity, so the test price is not the only cost involved. Be sure to read their fine print first.

After you obtain your results from either Family Tree DNA or 23andMe, you’ll want to download your raw data results and then upload the file to www.gedmatch.com. This is “donation” site, meaning there is no subscription or fee to use the tools, but they do appreciate donations. Ancestry does not provide your raw data, but has stated that they will sometime in 2013.

While this suite of tools does not replace that missing information locked away in a file someplace, or worse, it does provide adoptees with hope where none may have existed before. Various kinds of DNA testing can provide answers, and relatives, both close and distant. You can also work with these tools with other adoptees and those who specialize in genetic genealogy to unlock those doors.

Remember, the longest journey begins with a single step. Bon Voyage!

______________________________________________________________

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It’s Dick Hill’s Fault…

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Roberta Estes

Yes indeed – it’s Dick’s fault. What’s Dick’s fault, you ask? The fact that I haven’t had enough sleep for the past three days. That’s what’s Dick’s fault, him and his book, Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA.

What a book it is! I know Dick Hill, and I thought I knew his story, but I didn’t. I knew pieces of his story. Just snippets. I was missing the best parts.

Dick spent his life, after college, writing for a living in a variety of professional positions, and you can tell. His writing is precise and skillful, and it draws you into the story from the first page, even if you do think you know the story line.

In my case, I had commitments during the day, so I took the book to bed intending to read to go to sleep. Sometime around 3AM, I made myself stop reading so that I could get at least a few hours sleep. Thankfully, the third night, I finished the book.

Dick’s story begins with a slip up at the doctor’s office where he discovered he was adopted. He was 18 and on his way off to college, so even though he was quite surprised, he was relatively unconcerned at that time. However, over the years, and finally with a virtual deathbed confession of his father, his interest grew. It took his father’s revelation that he had a brother to really light that spark.

As these things go, his brother was relatively easy to find. His biological father was not. In fact, he didn’t know who his father was. He knew that his father was not his mother’s husband. Are you confused yet? Well, don’t be….it’s just part of this wonderfully elusive and slippery plot. Just when you think you have it figured out, I guarantee you, you don’t!

Dick’s story is particularly close to my heart. Dick knew who his brother on his mother’s side was, but he hunted for his father for decades. I knew who my father was, or I thought I did, and I hunted for my brother for decades. Dick and I used many of the same early DNA siblingship tools to prove and disprove relationships, and eventually, the newer wide spectrum autosomal chip testing available at both 23andMe and Family Tree DNA, with very similar results. I’m not going to tell you what those results were or are….you’ll have to read the book to find out.

Let’s just suffice it to say that there were a total of about 13 different candidates to be Richard’s father, all of which Richard had to unweave from the web of intentional deception and state-sanctioned “untruths” one by one. One by one he would identify candidates and be hopeful. One by one, he would eliminate them as possibilities. More than once, he thought sure he had the answer. More than once, he was wrong. Some candidates got rejected, reconsidered, rejected, reconsidered…..does this sound repetitive? You should be on Dick’s roller coaster ride!

I was so relieved to finally reach the end of the book. Richard found his father, in an unbelievable and ironic twist of fate, and finally, I could go to sleep! This book is what we used to refer to as a barn-burner! Gets ahold of you and just won’t let you go!

Congratulations Dick on a wonderfully executed masterpiece.

Whether you are interested in genetic genealogy, adoption searches or just like a good heart-warming mystery, you’ll love this book! But consider yourself warned…..don’t think you’re going to read it to go to sleep…..

______________________________________________________________

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Adoptee Resources and Genetic Genealogy

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Roberta Estes

Genetic genealogy has been a God-send for adoptees, especially those who have had no luck unsealing records or otherwise determining their parentage. I write DNA reports for lots of adoptees. There is nothing more rewarding than an adoptee “happy ending,” someone who has found their family. Nothing makes you appreciate your family more than working with people who can’t find theirs.

Men, especially, are fortunate, because the Y chromosome typically follows the surname, which means that they may have a very strong match with a specific surname. Even though this doesn’t identify the specific person, it’s certainly a very large step in the right direction. In more than one case, it has led us ultimately to the right person, confirmed by additional autosomal tests on family members.

Nearly all adoptees take the autosomal tests as well, Family Finder at Family Tree DNA and the 23andMe test. This allows them to fish in two pools and both provide a list of matches. The new Ancestry.com test, even though it’s new and we have no experience working with it yet promises a third pool for adoptee fishing.

Genetic genealogy for adoptees is slightly different than for the rest of us. For adoptees, you’re not so much looking for older genealogy, you’re looking to use common autosomal DNA matches to identify any common ancestor between two matches, then use that information to track the family forward in time. You’re ultimately looking for very recent genealogy, their parents.

A group recommended for adoptees doing DNA testing is DNAadoption. This site includes search angels and folks who are developing specially designed software to work with adoptees matches Gedcoms.

Furthermore, I strongly recommend the DNA Adoption group at this link, and their classes for how to work with autosomal DNA, whether you are an adoptee or not.

While not specific to Genealogy, the ISOGG list at Yahoo focuses on Genetic Genealogy. They also sponsor a Newbie forum if that is more your speed.

Dick Hill, a genetic genealogist, himself an adoptee, succeeded in finding his birth family. His story is particularly inspiring, and his book, Finding Family, will be released shortly. Dick created this website to assist other adoptees with information and free resources. http://www.dna-testing-adviser.com/

Here are some additional resources for adoptees:

http://www.americanadoptioncongress.org/

http://www.adoptiondatabase.org/

http://www.isrr.org/

http://www.adoptioninstitute.org

http://www.childwelfare.gov/adoption/search/

http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/statutes/infoaccessap.cfm

Watch for new programs from the Mixed Roots Foundation beginning in the fall of 2012 including the Global Adoptee Genealogy Project. http://www.mixedrootsfoundation.org/

______________________________________________________________

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