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Also, don't take anything you read on those forums from other posters personally. There are a lot of wacky people and a lot of people who have a tendency to turn every thread into something about themselves or their ancestry or their health or whatever. Others will give you a straight forward answer without the fluff.
You are not alone OP. Hopefully, you'll find some other interesting things on the website to feel you got you money's worth. Give it a chance.
I certainly did find out some fascinating things! Like that I have a black g-g grandparent. At the bottom of my list is a (combined) 4% African. Initially I misinterpreted what I read on the site, and thought *everyone* had this sort of data at the bottom of their list, because the human race originated in Africa.
But I had misinterpreted what I'd read; found out today that the data covers only back to the last 500 years, that not everyone has the African data, and that I likely have a black great-grandparent.
I am thrilled! The family stories of myself and many, many others, of NA ancestry actually refer to African people of mixed parentage who claimed to be NA because the stigma of being black was so horrendous, not to mention dangerous.
In the forum, many posters shared that this claim of being NA, when the person is actually black, is a very, very common occurrence on 23andMe.
I just posted in your thread on 23andme lol. There is no way to distinguish between what you got from your mom or dad other then having one of them test. Also, yes, the smaller the percent the longer ago it was. Your Sub-Saharan would indicate an ancestor probably between 7-8 generations ago.
I see that. And you appear to have a total of 1.0% total African data. What does that mean to you; I mean, what do you interpret it to mean? Were you aware of it, prior to taking the test?
I see that. And you appear to have a total of 1.0% total African data. What does that mean to you; I mean, what do you interpret it to mean? Were you aware of it, prior to taking the test?
It honestly doesn't really mean much to me other than I have an ancestor who was African-American. I wasn't aware of it before the test, but I wasn't surprised either just because that side of the family is from the deep south and they were very poor for a long time, so I was kind of expecting either African or Native American somewhere.
You note that you have Rainwaters in your tree. So do I - and that family came from ENGLAND. There's lots of stuff online on the Rainwaters, and I've done a lot of research on them, too. My Rainwaters came from England to America via Charleston, and as generations went on travelled down the coast and around to Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Since you have the story of being part Choctaw too, I'll bet we're related! 23andme found no Native American in me, either. There are a lot of African American Rainwaters, probably due to the fact that the Rainwater family owned slaves in the early years.
The story that an ancestor or ancestors waas Native American is part of the story of many American families. I've read that this is due to guilt for our ancestors being participants in the near genocide of the native people of this continent. I also think it might be because our early immigrant ancestors probably lived closely among Native Americans and mixed blood families. I'm not under any illusions about that branch of the family - according to census info they were pretty poor throughout the years.
There's so much I don't understand; I'm really at the novice level, if that.
A couple of more questions, if I may? I did pass a statistics course, but it was a long, long time ago:
(1) The smaller the percentage, the longer ago it was?
Not necessarily. Ethnicity inheritance is random so, for example, just because one might have an Irish grandparent, it doesn't mean they are exactly 25% Irish. I have one Italian grandparent whose family immigrated in the early 1900s but according to my DNA result, I am more likely to be closer to 1/3 Italian, not 1/4. Likewise, I had one Norwegian great grandparent so I should be 1/8 or 12.5% Norwegian if it was split evenly but since it's not, I am only 2% Norwegian. Meanwhile, I am about 55% British even though my most recent 100% British ancestor immigrated in the 1850s. So my Italian ancestors were more recent than my British ancestors but my British ethnicity is higher.
You note that you have Rainwaters in your tree. So do I - and that family came from ENGLAND. There's lots of stuff online on the Rainwaters, and I've done a lot of research on them, too. My Rainwaters came from England to America via Charleston, and as generations went on travelled down the coast and around to Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Since you have the story of being part Choctaw too, I'll bet we're related! 23andme found no Native American in me, either. There are a lot of African American Rainwaters, probably due to the fact that the Rainwater family owned slaves in the early years.
The story that an ancestor or ancestors waas Native American is part of the story of many American families. I've read that this is due to guilt for our ancestors being participants in the near genocide of the native people of this continent. I also think it might be because our early immigrant ancestors probably lived closely among Native Americans and mixed blood families. I'm not under any illusions about that branch of the family - according to census info they were pretty poor throughout the years.
We are what we are!
Well that's interesting to know; thank you! It might not mean much to some people, but I'm an artist (musician) and I guess I have an active imagination and a deeply emotional nature, but to me, yesterday was one of the most important days of my life. If what people tell me is correct, seven or eight generations ago I had one of those strong African people in my family, who survived all that horrific and unjust treatment. Survived; that is the issue.
I cannot tell you how proud I am of that, how deeply moved I am by that.
On the issue of African heritage, I don't know how 23andme break it down but with ancestry.com, the north African region can include other parts of the Mediterranean. So the trace amounts of North African in my DNA results is likely related to some of the Moorish influence on lower Italy, especially Sicily, because that's were my Italian ancestors were from.
If you were born in America- you're a native American, plain and simple !
This is the genealogy forum and this topic is about DNA, so naturally we are discussing ethnicity, not nationality. They are not one in the same. Obviously, my nationality is American, but my heritage and genetic ethnicity is mostly British, Italian, German, and Norwegian. It's there, in my blood, and no amount of denial or confusing ethnicity with nationality will remove it. Do you have anything useful to actually contribute about genetic ethnicity? If not, I wonder why you even bothered to open the genealogy section, open this topic, and respond?
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