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I hear it wasn't uncommon for marriages to happen between someone who was white and the other being Native American. Obviously not every white person married a Native American, but it's always possible they married someone who was a 1/4 Native American for example. How likely are you to have even a tiny bit of Native American blood if you are descended from colonists?
According to what I've learned and to this link below, it's very rare for Americans to have Native American DNA. It's much more common for Latinos in the US to have Native American DNA than for Americans descended from (European) people who settled the original 13 colonies.
From the site above: Broadly, the genomic analysis found that on an average the African American genome was 73.2 percent African, 24 percent European and 0.8 percent Native American. Latinos as expected had significantly more Native American ancestry with the average Latino genome being 18 percent Native American, 65.1 percent European and 6.2 percent African.
With respect to European Americans, the percentages are much more different than African Americans or Latinos, with European American genomes being 98.6 percent European, 0.19 percent African and 0.18 percent Native American.
So if by "colonial" you mean what people normally mean, the original 13 colonies that formed the US, then no, it's very rare. If by "colonial" you refer to people who settled in Spanish colonies in central and south America and the North American southwest, then yes, it's common.
I've gone back to the early 1600s on some of my mother's colonial New England side and have found no native American blood. There was a family rumor about having native American blood but how would you even prove it? The names all sound like usual names, nothing native American sounding. No written mention of it either--just an uncle's story.
In my DNA testing by 23andMe I only came out with a tiny fraction of Asian blood and that was under Speculative. Being female, I can't even be sure that it's from the colonial American side.
The instances that I know of where a white settler married a native American occurred in those early kidnappings in which the settlers were marched off to Canada. Some of them assimilated into the tribe and were never ransomed back--often because they preferred the native lifestyle. Their descendants would probably be living in Canada.
According to what I've learned and to this link below, it's very rare for Americans to have Native American DNA. It's much more common for Latinos in the US to have Native American DNA than for Americans descended from (European) people who settled the original 13 colonies.
From the site above: Broadly, the genomic analysis found that on an average the African American genome was 73.2 percent African, 24 percent European and 0.8 percent Native American. Latinos as expected had significantly more Native American ancestry with the average Latino genome being 18 percent Native American, 65.1 percent European and 6.2 percent African.
With respect to European Americans, the percentages are much more different than African Americans or Latinos, with European American genomes being 98.6 percent European, 0.19 percent African and 0.18 percent Native American.
So if by "colonial" you mean what people normally mean, the original 13 colonies that formed the US, then no, it's very rare. If by "colonial" you refer to people who settled in Spanish colonies in central and south America and the North American southwest, then yes, it's common.
I've posted this on a few of these related threads since it's such a great analysis of the data. There are lot of interesting bits about it.
One thing to keep in mind (that the linked blog seems to either avoid or miss) is that the overall averages are just one perspective. Basically those are for all White, Black, or Latino people across the whole US. You find that as you might expect the regional breakdown is very different... Some quotes from the source study, I highly recommend anyone interested in the topic look at least at the charts in that study, they made some great visuals of breakdown.
Regarding African DNA in European Americans:
Quote:
Consistent with previous anecdotal results,32 the frequency of European American individuals who carry African ancestry varies strongly by state and region of the US (Figure 3A). We estimate that a substantial fraction, at least 1.4%, of self-reported European Americans in the US carry at least 2% African ancestry. Using a less conservative threshold, approximately 3.5% of European Americans have 1% or more African ancestry (Figure S8). Individuals with African ancestry are found at much higher frequencies in states in the South than in other parts of the US: about 5% of self-reported European Americans living in South Carolina and Louisiana have at least 2% African ancestry. Lowering the threshold to at least 1% African ancestry (potentially arising from one African genealogical ancestor within the last 11 generations), European Americans with African ancestry comprise as much as 12% of European Americans from Louisiana and South Carolina and about 1 in 10 individuals in other parts of the South
Regarding Native American DNA in European Americans:
Quote:
We find that many self-reported European Americans, predominantly those living west of the Mississippi River, carry Native American ancestry (Figure 3B). We estimate that European Americans who carry at least 2% Native American ancestry are found most frequently in Louisiana, North Dakota, and other states in the West. Using a less stringent threshold of 1%, our estimates suggest that as many as 8% of individuals from Louisiana and upward of 3% of individuals from some states in the West and Southwest carry Native American ancestry (Figure S7).
So definitely a significant present of African DNA in Southern Whites as you might expect. As you also might expect more likely to find significant Native American DNA in Whites in the West vs. East.
This all fits a narrative they seem to find more support for, that in the East/South there was some DNA inpurt of early Native American intermixing and then African DNA input far more recent:
Quote:
Fitting a model of European and Native American admixture followed later by African admixture, we find the best fit with initial Native American and European admixture about 12 generations ago and subsequent African gene flow about 4 generations ago.
The blog linked misses the most useful points by focusing on National Averages vs regional breakdowns.
Regarding this topic the study did find (as quoted above) a Native American DNA input into Europeans about 12 generations ago. This fits with the anecdotal knowledge of the early colonies co-existing with certain Tribes and interacting at some levels. Additionally it fits with early intermixing of servants/slaves that are African, White, and Native American. Also fits with the known Indian traders, merchants, etc who have reasonable evidence for having Native American spouses (or mother's of children) and having some of those children go back into white society with little or no further Native American DNA input.
With all that said I'd still say the majority of White Americans descended from the early colonies do not have Native American ancestry (as anecdotal observations of people posting their DNA results with no Native American DNA seems to suggest), though the amount that do is not insignificant. I for example show up with no Native American DNA though my grandmother shows up about 0.4% (that come up at 90% confidence) and I've been able to map at least 3-4 cousins with that Native American DNA that also paint the same Native American ethnicity segments. It ties back to 1700s (or possibly 1600s) colonial ancestry (Virginia, North Carolina, or South Carolina) possibly to a region with tri-racial people.
Some European settlers, and some colonial settlements, had more peaceful interactions with indigenous people than others.
Indigenous ancestry is very common among Latinos. The proportion of indigenous ancestry goes up or down depending upon the country or the region. Puerto Ricans, to pick one example, have a relatively high proportion of indigenous genes.
There were Cherokee and other tribes in the Appalachians who married Europeans and African Americans. That was quite a bit after the actual colonial period, though. I wish I knew more about Creole and Cajun history in the South, but I'm sure there's probably some indigenous ancestry somewhere in the mix there too.
Nope, very few white people who have a Native American ancestor legend in their family history wind up able to prove it. I have many colonial branches of my tree, not one hint of a Native American anywhere, and no trace of it in my DNA results either.
I don't know the chances, but it is probably small for an average American with colonial heritage to have Native American ancestry. I think your ancestor should be 5 or 6 generations or more recent for the Native American DNA to possibly show up. I might be wrong, but if one's ancestry goes back 10 generations, your chances of obtaining DNA from a 10-generational relative is statistically very small.
DNA tests may be more accurate in the near future to find the "noise" - i.e. trace amounts that are much smaller than 1 percent of your overall DNA.
I have colonial ancestry but no American Indian blood. I thought I might when I took the ancestry test, but it came back with 0% in that category.
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