I found my biological family...and I wasn't trying. I only wanted to obtain my ancestral background. A nephew happen to submit his DNA also. Now I have three sisters and two brothers
Hi mark,I also did a DNA test.I was brought up in an orphanage in england.never knew any family at all.through the test I am now in contact with my fathers family in new mexico. Hope to visit next year. Amazing thing.
As an adoptee in my sixties I was given very little information. Thank you for mentioning us! I have met some real 3rd cousins on line. No one closer...this got important when my entire adopted family died within a year and a half. Seeing a third cousin who looks somewhat like me gave me a real sense of belonging for the first time.
+joanna_k That is kind of right. We (who aren't full blood sub-saharan African) are not 100% MODERN humans because we are supposed to have Neanderthal ancestry, lol
Ahhh, no. In 2012 at group at the Max Planck Institute for. Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany headed by svante Paabo published a paper which revealed a genome for Neanderthals that they had been working on. In examining a small group of diverse peopleagainst the genome, they found that all modern groups of people, excepting only pure sub-Sharan Africans, demonstrate from 1 to 4% Neanderthal genes in their makeup. this is consistent with the current anthropological "Out of Africa" theories of human origins and the known existence of Neanderthals in the Near East 35,000 years ago.
On Number 5: A woman from India came out as 100% Indian. She knew that was wrong because her mother had blond hair and green eyes. She had her mother take the test and was correct. Both parents gave her Indian DNA so she looked pure Indian. I got more African DNA than my mother because both parents gave me more African DNA. My mother is more diverse than me. On MyHeritage she has more flags (Drop down list0 than I do. Now I would be related to those people as well. however, because I don't have those DNA, those relatives do not show up. So, these are the limitations of DNA on some sites. Ancestry shows your relationship regardless. MyHeritage website is more functional though.
I believe that DNA testing and mapping is still at the new born phase. There is so much we don't know. It's going to take time, effort and lots errors.
DNA test are read Backwards. The newest DNA will have the highest %. The oldest will have the lowest. That’s why most come out looking nothing like the oral history of your family.
oh yeah...I took the cheap on only $59...it was a gift. Says I am English, Scandinavian, and Greek. What??? I have documentation that goes back hundreds of years from both sides of family (Swiss & German) not a trace on my DNA chart. And yes, I look like my mother etc. She looks like her mother etc.
@@butterygold The Khoi are still there. Go to the Kalahari desert and you'll see them. The closest ethnic groups to the Khoisan in South Africa are the Xhosas, Tswanas and Sothos! The Cape Coloureds are a mixture of Cape Malays and the Dutch descendents!
@@CeeLiberty so, the test confirmed that you're from central & northern Europe plus a part from mediterranean. I don't see a problem there - you described the same thing twice
Ancestry have a video where they break down dna inheritance and point out that even if you know o a certain ancestry in the family bloodline, one reason it will not show up is just that is that it goes too far back to be detected and in some cases you yourself may not have inherited that gene. which i can believe as seen two sisters same mum dad - and only one had native american whilst other sister did not have any trace and they were Caribbean. Useful video btw
There is a CZcams video where the mother is 10% Native American, a brother is 8% Native American, and another sibling is 0% Native American. So, Ancestry is a bit wrong on this. This is why it is good to have as much family DNA presented as possible. You will also find that you are related to a DNA cousin and their sibling does not show any DNA connection. We are just not the same and fortunately, parents have several children to show the whole picture or as close to the whole picture as possible.
Really bad example since Indians can be Mexican and Mexicans can be Indian. Not unless you mean Indian from India and in that case, if the Indian lives in/born in Mexico, they are Mexican and therefore a Mexican Indian either way. But for the person who is 0% Native American and another relative has Native American genetic identity, they can go to Gedmatch.com which shows the autosomal DNA and does not rely on maternal or paternal, but all of your DNA ancestry. There one may find their indigenous heritage and even the percentage with charts and deeper explanations. Happy Hunting.
Hi Selena, yes, Ancestry.com uses the autosomal tests. I still suggest going to GedMatch. If you have not gone, please do. After a few weeks, you will be allowed to compare your DNA with thousands more people than with Ancestry's population (although they say it is growing). GedMatch also has ethnic groups not showing on Ancestry and GedMatch has been in existence longer than Ancestry's venture into DNA. I seldom use Ancestry's DNA data and so I forgot about them being autosomal. But, you are correct, it is autosomal. I wish I could show you a chart. :-)
I really liked your presentation. I've been the family genealogist for over 40 years, and though DNA can reveal some things, nothing replaces good, solid research. A third cousin of mine had researched our mutual ancestors on my mother's side, and always said that our mutual great-great-grandparents died in their land in a certain county in Texas. This cousin never accessed census records. In the final census before the ancestors' deaths, I found the family living in another county altogether, and further research showed that the town and the area where their farm was is now under a manmade lake. That is why their graves cannot be located on their land in the other county. If she had used census records, she wouldn't have wasted her time looking for graves in the wrong county!
Very helpful. In fact, when I started my DNA journey, I took several screenshots. So, I had the evidence when my percentages changed. I said, "HEY", but then I was able to fact check and see the old screenshots and compared them when the new data on the screen.
About number 2: A CZcamsr discovered while doing a video that her father was not her biological father. He was Italian but her DNA was African. He allowed us to listen in on the phone. It was heart breaking that she shared that with us.
#6: DNA will NOT represent ALL of your ancestry. Ex: You may have that oral legend of "Cherokee" ancestor in your tree, except it's from the 16-1700s, not the 1800s. We have about 256 ancestors from the Rev War period and about 1000 since Jamestown period. Do the math 1/250th or 1/1000. Even if 10/1000 only 1% Cherokee (if we receive exact % from each ancestor which we do not). Very important to keep in mind. Autosomal DNA is only capturing the estimate ethnicity of what remains with the method of testing used and mostly accurate back about 200 years. Y or MtDNA will only show one direct path of father's father or mother's mother and what is the majority of our DNA makeup. Don't be discouraged by DNA either. I have NA and African in my tree but too far back and in too little quantity to register. Nonetheless, they are still my direct ancestors. :)
My dad had enough Cherokee to have the paperwork, had free college, and his mother was raised on a reservation (where as a young child I'd gone to visit her several times) but my own daughter's DNA showed no native american. Either something didn't pick up, or my grandmother was adopted, or my father is not my father? Um, hmm.
I've had relatives actually get angry when I tell them there is absolutely nothing but European in my dna, meaning that on the side of the family that they are related to me on there is no way that they have native American blood in them. Not to mention, I have done extensive research and have my family tree traced back nearly on all sides at least as far as William the Conqueor, and what I haven't traced to him I still have lines traced as far back as the 14th century, Europe. I kept telling everyone in my family that we are mostly Scotch Irish, British and German but no one wanted to believe me. They would argue that my Papa was half Cherokee and I'd tell them that his line was the easiest to trace back! To Germany and England! Well, dna test results came back and the only real surprise I had was that there was more German than I thought. It said Western Europe but I know that it is German because after that I started doing some more digging on an ancestor I couldn't find parents for that I thought was English because the last name was Carpenter. Well, I ended up finding his parents last name when they came her to the states was Zimmerman and that is the equivalent to Carpenter so they changed it. Oh well, I don't know why anyone would be upset about what is found in their family tree. Even the not so pleasant things. Even the not so pleasant people in your past still helped get you here. And personally, I believe that it is absolutely just as interesting to be descended from German carpenter as it is a Cherokee warrior. Remember who came before you and the struggles they faced to survive to allow you to be here and have a much better life than they had and look to the future to build an even better future for those who come after us!
Jennifer Martin hate to break it you sweetheart but you can’t trace genealogy back to William the conquerors time as there was no census before 1837, and before that you had to rely on church records. It’s Its literally impossible for you to trace anything back to the 12th century that pertains to your family. Unless you are descendant of royalty.
DNA testing has only been around for less than 50 years. It was created in 1987. So therefore, most ancestors can't be matched precisely to your DNA. The DNA testing kits send back percentages of where other DNA tested people live that have a similar single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs, or “snips” for short). These tiny differences are what DNA ancestry tests are looking for.
Not doubting you there but unless your father takes a test you can't prove the lack of Native American/tribal ancestry.They have sites for tribes exclusively but it has to be through a direct maternal/paternal line. If he is half it should show up in either his x or y but if he is less, it becomes tricky. For example, if his mother's father was any Native American it may not show up. Meaning it won't at all in yours.Woman can only go through their x maternal line or autosomal DNA. this may give you the random DNA from quite a few ancestors that make up you but only four generations or so with a decent enough accuracy.DNA testing is still in it's infancy and some scientist think we are more strongly related to our mothers. As for the rest, all sorts of things happened back then that were lost in time or went to the grave.Women were raped and affairs took place. Men back then, in every society, could beat their wife for any perceived wrong doing.They didn't have to do it at home. It was once legal to do so on the steps of the town courthouse. On a light and sometimes dark not some people took children into their homes and raised them as their own or for other twisted purposed. My g-grandmother was found on the side of the road and kept and that was that.They didn't have to go through vigorous adoption practices up until quite recently. My family always believed she was Native because she looked it and was found along the wagon trail but we will never know. If her mother had been raped by a white man, Native genes would have been on the maternal line.My grandfather carried her x chromosome and he'd be 114 if he were by some miracle alive to test. His brother not much younger.All hope for that branch got cut off. DNA testing is great for finding close family connections but everything else should be taken lightly for entertainment purposes and shouldn't define a person. Most ancestry is lost due to the xx chromosome factor.
Yeah the 4/5 happened to me. My mom told me my whole life that she was mainly cherokee her moms side and blackfoot on her dad's side. My results came in last night and I got 0% Native American but 47% African. She thinks the DNA test is lying lolol
Jazmine Herrera there’s a pretty big genetic difference between Sub-Saharan Africans and Native Americans who have East Asian ancestry. The DNA don’t lie.
The crickets though. lol!! I had to share this with a young lady who tried to fully discredit DNA tests because it did not pick up her Native American ancestry because she "knew" her Grandmother was full-blooded Native American. Woosaaah Somebody lied but she wasn't trying to hear it.
Exactly!! I'm tiptoeing now around something that came up in my mother's DNA. Luckily both she and I are open to trying to find and learning the truth. Hopefully my Uncle is open to whatever truths I find.
I'm dealing with elderly relatives who are in denial as well. I've chosen to let them live their "truth" in peace but I'm making sure all the children know the real information. The legends will not live beyond my generation!
That's not necessarily true. The tests only pick up a tiny part of DNA info from one or two specific genes. You can tell her to look up better explanations, basically think of an upside down pyramid with the one being tested at the tip. These tests pick up info, in women for example, ONLY from OTHER women who exist along the very outside edge of the pyramid. Men can sometimes get info from two edges, because of the specific genes the info is pulled from, one is passed mom to daughter, etc., the other is passed father to son, etc. and the info is on the sex chromosomes. Anyway, the DNA of ALL those people from the middle rows of the pyramid will not show up. So they could literally all be Swedish, but if there's predominantly Chinese ancestry in that maternal only line, you will show to be a very high percentage Chinese, and no Swedish, when you're really almost all Swedish with a bit of Chinese. Like I said, you can find better explanations, but the whole thing should be considered entertainment that gives you a teeny tiny glimpse, not a full accounting of your genetic makeup.
OGSpaceCadet But isn't what you are speaking about when you are testing your mtDNA and Y-DNA? They specifically test your maternal and paternal linages (mother of mother of mother and so on and father of father of father and so on). With autosomal, at least what I gathered from some research, it should be able to pick up on full-blooded (especially recent) ancestry regardless of the maternal/paternal line. The young lady that I am speaking about did not pick up any Native American DNA at all with a supposed "full-blooded" Grandparent. My mother's Native DNA (1%) even picked up and we have absolutely no idea how far back that persons or persons are but it certainly isn't a Grandparent.
Creative Life The way it was explained to me was that the tests only account for a VERY small percentage of a person's DNA, like 1% or so. Native American DNA in itself is difficult, because they are actually of Siberian/Asian descent, so how that will show on a commercial DNA test, Idk. Like I said, there's a lot of good info out there on this topic if you want more detailed or in depth information, but my main point is that these dna tests should not be given weight over well kept genealogical records or strong family histories, because they truly only show a very tiny piece of the picture.
Nicely explained, Nicka. I am a genealogist and I ESPECIALLY appreciated #4. Soooo many people connect to me via DNA matches where it says we are 4th cousins or more distant, and they have NO family tree at all. Somehow, they magically expect me to be able to tell them who they are, when they sometimes don't even know their grandparents' names. While it is true that adoptees can sometimes find birth parents via DNA testing, for most of us, DNA testing can help connect you with people who HAVE done their own genealogical research. I have met several distant cousins this way, and we have mutually helped each other to expand our own trees.
You are a darling! The best compilation & assessment of DNA testing I've ever seen. Oh my goodness, due to family feuding, estrangement, & die-off, I know little about my family tree, and what our true ancestry was. Not to mention how free-range they were, a mixture of a little bit of everything globally, LOL. At least I come from a lineage of very sociable peeps. Despite intensive genetic dilution of a Native American grandparent, with Nordic bloodlines, whooboy, I popped out looking full blood. Oopsie. To add to the confusion, my twin sister is a freckled blonde. People thought I had been adopted into my family. Nope, my grandmother died pretty young from diabetes, and I look very similar to her. I think what was hard is I was mistaken for another ethnic group that suffers horrible discrimination & abuse. So I am on the receiving end of tremendous ignorance. But not nearly the magnitude of Black maltreatment. I grew up confused about what I was, because my father insisted only Anglo heritage. A few years ago, by chance, I discovered that my paternal side had been Jewish. I nearly fainted, because I had an uncanny familiarity with their culture, including ease in speaking Hebrew. Thus far, I am a descendant of a half dozen of European countries and three NA tribes. I am also the rarest blood type that exists, part of which denotes extraterrestrial origin, just to throw into the mix. I had some out of this world type experiences, as a little girl. But that's a whole other issue. I feel like I don't belong, needless to say. My heart goes out to those adoptees searching for their biological families, and I pray that they find what they are looking for. Thank you for this lovely forum of exploring this fascinating topic. Shalom.
Windsingerful Aww, I love it when wise souls like yourself, take the time to read my long comments 😘 Which is why I came out of the ET closet, & threw in the hybrid zinger, cuz most will never read it, hehehe 👽 My siblings & their descendants have gone even further afield, and we now have bloodlines from many more continents 🌎🌍🌏 Happy dance 💃🙌💃
I have just taken the DNA test, completed my "tree" in Ancestry, and awaiting final results. This has been the BEST video I have seen so far! And I have viewed many Ancestry videos!! I really think Ancestry and other companies would benefit from having DIVERSITY in the staff presenting and explaining heritage!! This was a great video!!!
it's even worse for native american descendants. there's literally just one category for us,native american. all of my family is of native american descent, and the most 23andme and ancestry can tell us is we have indigenous ancestry from the America's... at least the African regions are broken up a lot more. but most of my family has some African blood too
You be surprised who are indegenious Indians. The so called African Americans, surprise! No knock on Native Americans but the original Indians were copper colored people. Today's Native Americans are mixed Europeans which was a direct result of the Racial Integrity Act of 1924 and the one drop rule. This is how a blue-eyed person becomes Native because he has one drop of Native blood. Conversely, copper colored indegenious Indians were reclassified as colored or ñegro whether or not they had one drop of African blood. This is the true history.
I can't wait to get my test back. My mom got hers back and hers said there was a bit of Asian and African on hers. I would be HONORED to have African DNA. Thank you so much for making this video. #2 made me crack up, I think it was number 2 anyway, "Pa, not Pa" and we weren't there when it was going down. I subscribed to your channel and hopefully it does not take too long to get mine back. Oh! BTW, we were told growing up we were part Cherokee and Italian. We knew we are like super Irish. Well, when mom's came back it showed 0% Cherokee and 0% Italian. I just think this is totally cool. Thanks again for making this video. It was very, very helpful to me. I want my mom and daughter to watch also.
@EricW 1. I don't believe I was trying to encourage a response from You. 2. I am NOT responsible for what you understood. Neither am I responsible for how you feel about it.
I'm an adoptee. I did my test with MyHeritage. After I got my results, I checked out the list of DNA matches - 7000+ - but not one was described as closer than "3rd-5th Cousin." Not much to go on there. So your point about the database being key is on point. I get updates every week with new additions to the list. Nothing closer yet, but the odds get better...
You raised a great point about being available for other people. It's not all about me! 😁 I would love it if my DNA could help someone find their family or answers to hereditary questions.
***** Thank you because my percentages from ancestrydna I've been saying for a while are off. After I watched these videos on youtube I knew something was wrong. Most of the people on them take these percentages as written in stone law.
I am an Indigenous Canadian, and until 1991, Canada would just take you from your family against their wishes and put you into white foster homes for assimilation. That is what happened to me and two of my brothers. One of them was never seen again. So I put my DNA out there with the hopes of finding my family. I knew I was half white because it can definitely pass as white, but I had no idea the country of origin. I found out that my father is British Canadian! I found him through being connected with a half sister. She put me in touch with another half sister, and with my father. I was a surprise. My parents had a falling out and she left town, maybe even before she knew she was pregnant. In my case, once she gave birth to me she wasn't allowed to hold me or even to see me! I was just whisked away so that European Canadians could raise me themselves! For two generations before me, all our families children were stolen in to be put into residential schools so that we could be assimilated. So I am raising the first children in my family line to be Born Free, because all of my children were born in the 2000s, they aren't subject to be stolen from me for assimilation purposes. It is so much fun to find people I'm related to. If they are Indigenous, they are from my mother's side, if they are European, I know they are from my father's side, lol. Thank you for this video. A lot of changes have been made in the Five years since this video was made. DNA is more accurate as they have all increased their data bases.
Genetics is a probability game. If there is a high percentage of a particular region in the data, it doesn't mean that your results will be skewed. It only means that your results are less certain than theirs.
I giggled when you said you may not be as human as you thought you were and then I remembered a friend took one of these and neanderthal came up on her profile!
I would be so disappointed if Nethanderal did not show up. To know that I carry a little of there DNA would be nice. Not much chance for Divivian DNA, but that would be great too.
NEANDERTHALS have the same if NOT MORE of a right to be called HUMAN. The problem is that science fucked up calling the people OUT OF AFRICA "MODERN HUMAN" (LUCY WAS HARDLY HUMAN) they JUMPED the gun and now they can NOT go back. NEANDERTHALS extended themselves all the way up western europe down to Southern spain and the canary Islands BUT who is gonna go tell scientist DUDES YOU FUCKED UP! BTW.. "Modern man" invented SHIT .. Neanderthals invented ART CHEMISTRY MUSIC CLOTHING SEWING BURIALS FISHING And a shitload of STUFF!
I found out I had a half sibling that was adopted out about five years ago. I had information on that sibling. Thankfully my half-aunt is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to genealogy and had uploaded her DNA on GEDmatch. My adopted brother connected with her three weeks ago and we met in person on the 30th of December. I am so thankful!
Makes complete sense now. my great grandmother was half Maliseet and married my great grandfather who was white & black. My grandpa was trying to figure out why his brothers test results showed that he had more Native American blood than he did.
As an adoptee, I must say, "Thank you!!!" for mentioning that people are looking for answer and a response of any kind at least acknowledging their contact is sometimes more than that person could have hoped for. I haven't gotten my results back yet, but I'm hoping that there is someone for me to contact or vice versa. Thank you for putting this information out there.
The Ancestry DNA and FTDNA tests are very disappointing in terms of specifying Native American ancestry (one big region for two continents--really?), but I'd also say that Ancestry DNA at least isn't even good at being Eurocentric. It gives some very ridiculously large ranges for European regions, and the regions themselves aren't very specific at all. Uploading my results to GEDmatch and DNA Land as well as working on my family tree have certainly helped answer my questions, and when it comes to working on my family tree, I will say that that is indeed very Eurocentric. So much has been done already by other people who share my Anglo ancestors, plus so many documents that mention them are digitized and indexed with pretty good optical character recognition. When it comes to researching the Mexican side of my family, however, I have to go through digital page after page to try to find my mention of my ancestors, and if I don't have a specific date for their life events or know exactly where they lived, I'm lost!
You are right, for example, Mayas from Yucatan and Aztecs from Central Mexico are very different (nose shape, high, head shape ) even if you compare an Inca (Peru) from a Maya they are very very different and lets say a Yaqui or a Comanche they are taller and different shape so why this DNA companies have ONE REGION for the Americas, compared to Europe,a smaller region and HUGE DNA differences among them
Joseph Andrews Upload your 23andMe raw data to MyHeritage. They go a little more in depth. That's what I did and MyHeritage was able to closer pinpoint my S.E. Asian, Oceanic, and Eastern European ancestry. The Oceanic was Melanesian and the Eastern European was Ashkenazi Jewish from Romania. Now, I'm getting ready to take Ancestry's. Between the three, I should be able to have a clearer picture of what my ancestry is. I don't expect to ever have a COMPLETE one, but I can live with that.
My oldest sister found out her dad is not really her dad thanks to Ancestry.com DNA test. He took it too. They were NOT expecting that. Thanks to Ancestry DNA testing, they did find her biological father. He's very happy to find out he's got another kid.
My BFF's mother always told her they were African and Native American. She took the Ancestry DNA test and found NOT ONE DROP of Native American blood in her but DID discover that her GRANDFATHER was a white European (which was disgraceful for her racist mother, which is why she tried to hide it). Doing some digging, my BFF found a very beautiful story of love surrounding her great-grandparents. I want MY mother to take an Ancestry DNA test, and I hope she finds some African blood in there, because SHE'S racist too! :-P
As a Mexican-African-European woman, I've seen how different these results can be! My Nigerian results have been the most consistent, though (30-38%). I think this is because Nigerian DNA has been the most documented for Africa. Other African countries seem to not be as researched.
Funny that you mention finding out I may not be Cherokee. That's actually one of the things I'm hoping to find out for certain. (My father heard from a great aunt that we're part Cherokee, but we can't really find any documents going back very far to know if that's true or not.) I just did my kit registration, and now I'm awaiting results.
I agree with her. Lots of people take this DNA test as if it was a thing to 100% proof they are from a specific Ethnic group, but the thing is that even though DNA test companies have been getting better at determining your specific ethnic percentages, it's still not a tool to proof that your are from a certain ethnic group. Ancestry and 23 and me in my opinion are the only two most realiable ones as they have the largest DNA database of each ethnic group, but even them they tell you upfront that their DNA tests are basically just estimates, meaning you could be more or less of that specific ethnic group that determine for you. Like in my case, I took the Ancestry DNA test and they determine my Spanish ancestry percentage to be 30% , but the ranges for their estimates where from 30-34%. Meaning I could be anywhere around that estimate range for my Spanish ancestry.
I thought I was only a mix of mostly French and some Native American. But after making some research, it looks like I had an ancestor, who's family name was James, that changed it to Jacques when he moved in France! I'm now wondering what percentage I am British. :D (Just need to take the DNA test to see now...!)
Very informative video, I got a "Myheritage DNA test as a "gift" from my mother (I've never expressed any interest in tracing my genealogy..not a gift for me) and my Mom already found out her father was not her father. That means the grandfather I always "called" my grandfather, actually was my grandfather, a Jewish man, I'm "Irish Catholic"! So this test tells me many interesting things like I could have easily spent my life going to Temple on Saturday, not Church on Sunday
The field of genetics is not “Eurocentric”, it’s a straight up hard science. Commercial databases like those maintained by 23andMe reflect the makeup of the market. Blacks either don’t care or can’t afford the testing so they’re underrepresented in the database (you can get the stats from 23andMe). That only impacts some of the reports. Being under represented in the database isn’t going to change your carrier status for certain disorders or your likely skin or eye colors or even your haplogroup membership or your ethnic percentages. All it really changes is some of the correlation based reports and info they provide which mostly comes from their users answering survey questions. For instance how likely people with similar DNA are to be smokers or vegans or work as lifeguards. That’s really demographic info not genetic. So I think your first claim is pretty much total bunk.
Who is Nicka Smith? Oh I see, then what you said is totally wrong, not half wrong. The customer base of 23andMe won’t have any affect on the haplogroup you belong to. The only real change to that story comes from ongoing genetic research on ancient DNA samples which results in changes to dates of migrations and geographical shifts in frequency. You should update your video because you’re really off base.
My results completely changed on Ancestry DNA.com I went from being Ivory Coast / Ghana to Cameron/ Congo and almost equally Togolese. While it's weird in the beginning I had actually hope for the later results.
My wife recently found a long lost daughter that she had at age 15, some 43 years ago, from a DNA test that her mother had submitted through Ancestry.com. I can say that it has been one of the most joyous experiences that we have ever had in our lives. I know that not all these encounters have as sweet an outcome as ours has been, but if your hesitating, I would say do it, as you may be missing out on something very, very special !
I've had my results for 2 years now and i'm still adding names and studying about my ancestors and now up to 17 cousin's contacting me, thank you, great presentation
The number 5 one where the DNA does not show what you thought you were - it is also possible that you did not inherit the particular gene of the group that your family says you are descended from. If your genealogy says you have that ancestry then you do still have that ancestry. It just doesnt not show up in your genes. One of your ancestors did not inherit that particular ethnic gene, which means all the future descendents of that ancestor, also will not inherit that ethnic gene either.
I'm nearly 40 years old and was adopted from birth. I have been heavily considering taking the 23andme test, for obvious reasons - to finally know more about who I am. (My [adopted] family has told me nothing - claims they don't know) Is this really worthwhile? Will I be disappointed? After watching you video, I feel like you're my voice of reason! I don't know if this is a good idea.. I asked my doctor a few months ago if he could do a DNA test on me and he recommended I go through 23andme. Ugh, I am wishy-washy lol. I think I need help deciding.. to be or not to be. :P
I'm a plain old blond haired, blue eyed gal and am pretty sure the results will be "You're European!", which isn't very precise lol. I've watched a lot of CZcams videos of people getting their results, and the answers all seem similar, white people are predominantly from Europe... I feel like someone was reading their horoscope and saying "Ohhh, that sounds like me", as if all our personalities fall into 12 neatly defined catagories, just like our looks will fall neatly into one of the contintents on the planet. I'm worried that the results will just leave me with more questions, than with anwers! And I am afraid of the results more so, because I *don't* know anything about my family history. Many videos I've watched are of people who aren't adopted and have known who they mostly are, all their lives. I'm also afraid of who might call me as a result of my taking the test. I hadn't realized that was a possibility.. am I ready for that? I'm not sure!
Thank-you Nicka for your advice! I don't want to get my hopes up that any biological connections are out there waiting to find me, but it would be nice to find out... I just hope I'm ready if/when that happens! I'm very interested in finding out any medical history I can, as it's scary not to know what diseases I might be pre-disposed for. Ack, it's just a scary thing from all angles, to do a DNA test as an adoptee! Living without knowing is just as hard. I will go for it anyway and will let you know what comes of it. ;) Thanks for looking out for people like me. xx
What a terrific job you did breaking everything down! I'm adopted....but had done some research years ago and found some biological family. They were very open to me, but alot of information was lacking and uncertain. My lifelong questions have now been answered, and I'm happy about that!
This is an excellent and well put together video. For a long time now I have been telling these things to people. Too many people have done DNA testing to find out their "nationality" and get disappointed. My nationality, I was born and reared in America so I am American. As for my heritage, I am a mixture of Anglo-Saxon, French, Irish, and Native American. This too I have known since pre-school. I appreciate how you approached this subject.
I love your video. My parents just had there DNA done let me tell you that Lucy had a lot of 'splanin' to do. My uncle down right refused to accept any of the results. It has opened a whole can of worms on the pa isn't who we thought pa was side lol. How ever it has given us places to fix our genealogy and patch holes.
As soon as we have at least some of it figured out I will. I have a question. My parents went through Ancestry would we get a better picture doing us kids and/or going through one of the other DNA places?
VERY good video. One BIG thing I would like to add : NEVER rely on family lore or stories passed down. There are a lot of people who simply want to believe they are of some particular heritage and then start saying that is what they are. This has been noted quite a few times on celebrities, probably most often dispelling their alleged Native American heritage. Finding Your Roots, and Who Do You Think You Are are good programs to give you an overview of genealogy, including some DNA results. Warning ! A few people who take DNA tests will find out their father is not their father ! Or in rarer cases that their mother is not their mother (actually stepmother, adopted at birth, or switched at birth), but unless you are the kind of person who would be emotionally crushed by that, take the test. In my case, I was connected with cousins on both the maternal and paternal sides, cousins I already knew, proving that both of my parents were who I always thought they were. And I found out a lot about my heritage which largely agreed with an already established paper trail.
Point # 1 is spot on. I just took the raw data from my Ancestry test & uploaded it to My Heritage. I was BLOWN AWAY by the fact that the 2 sets of results were completely different. Still kinda reeling from it actually...
Took my DNA test, nope that mythical Cherokee ancestor is NOT There. The only thing I share with Elizabeth Warren. On the other hand, I learned by twin brother is actually my half brother. I also learned my Dad was NOT my dad. Flash forward five years and I have found my biological father and family. Wonderful. They have been so great, I love them. And, I'm NOT German, I'm Irish and Norwegian. So glad.
Girl.- so true. One thing that these DNA sites have ads for is that you find out who YOU are. if you are an American Citizen, born in America and taking a DNA test -YOU ARE AN AMERICAN and Not the highest percentage of what your DNA says just like Nicka said. Thank you.. If you are Japanese, in Japan, born in Japan, you are "Japanese - even if you are anglo. Nicka said it is based on what the data base of the company has.
Very well done. A PhD friend of mine does family DNA research with NIH, and he says low single digit % of time there are certain "anomalies" in a family's DNA history versus what the family reports. Rather than get into it, he tells them "sorry, you do not qualify for the study" and just lets it drop. Why get into it?
I am Cherokee, they keep great books. the reason why you are probably not Cherokee or Tsa La Gi is bc the tribe name became like saying Coke when you mean sprite, or when you need an asprin when you meant Tylenol. Why, I really don't know other than they were & we are good ppl. My GGGG grandfather made East Texas famous...so it gets to where when a family member was pressed as to what We are Native American they used oh I dunno Cherokee. Another thing I've noticed is Cherokee DNA is odd. It often comes out as Mid Eastern or Asian...It is & isn't native American. I think Cherokees were here when the time of pez & the lands parted an they were possibly the missing one of 12.
Cherokee here as well. The Dawes records would indicate me at 1/8th Cherokee, or aspirin, or sprite, whichever it is...(ScarlettKriss). My kit came in yesterday. Can't wait to find out what I am, or find out what the latest collections and algorithms say I am......
ScarlettKriss ok this make sense my DNA from 23 and me it came back to me having less then 1% of American Indian however it also % of Asian and middle eastern. I knew my Greatmom was part Cherokee and white. Thanks for clearing that up.
This is a great breakdown and a very realistic advice segment of what to expect. I especially liked the gentle reminder to be kind to people who may reach out to you looking for a little help with their own DNA journey. Thankyou!
6 seconds in the video and I finally understand that we have 5 fingers on our hands so that we can hold the number 5 when we want to show ... well 5 :D
Im African American primarily, and still trying to figure out where the 3% West Asian and 1% Asian came from in my family tree! After having done Ancestry.com and gotten this far, I may just go for Gedmatch.com to dig deeper into these totally unexpected areas!
+Windsingerful It could be true ancestry, but I have doubts if it is labeled a "trace region" (which you didn't say but at that low a percentage it probably is a "trace region") A whole lot of people (though not everybody) with European results (including quite a few AA's) get small "trace region" percentages for "West Asian" on ancestry.com's test. I've also seen it on some of the gedmatch calculators too. I've asked ancestry.com about this probably twice over the last few years and they've never given a straight answer. Like I said, it could be true ancestry, but I think what's probably going on is that at this point in time, ancestry.com and the gedmatch calculators might not have adequate enough reference population data, so a trace region for "West Asian" might really be misread European. The algorithms that ancestry.com and the gedmatch calculators might play a role too. I wonder if the companies and the calculators update their ethnicity (and they haven't done so in a long time, as in several years now), would things like these funny trace regions still be around. I'm speculating, but no one from the companies and the third party sites has ever come forth to give an official answer.
APgeneticgenealogylover Yes, trace regions. My euro percentage (including Iberian Penn - which was from my maternal grandfather's side) was 24%, with the rest West Asian, Native American, and slight East Asian (less than 1%, so why bother). Not relevant to daily living, but it is interesting.
+Windsingerful I'm hoping one of the companies finally stops playing around and update their ethnicity test this year. This will be the fourth year. Right now, these tests are still gaining more and more popularity so most folks who are brand new to this won't get where I'm coming from, but I'm sure some folks like me, especially non-Europeans, who have been around these tests for several years will find this frustrating why there's been no visible progress for this long, and why the companies have kept silent when asked for this long. I'm definitely going to check into the new company myheritage DNA and see if that "founder population project" lives up to the hype.
Look up Keenan Ivory Wayans-DNA One web site said this: "[Maya] Rudolph’s African heritage extends not to West Africa but to Southeast Asia, likely to a group of people who traveled the Indian Ocean from what is now Indonesia to Madagascar, where pirates engaged in the slave trade, even though the route to America was circuitous. Rudolph had always thought that she had Native American blood, but the tests proved negative. Wayans’ ancestry was also traced to Madagascar, but not Asia. "
Windsingerful If you have Italian ancestry, the West Asian is part of the Italian ancestry. If I’m not mistaken, if you have Iberian ancestry (Spanish, Portuguese and/or Southern French ancestry), the West Asian is also part of that ancestry. The 1% Asian is likely “statistical noise”.
My husband did the DNA test and we got several matches. Unfortunately, most of the matches did not have a family tree attached to their results. Others had private trees and did not want to know. One man in Canada showed up as a match. We already knew that he was my husband's 4th cousin once removed and my 4th cousin. We have not really gained much.
Well done - you really nailed the big 5. Completely agree on all points; however, with the caveat that as DNA testing companies expand their databases, the results are more reliable for all races. That said, National Geographic Helix 2.0 Next Generation DNA test is closing in on 1,000,000 participants/DNA contributors. I've taken the AncestryDNA test, FamilyTreeDNA Test (with the autosome, Y-67, and mtDNA comprehensive package), 23andMe DNA test and the National Geographic Helix 2.0 Next Generation DNA test --- additionally, I sent my AncestryDNA and FamilyTreeDNA raw data to MyHeritage DNA for their "version" of the results; plus I sent my FamilyTreeDNA raw data to LivingDNA/GPS Origins. Surprise -- "No" surprise -- they all did not display the same results. Only 23andMe and National Geographic Helix 2.0 Next Generation DNA results matched fairly closely. Thanks for publishing this video.
+Judas Wolfe As far as 23andme, ancestry.com, FTDNA, Tribecode, and possible Geno 2.0 go, then that would be no. I think it might be possible that Roma might show up as "South Asian" given that I think Roma people originated in India.
Thank you for the response. I'm now wondering if there is a way to encourage the focus on these groups? It could be a wonderful way to map historical migration patterns.
That would be awesome indeed. If I'm not mistaken, they would have to take enough samples from Roma people in order to create a sufficient database to genetically define such an ethnicity (or perhaps more than one ethnic groups). Maybe that's something not very easy to be achieved yet.
+joanna_k and also from several other groups in India, Pakistan, Nepal, etc. I don't know how long from now that would be done and when we'd see the samples used for companies' tests.
APgeneticgenealogylover That's true. I've heard of a theory that the "Gypsies" originate from Egypt (and that explains their name). I suppose that theory is probably wrong, right?
Thanks for sharing this! I would suggest a few points for research (maybe another video?) 1. Before doing a test, do some research into what the different companies offer in terms of database. And 2. Read the terms and conditions of each company regarding use and storage of the DNA. In some cases you can opt out of being contacted for example. Finally, I would also recommend, if you're unsure of which company to go for, to research laws on gene/ DNA/ bio data in the country or region where each company is registered. You may find your right are better protected in one place than another.
DNA-Test can varie: My wife is african, me european, we sent our spits but changed our heritage, we wrote names of our ancestors vice versa, result was astonishing, she was white and I grew black. We laughed and hugged.
the thing im not comfortable with this new trend to determine one's ancestry/dna.., is how will that information then be used? can the companies doing these test truly be trusted 100% to preserve our privacy? whats to stop a hacker getting to the data base? in my opinion this is a very dangerous trend. with potentially very damaging, unknown consequences.
So glad you made this video and shared this info. Especially your comment about needing the genealogy. Everything still requires paperwork, linking family members down through the years. Thank you.
Our family tree goes back to 909 AD. It is absolutely spot on. The only people who contacted anyone were those who were building their tree and wanted information on great-great-grandparents. Not a problem at all. If DNA can get innocent people released from prison, I'm certainly all for it. I believe DNA has identified people who were classified as John or Jane Doe. Why not let a family have the remains of a loved one for burial? Also, I am definately human.
Subbed . I cannot watch any video on YT without having to watch the myheritageDNA advertisement . Its like the new selfie/meme/latest trendy whatever in our society and I'm not a believer of giving my building block info to random companies .
Well done Nicka Sewell-Smith, informative as well as entertaining. I think the advertising for these kits encourages the misleading expectations many people have. The common testing is autosomal and at best, reveals who you have common ancestry with today. The past gets rapidly diluted. Then you add statistics to the pot and if you're paying attention, you realize that the results are not carved in stone. Though, as another tool in the toolbox of a family researcher, it has advantages, but ultimately is not much different from a vital statistic fact. Kudos for recommending that those who do get tested start at least a rudimentary family tree. There is nothing quite so disappointing than to have a bunch of "matches" to individuals without any tree. As a person of science, I also enrolled in the Genographic Project. Very interesting to have the genetics along with a history and geography lesson! I'm as white as the driven snow but my genes say that my maternal haplogroup was the first woman to walk out of African. Many people might not be comfortable with that but a whole wack of us did walk away from the cradle of mankind at some point. Awe, but lets not get into that can of worms. History is what it is.
There is also the issue of margin of error. I briefly exchanged messages with a genealogist asking about margin of error and he replied that he and his colleagues have yet to determine a proper margin of error since the databases and technology keeps changing. There is also the issue of common ancestors amonst different groups. The Scythians held much of Eastern Europe and part of Central Asia which may explain why many Eastern Europeans might get test results that claim to be part Central Asian. Regardless, I say do the mirror test. Your phenotypes will speak louder than any number on some speculative test.
Most African Americans that were enslaved came from Nigeria and Cameroon so who has those two regions as the highest or a significant amount of their DNA (atleast 10)
its true that u can't take DNA percentages within related populations to heart. it's hard to tell the difference between populations within Europe and within Africa or Asia. however to tell the difference between African and European DNA or Asian and European DNA, it's very easy and pretty accurate
I agree whole heartedly with what Angela Walton-Raji said. Your presentation is excellent and absolutely so true. I did my DNA as did my husband, who is an adoptee. So far DNA has only found him one close family match 1st/2nd cousin. The rest are 3rd, 4th and beyond which is NOT what he's looking for. Thank God we also have a fantastic, talented search angel. Thank you for posting your video.
Hi I ordered a kit but ten minutes after I checked reviews and there were 890 one star reviews on Amazon for myheritage which is USA based. The worst qualm was it's subscription based hundreds of dollars. I immediately emailed them for a refund. Because I'm in Australia I can't use their phone number at the bottom of the email they are in USA. Unfortunately I got conned by a CZcams video which promoted it and CZcams put that video in my feed. Your video is really good. Thank you. Eventhough I want to go ahead with it despite it not being accurate information I don't want to pay hundreds of dollars for information that's provided via subscription and these reviews even not happy with the information saying it's insufficient. Also apparently they send out random emails saying they found a distant cousin in a spammy way.
I can't wait to take one of these tests. My dad side of the family swear we're Seminoles. Lmao!! I highly doubt it and wonder what my dad would say if it comes back that we aren't. Mwahh hahaha. lol
Excellent analysis of the things that a DNA test may not tell you. I have a theory that more Americans of any color are interested in the DNA data because we come from so many different places and eventually we hit that big X when the paper trail runs dry because no records were kept. Of course if gramma wasn't strictly honest, the male name on the birth certificate or baptimal record may not be the actual father. I took MyHeritageDNA first and got results that made me scratch my head. Even though my paper trial of baptism records went back to German and British churches, I supposedly had no ancestors from either place???!!! 23andMe gave me a slightly more recent snapshot of where my ancestors were around 300-400 years ago. I was looking for Jewish ancestry, whether Ashkenazi, Sepphardic, or Mizraic, and still haven't found it. The paper trail for that ancestor goes dead cold in Poland/ East Prussia. African-Americans hit that X at the Middle Passage or even later if records weren't kept, and of course adoptees hit that wall at the first generation behind them. The big question is why we care. We just do, because we're human beings and human beings are curious. And bear in mind, we are all descended from East African Eve. Some of her children went south and adapted to the heat and the strong sunlight. Some of her children went north and adapted to the weak sunlight and the cold. We can all be proud of the journies our ancestors took to get us here. I have a family tree on MyHeritage, and I've learned how important it is to confirm the possible family links even if they have no new information for me. It's the same with genetic matches, especially for women, because they lack the ability to detect the Paternal line Y alleles.
Yo also got to remember markers play a role. You could be say, Scottish, but it could be just that you yourself haven’t had any Scottish dna markers passed down to you. That’s why they suggest getting parents done too if there’s some part of your history you’d like to verify. Also this is just your genetic makeup, not you history, heritage or origin
If there was any doubt how Lilly white I actually am, I have the proof now! 70.4% North & West European, 23.7% English and 5.9% Scandinavian. That’s it!!!! A friend of mine did 123 and me and she was a true mutt, way more to brag about than me! I used my heritage because that’s the site that gave me the best deal for researching my lineage. I was on the phone with the sales guy and he reduced the price down to an offer I couldn’t refuse. I wonder now if it was even worth it! I don’t know what else to do with it! Thanks for the video!!!
i found my sister who i havent seen her for 40 yrs when my niece who took a ancestry test and so did i thats how i i found my sister. again .. but i have to give the honor and glory to God i ask him if i ever was going to see my sister again and in that week i check my ancestry just for fun not even thinking about my sister or anything and thats how it all happened...God works in mysterios ways ...
I was surprised by my results, that it was awesome. But, i also do research into my family tree branches. Because after so many generations some DNA we not show up. But it's all good and yes, I have been contacted by a person who was adopted. I did my DNA because my grandmother was adopted and we really didn't know what we were maternally until the test.
I found my biological family...and I wasn't trying. I only wanted to obtain my ancestral background. A nephew happen to submit his DNA also. Now I have three sisters and two brothers
That's good!
Hi mark,I also did a DNA test.I was brought up in an orphanage in england.never knew any family at all.through the test I am now in contact with my fathers family in new mexico. Hope to visit next year. Amazing thing.
That is great so that shows that these tests do have at least some accuracy and credibility.
Damn, that's 5 more xmas and birthday presents to buy. ;)
I'm in the same boat. I just submitted a DNA sample to AncestorsDNA. What's the next step I need to take in finding my long lost family?
I don't care how mixed any of you are, if those are the ethnicities which created you and you're a cool person, it's a WIN in my book!
As an adoptee in my sixties I was given very little information. Thank you for mentioning us! I have met some real 3rd cousins on line. No one closer...this got important when my entire adopted family died within a year and a half. Seeing a third cousin who looks somewhat like me gave me a real sense of belonging for the first time.
Spanish are people from Spain. It's not a race or ethnic group. Spanish does not mean "Mexican"
Modern day el shit dor or Mexican people are a cross breed between spanish and native Americans
He just implied that lol
Therefore Native American Indians should be considered the only true Americans, everyone else came from immigrants starting with the Mayflower.
Spanish is just a language
Mexicans
Colombian
Puerto Rican
Peru
Santo Domingo
Venezuela
Panama
Spain
Etc. We all speak Spanish
Most Spaniards are Caucasian people just like the British whites, no different
3:47 Wait, is there a possibility I'm not 100% human? 😎
+joanna_k That is kind of right. We (who aren't full blood sub-saharan African) are not 100% MODERN humans because we are supposed to have Neanderthal ancestry, lol
APgeneticgenealogylover I was hoping for more of an alien DNA, but that's ok. lmao
I understand that many people are told that they are part Neanderthal.
I don't think the theory that white Europeans (or any modern human) are partially Neanderthal is valid anymore.
Ahhh, no. In 2012 at group at the Max Planck Institute for. Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany headed by svante Paabo published a paper which revealed a genome for Neanderthals that they had been working on. In examining a small group of diverse peopleagainst the genome, they found that all modern groups of people, excepting only pure sub-Sharan Africans, demonstrate from 1 to 4% Neanderthal genes in their makeup. this is consistent with the current anthropological "Out of Africa" theories of human origins and the known existence of Neanderthals in the Near East 35,000 years ago.
On Number 5: A woman from India came out as 100% Indian. She knew that was wrong because her mother had blond hair and green eyes. She had her mother take the test and was correct. Both parents gave her Indian DNA so she looked pure Indian. I got more African DNA than my mother because both parents gave me more African DNA. My mother is more diverse than me. On MyHeritage she has more flags (Drop down list0 than I do. Now I would be related to those people as well. however, because I don't have those DNA, those relatives do not show up. So, these are the limitations of DNA on some sites. Ancestry shows your relationship regardless. MyHeritage website is more functional though.
I believe that DNA testing and mapping is still at the new born phase. There is so much we don't know. It's going to take time, effort and lots errors.
Theresa Baker I agree.
DNA test are read Backwards. The newest DNA will have the highest %. The oldest will have the lowest. That’s why most come out looking nothing like the oral history of your family.
oh yeah...I took the cheap on only $59...it was a gift.
Says I am English, Scandinavian, and Greek. What???
I have documentation that goes back hundreds of years from both sides of family (Swiss & German) not a trace on my DNA chart.
And yes, I look like my mother etc. She looks like her mother etc.
@@butterygold The Khoi are still there. Go to the Kalahari desert and you'll see them. The closest ethnic groups to the Khoisan in South Africa are the Xhosas, Tswanas and Sothos! The Cape Coloureds are a mixture of Cape Malays and the Dutch descendents!
@@CeeLiberty so, the test confirmed that you're from central & northern Europe plus a part from mediterranean. I don't see a problem there - you described the same thing twice
Ancestry have a video where they break down dna inheritance and point out that even if you know o a certain ancestry in the family bloodline, one reason it will not show up is just that is that it goes too far back to be detected and in some cases you yourself may not have inherited that gene. which i can believe as seen two sisters same mum dad - and only one had native american whilst other sister did not have any trace and they were Caribbean. Useful video btw
There is a CZcams video where the mother is 10% Native American, a brother is 8% Native American, and another sibling is 0% Native American. So, Ancestry is a bit wrong on this. This is why it is good to have as much family DNA presented as possible. You will also find that you are related to a DNA cousin and their sibling does not show any DNA connection. We are just not the same and fortunately, parents have several children to show the whole picture or as close to the whole picture as possible.
Really bad example since Indians can be Mexican and Mexicans can be Indian. Not unless you mean Indian from India and in that case, if the Indian lives in/born in Mexico, they are Mexican and therefore a Mexican Indian either way.
But for the person who is 0% Native American and another relative has Native American genetic identity, they can go to Gedmatch.com which shows the autosomal DNA and does not rely on maternal or paternal, but all of your DNA ancestry. There one may find their indigenous heritage and even the percentage with charts and deeper explanations. Happy Hunting.
+Jiji Solomon I thought ancestrydna only did autosomal tests? That's what their website says or am I mistaking?
Hi Selena, yes, Ancestry.com uses the autosomal tests. I still suggest going to GedMatch. If you have not gone, please do. After a few weeks, you will be allowed to compare your DNA with thousands more people than with Ancestry's population (although they say it is growing). GedMatch also has ethnic groups not showing on Ancestry and GedMatch has been in existence longer than Ancestry's venture into DNA. I seldom use Ancestry's DNA data and so I forgot about them being autosomal. But, you are correct, it is autosomal. I wish I could show you a chart. :-)
AncestryDNA offers many different DNA tests........not just autosomal DNA tests!
LMAO..."Pa Not Pa"! Miss Celie tried to warn y'all way back when!
I really liked your presentation. I've been the family genealogist for over 40 years, and though DNA can reveal some things, nothing replaces good, solid research. A third cousin of mine had researched our mutual ancestors on my mother's side, and always said that our mutual great-great-grandparents died in their land in a certain county in Texas. This cousin never accessed census records. In the final census before the ancestors' deaths, I found the family living in another county altogether, and further research showed that the town and the area where their farm was is now under a manmade lake. That is why their graves cannot be located on their land in the other county. If she had used census records, she wouldn't have wasted her time looking for graves in the wrong county!
Very helpful. In fact, when I started my DNA journey, I took several screenshots. So, I had the evidence when my percentages changed. I said, "HEY", but then I was able to fact check and see the old screenshots and compared them when the new data on the screen.
does 23andme automatically update your percentages when they add to their database?
About number 2: A CZcamsr discovered while doing a video that her father was not her biological father. He was Italian but her DNA was African. He allowed us to listen in on the phone. It was heart breaking that she shared that with us.
Loved this presentation short and sweet!
#6: DNA will NOT represent ALL of your ancestry. Ex: You may have that oral legend of "Cherokee" ancestor in your tree, except it's from the 16-1700s, not the 1800s. We have about 256 ancestors from the Rev War period and about 1000 since Jamestown period. Do the math 1/250th or 1/1000. Even if 10/1000 only 1% Cherokee (if we receive exact % from each ancestor which we do not). Very important to keep in mind. Autosomal DNA is only capturing the estimate ethnicity of what remains with the method of testing used and mostly accurate back about 200 years. Y or MtDNA will only show one direct path of father's father or mother's mother and what is the majority of our DNA makeup. Don't be discouraged by DNA either. I have NA and African in my tree but too far back and in too little quantity to register. Nonetheless, they are still my direct ancestors. :)
Wannaberocker I was able to locate two tribes one line of my ancestors came from. Very interesting.
Ya ADAM and EVE never showed up on my results! Verrrry disappointed 👎🏿👎🏼👎
My dad had enough Cherokee to have the paperwork, had free college, and his mother was raised on a reservation (where as a young child I'd gone to visit her several times) but my own daughter's DNA showed no native american. Either something didn't pick up, or my grandmother was adopted, or my father is not my father? Um, hmm.
Well, at least you have more of a proud heritage the Elizabeth Warren. Peace on you.
I've had relatives actually get angry when I tell them there is absolutely nothing but European in my dna, meaning that on the side of the family that they are related to me on there is no way that they have native American blood in them. Not to mention, I have done extensive research and have my family tree traced back nearly on all sides at least as far as William the Conqueor, and what I haven't traced to him I still have lines traced as far back as the 14th century, Europe. I kept telling everyone in my family that we are mostly Scotch Irish, British and German but no one wanted to believe me. They would argue that my Papa was half Cherokee and I'd tell them that his line was the easiest to trace back! To Germany and England! Well, dna test results came back and the only real surprise I had was that there was more German than I thought. It said Western Europe but I know that it is German because after that I started doing some more digging on an ancestor I couldn't find parents for that I thought was English because the last name was Carpenter. Well, I ended up finding his parents last name when they came her to the states was Zimmerman and that is the equivalent to Carpenter so they changed it. Oh well, I don't know why anyone would be upset about what is found in their family tree. Even the not so pleasant things. Even the not so pleasant people in your past still helped get you here. And personally, I believe that it is absolutely just as interesting to be descended from German carpenter as it is a Cherokee warrior. Remember who came before you and the struggles they faced to survive to allow you to be here and have a much better life than they had and look to the future to build an even better future for those who come after us!
Jennifer Martin hate to break it you sweetheart but you can’t trace genealogy back to William the conquerors time as there was no census before 1837, and before that you had to rely on church records. It’s
Its literally impossible for you to trace anything back to the 12th century that pertains to your family. Unless you are descendant of royalty.
BS. The first census was 3800BC in babylon.
The German race is an exceptional race! Be proud!
DNA testing has only been around for less than 50 years. It was created in 1987. So therefore, most ancestors can't be matched precisely to your DNA. The DNA testing kits send back percentages of where other DNA tested people live that have a similar single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs, or “snips” for short). These tiny differences are what DNA ancestry tests are looking for.
Not doubting you there but unless your father takes a test you can't prove the lack of Native American/tribal ancestry.They have sites for tribes exclusively but it has to be through a direct maternal/paternal line. If he is half it should show up in either his x or y but if he is less, it becomes tricky. For example, if his mother's father was any Native American it may not show up. Meaning it won't at all in yours.Woman can only go through their x maternal line or autosomal DNA. this may give you the random DNA from quite a few ancestors that make up you but only four generations or so with a decent enough accuracy.DNA testing is still in it's infancy and some scientist think we are more strongly related to our mothers. As for the rest, all sorts of things happened back then that were lost in time or went to the grave.Women were raped and affairs took place. Men back then, in every society, could beat their wife for any perceived wrong doing.They didn't have to do it at home. It was once legal to do so on the steps of the town courthouse. On a light and sometimes dark not some people took children into their homes and raised them as their own or for other twisted purposed. My g-grandmother was found on the side of the road and kept and that was that.They didn't have to go through vigorous adoption practices up until quite recently. My family always believed she was Native because she looked it and was found along the wagon trail but we will never know. If her mother had been raped by a white man, Native genes would have been on the maternal line.My grandfather carried her x chromosome and he'd be 114 if he were by some miracle alive to test. His brother not much younger.All hope for that branch got cut off. DNA testing is great for finding close family connections but everything else should be taken lightly for entertainment purposes and shouldn't define a person. Most ancestry is lost due to the xx chromosome factor.
Yeah the 4/5 happened to me. My mom told me my whole life that she was mainly cherokee her moms side and blackfoot on her dad's side. My results came in last night and I got 0% Native American but 47% African. She thinks the DNA test is lying lolol
Nicka Sewell-Smith Yep you're right!
Jazmine Herrera Well? It was your DNA test, not hers. 🐸
Jazmine Herrera there’s a pretty big genetic difference between Sub-Saharan Africans and Native Americans who have East Asian ancestry. The DNA don’t lie.
Your black girlfriend
Nacho bro stop spreading your brain cancer
The crickets though. lol!! I had to share this with a young lady who tried to fully discredit DNA tests because it did not pick up her Native American ancestry because she "knew" her Grandmother was full-blooded Native American. Woosaaah Somebody lied but she wasn't trying to hear it.
Exactly!! I'm tiptoeing now around something that came up in my mother's DNA. Luckily both she and I are open to trying to find and learning the truth. Hopefully my Uncle is open to whatever truths I find.
I'm dealing with elderly relatives who are in denial as well. I've chosen to let them live their "truth" in peace but I'm making sure all the children know the real information. The legends will not live beyond my generation!
That's not necessarily true. The tests only pick up a tiny part of DNA info from one or two specific genes. You can tell her to look up better explanations, basically think of an upside down pyramid with the one being tested at the tip. These tests pick up info, in women for example, ONLY from OTHER women who exist along the very outside edge of the pyramid. Men can sometimes get info from two edges, because of the specific genes the info is pulled from, one is passed mom to daughter, etc., the other is passed father to son, etc. and the info is on the sex chromosomes. Anyway, the DNA of ALL those people from the middle rows of the pyramid will not show up. So they could literally all be Swedish, but if there's predominantly Chinese ancestry in that maternal only line, you will show to be a very high percentage Chinese, and no Swedish, when you're really almost all Swedish with a bit of Chinese. Like I said, you can find better explanations, but the whole thing should be considered entertainment that gives you a teeny tiny glimpse, not a full accounting of your genetic makeup.
OGSpaceCadet But isn't what you are speaking about when you are testing your mtDNA and Y-DNA? They specifically test your maternal and paternal linages (mother of mother of mother and so on and father of father of father and so on). With autosomal, at least what I gathered from some research, it should be able to pick up on full-blooded (especially recent) ancestry regardless of the maternal/paternal line. The young lady that I am speaking about did not pick up any Native American DNA at all with a supposed "full-blooded" Grandparent. My mother's Native DNA (1%) even picked up and we have absolutely no idea how far back that persons or persons are but it certainly isn't a Grandparent.
Creative Life The way it was explained to me was that the tests only account for a VERY small percentage of a person's DNA, like 1% or so. Native American DNA in itself is difficult, because they are actually of Siberian/Asian descent, so how that will show on a commercial DNA test, Idk. Like I said, there's a lot of good info out there on this topic if you want more detailed or in depth information, but my main point is that these dna tests should not be given weight over well kept genealogical records or strong family histories, because they truly only show a very tiny piece of the picture.
Nicely explained, Nicka. I am a genealogist and I ESPECIALLY appreciated #4. Soooo many people connect to me via DNA matches where it says we are 4th cousins or more distant, and they have NO family tree at all. Somehow, they magically expect me to be able to tell them who they are, when they sometimes don't even know their grandparents' names. While it is true that adoptees can sometimes find birth parents via DNA testing, for most of us, DNA testing can help connect you with people who HAVE done their own genealogical research. I have met several distant cousins this way, and we have mutually helped each other to expand our own trees.
You are a darling! The best compilation & assessment of DNA testing I've ever seen.
Oh my goodness, due to family feuding, estrangement, & die-off, I know little about my family tree, and what our true ancestry was. Not to mention how free-range they were, a mixture of a little bit of everything globally, LOL. At least I come from a lineage of very sociable peeps.
Despite intensive genetic dilution of a Native American grandparent, with Nordic bloodlines, whooboy, I popped out looking full blood. Oopsie.
To add to the confusion, my twin sister is a freckled blonde. People thought I had been adopted into my family.
Nope, my grandmother died pretty young from diabetes, and I look very similar to her.
I think what was hard is I was mistaken for another ethnic group that suffers horrible discrimination & abuse. So I am on the receiving end of tremendous ignorance. But not nearly the magnitude of Black maltreatment.
I grew up confused about what I was, because my father insisted only Anglo heritage.
A few years ago, by chance, I discovered that my paternal side had been Jewish. I nearly fainted, because I had an uncanny familiarity with their culture, including ease in speaking Hebrew.
Thus far, I am a descendant of a half dozen of European countries and three NA tribes.
I am also the rarest blood type that exists, part of which denotes extraterrestrial origin, just to throw into the mix. I had some out of this world type experiences, as a little girl. But that's a whole other issue.
I feel like I don't belong, needless to say.
My heart goes out to those adoptees searching for their biological families, and I pray that they find what they are looking for.
Thank you for this lovely forum of exploring this fascinating topic.
Shalom.
You are precious, Elaine Marie. Keep your sense of humor and enjoy discovering more of your beautifully diverse self!
Windsingerful Aww, I love it when wise souls like yourself, take the time to read my long comments 😘
Which is why I came out of the ET closet, & threw in the hybrid zinger, cuz most will never read it, hehehe 👽
My siblings & their descendants have gone even further afield, and we now have bloodlines from many more continents 🌎🌍🌏
Happy dance 💃🙌💃
Way cool! I always felt I was a moon-child, a little bit from another planet too! LOL. Peace!
I have just taken the DNA test, completed my "tree" in Ancestry, and awaiting final results.
This has been the BEST video I have seen so far! And I have viewed many Ancestry videos!!
I really think Ancestry and other companies would benefit from having DIVERSITY in the staff presenting and explaining heritage!!
This was a great video!!!
it's even worse for native american descendants. there's literally just one category for us,native american. all of my family is of native american descent, and the most 23andme and ancestry can tell us is we have indigenous ancestry from the America's... at least the African regions are broken up a lot more. but most of my family has some African blood too
Run Car Snow Pen what? you know theres still millions upon millions of fully indigenous people throughout the americas...
Run C ar Snow Pen
You be surprised who are indegenious Indians. The so called African Americans, surprise! No knock on Native Americans but the original Indians were copper colored people. Today's Native Americans are mixed Europeans which was a direct result of the Racial Integrity Act of 1924 and the one drop rule. This is how a blue-eyed person becomes Native because he has one drop of Native blood. Conversely, copper colored indegenious Indians were reclassified as colored or ñegro whether or not they had one drop of African blood. This is the true history.
Sapa Inti really? I'm pretty sure a lot of the well known DNA tests out there actually do specify the tribes, or the "main" tribes at least
I’m mostly Western European but still don’t know what! I could be German or French? at least you know what you are!
I can't wait to get my test back. My mom got hers back and hers said there was a bit of Asian and African on hers. I would be HONORED to have African DNA. Thank you so much for making this video. #2 made me crack up, I think it was number 2 anyway, "Pa, not Pa" and we weren't there when it was going down. I subscribed to your channel and hopefully it does not take too long to get mine back. Oh! BTW, we were told growing up we were part Cherokee and Italian. We knew we are like super Irish. Well, when mom's came back it showed 0% Cherokee and 0% Italian. I just think this is totally cool. Thanks again for making this video. It was very, very helpful to me. I want my mom and daughter to watch also.
Why do people even get offended if they have like some percent european or something.
How about Slavery!!!
what about slavery? so Europeans are suppose to feel bad about that. Hell I've never seen a slave and you ain't never seen a slave master.
@EricW
1. I don't believe I was trying to encourage a response from You. 2. I am NOT responsible for what you understood. Neither am I responsible for how you feel about it.
1 this is CZcams so that means anyone can reply to anything they like.
Timberwolves Fan They generally don't in the videos I've seen.
I'm an adoptee. I did my test with MyHeritage. After I got my results, I checked out the list of DNA matches - 7000+ - but not one was described as closer than "3rd-5th Cousin." Not much to go on there. So your point about the database being key is on point. I get updates every week with new additions to the list. Nothing closer yet, but the odds get better...
Oral history is a collection of myths for most people. Cherokee Princess are common myths. There was never "Princesses" in Native American culture.
So true! No need for royalty in the Americas!
You raised a great point about being available for other people. It's not all about me! 😁 I would love it if my DNA could help someone find their family or answers to hereditary questions.
Well stated and so well presented!
***** Thank you because my percentages from ancestrydna I've been saying for a while are off. After I watched these videos on youtube I knew something was wrong. Most of the people on them take these percentages as written in stone law.
Joslyn Thomas b
Joslyn Thomas based on what? You don't like the results?
vlthompson3 I tested with two different companies so far and uploaded with gedmatch I show different results.
vlthompson3 I never said I didn't like the results, you take the results with a grain of salt, they're not 100percent accurate.
I am an Indigenous Canadian, and until 1991, Canada would just take you from your family against their wishes and put you into white foster homes for assimilation. That is what happened to me and two of my brothers. One of them was never seen again. So I put my DNA out there with the hopes of finding my family.
I knew I was half white because it can definitely pass as white, but I had no idea the country of origin.
I found out that my father is British Canadian! I found him through being connected with a half sister. She put me in touch with another half sister, and with my father. I was a surprise. My parents had a falling out and she left town, maybe even before she knew she was pregnant. In my case, once she gave birth to me she wasn't allowed to hold me or even to see me! I was just whisked away so that European Canadians could raise me themselves!
For two generations before me, all our families children were stolen in to be put into residential schools so that we could be assimilated.
So I am raising the first children in my family line to be Born Free, because all of my children were born in the 2000s, they aren't subject to be stolen from me for assimilation purposes.
It is so much fun to find people I'm related to. If they are Indigenous, they are from my mother's side, if they are European, I know they are from my father's side, lol.
Thank you for this video. A lot of changes have been made in the Five years since this video was made. DNA is more accurate as they have all increased their data bases.
Genetics is a probability game. If there is a high percentage of a particular region in the data, it doesn't mean that your results will be skewed. It only means that your results are less certain than theirs.
I giggled when you said you may not be as human as you thought you were and then I remembered a friend took one of these and neanderthal came up on her profile!
And?
I would be so disappointed if Nethanderal did not show up. To know that I carry a little of there DNA would be nice. Not much chance for Divivian DNA, but that would be great too.
King James III no that is false Africans have zero Neanderthal it’s white people who haven’t mixed who has small amount 1-12 percent of Neanderthal
@Tom Bombadildo Depends what you consider "human". But scientifically humans are homo sapiens.
NEANDERTHALS have the same if NOT MORE of a right to be called HUMAN. The problem is that science fucked up calling the people OUT OF AFRICA "MODERN HUMAN" (LUCY WAS HARDLY HUMAN) they JUMPED the gun and now they can NOT go back. NEANDERTHALS extended themselves all the way up western europe down to Southern spain and the canary Islands BUT who is gonna go tell scientist DUDES YOU FUCKED UP! BTW.. "Modern man" invented SHIT .. Neanderthals invented
ART
CHEMISTRY
MUSIC
CLOTHING
SEWING
BURIALS
FISHING
And a shitload of STUFF!
I found out I had a half sibling that was adopted out about five years ago. I had information on that sibling. Thankfully my half-aunt is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to genealogy and had uploaded her DNA on GEDmatch. My adopted brother connected with her three weeks ago and we met in person on the 30th of December. I am so thankful!
The Crickets! lol. Great Presentation! 🔦
Them Crickets tickled me along with the flashlight!
Makes complete sense now. my great grandmother was half Maliseet and married my great grandfather who was white & black. My grandpa was trying to figure out why his brothers test results showed that he had more Native American blood than he did.
Who's getting a Michelle Obama Vibe off this lady?
As an adoptee, I must say, "Thank you!!!" for mentioning that people are looking for answer and a response of any kind at least acknowledging their contact is sometimes more than that person could have hoped for. I haven't gotten my results back yet, but I'm hoping that there is someone for me to contact or vice versa. Thank you for putting this information out there.
The Ancestry DNA and FTDNA tests are very disappointing in terms of specifying Native American ancestry (one big region for two continents--really?), but I'd also say that Ancestry DNA at least isn't even good at being Eurocentric. It gives some very ridiculously large ranges for European regions, and the regions themselves aren't very specific at all.
Uploading my results to GEDmatch and DNA Land as well as working on my family tree have certainly helped answer my questions, and when it comes to working on my family tree, I will say that that is indeed very Eurocentric. So much has been done already by other people who share my Anglo ancestors, plus so many documents that mention them are digitized and indexed with pretty good optical character recognition.
When it comes to researching the Mexican side of my family, however, I have to go through digital page after page to try to find my mention of my ancestors, and if I don't have a specific date for their life events or know exactly where they lived, I'm lost!
You are right, for example, Mayas from Yucatan and Aztecs from Central Mexico are very different (nose shape, high, head shape ) even if you compare an Inca (Peru) from a Maya they are very very different and lets say a Yaqui or a Comanche they are taller and different shape so why this DNA companies have ONE REGION for the Americas, compared to Europe,a smaller region and HUGE DNA differences among them
Joseph Andrews Upload your 23andMe raw data to MyHeritage. They go a little more in depth. That's what I did and MyHeritage was able to closer pinpoint my S.E. Asian, Oceanic, and Eastern European ancestry. The Oceanic was Melanesian and the Eastern European was Ashkenazi Jewish from Romania. Now, I'm getting ready to take Ancestry's. Between the three, I should be able to have a clearer picture of what my ancestry is. I don't expect to ever have a COMPLETE one, but I can live with that.
My oldest sister found out her dad is not really her dad thanks to Ancestry.com DNA test. He took it too. They were NOT expecting that. Thanks to Ancestry DNA testing, they did find her biological father. He's very happy to find out he's got another kid.
My BFF's mother always told her they were African and Native American. She took the Ancestry DNA test and found NOT ONE DROP of Native American blood in her but DID discover that her GRANDFATHER was a white European (which was disgraceful for her racist mother, which is why she tried to hide it). Doing some digging, my BFF found a very beautiful story of love surrounding her great-grandparents. I want MY mother to take an Ancestry DNA test, and I hope she finds some African blood in there, because SHE'S racist too! :-P
Wait are you male or female :D
As a Mexican-African-European woman, I've seen how different these results can be! My Nigerian results have been the most consistent, though (30-38%). I think this is because Nigerian DNA has been the most documented for Africa. Other African countries seem to not be as researched.
Funny that you mention finding out I may not be Cherokee. That's actually one of the things I'm hoping to find out for certain. (My father heard from a great aunt that we're part Cherokee, but we can't really find any documents going back very far to know if that's true or not.)
I just did my kit registration, and now I'm awaiting results.
I'll have to look into that. Thanks.
If your blood type, is B+ you are probably Cherokee, have read they are the only tribe with that particular blood type, also, Sephardic Jewish
I agree with her. Lots of people take this DNA test as if it was a thing to 100% proof they are from a specific Ethnic group, but the thing is that even though DNA test companies have been getting better at determining your specific ethnic percentages, it's still not a tool to proof that your are from a certain ethnic group. Ancestry and 23 and me in my opinion are the only two most realiable ones as they have the largest DNA database of each ethnic group, but even them they tell you upfront that their DNA tests are basically just estimates, meaning you could be more or less of that specific ethnic group that determine for you. Like in my case, I took the Ancestry DNA test and they determine my Spanish ancestry percentage to be 30% , but the ranges for their estimates where from 30-34%. Meaning I could be anywhere around that estimate range for my Spanish ancestry.
I thought I was only a mix of mostly French and some Native American. But after making some research, it looks like I had an ancestor, who's family name was James, that changed it to Jacques when he moved in France! I'm now wondering what percentage I am British. :D (Just need to take the DNA test to see now...!)
I'll do! I saw that there's usually a big discount on the National DNA Day. If that might interest anyone. :)
Very informative video, I got a "Myheritage DNA test as a "gift" from my mother (I've never expressed any interest in tracing my genealogy..not a gift for me) and my Mom already found out her father was not her father. That means the grandfather I always "called" my grandfather, actually was my grandfather, a Jewish man, I'm "Irish Catholic"! So this test tells me many interesting things like I could have easily spent my life going to Temple on Saturday, not Church on Sunday
The field of genetics is not “Eurocentric”, it’s a straight up hard science.
Commercial databases like those maintained by 23andMe reflect the makeup of the market. Blacks either don’t care or can’t afford the testing so they’re underrepresented in the database (you can get the stats from 23andMe). That only impacts some of the reports. Being under represented in the database isn’t going to change your carrier status for certain disorders or your likely skin or eye colors or even your haplogroup membership or your ethnic percentages. All it really changes is some of the correlation based reports and info they provide which mostly comes from their users answering survey questions. For instance how likely people with similar DNA are to be smokers or vegans or work as lifeguards. That’s really demographic info not genetic. So I think your first claim is pretty much total bunk.
I didn't claim anything about health results. The focus of this video is DNA testing for ancestry/genealogy. Thanks for commenting though.
Who is Nicka Smith? Oh I see, then what you said is totally wrong, not half wrong. The customer base of 23andMe won’t have any affect on the haplogroup you belong to. The only real change to that story comes from ongoing genetic research on ancient DNA samples which results in changes to dates of migrations and geographical shifts in frequency.
You should update your video because you’re really off base.
My results completely changed on Ancestry DNA.com I went from being Ivory Coast / Ghana to Cameron/ Congo and almost equally Togolese. While it's weird in the beginning I had actually hope for the later results.
You sound just like Michelle Obama. Same voice and way of speaking to me 😍
Someone else here said she reminded her of Michelle Obama. For me, she's not only prettier than Michelle but she sounds way smarter.
She has a similar bite to Michelle Obama as well (dental professional here!)
ima piledriver Shut the fuck up bitch!!! It was a compliment
Rebecca C. Damn.... You right!!!! Lol!!!
Agreed!
My wife recently found a long lost daughter that she had at age 15, some 43 years ago, from a DNA test that her mother had submitted through Ancestry.com. I can say that it has been one of the most joyous experiences that we have ever had in our lives. I know that not all these encounters have as sweet an outcome as ours has been, but if your hesitating, I would say do it, as you may be missing out on something very, very special !
I've had my results for 2 years now and i'm still adding names and studying about my ancestors and now up to 17 cousin's contacting me, thank you, great presentation
The number 5 one where the DNA does not show what you thought you were - it is also possible that you did not inherit the particular gene of the group that your family says you are descended from. If your genealogy says you have that ancestry then you do still have that ancestry. It just doesnt not show up in your genes. One of your ancestors did not inherit that particular ethnic gene, which means all the future descendents of that ancestor, also will not inherit that ethnic gene either.
I'm nearly 40 years old and was adopted from birth. I have been heavily considering taking the 23andme test, for obvious reasons - to finally know more about who I am. (My [adopted] family has told me nothing - claims they don't know) Is this really worthwhile? Will I be disappointed? After watching you video, I feel like you're my voice of reason! I don't know if this is a good idea.. I asked my doctor a few months ago if he could do a DNA test on me and he recommended I go through 23andme. Ugh, I am wishy-washy lol. I think I need help deciding.. to be or not to be. :P
I'm a plain old blond haired, blue eyed gal and am pretty sure the results will be "You're European!", which isn't very precise lol. I've watched a lot of CZcams videos of people getting their results, and the answers all seem similar, white people are predominantly from Europe... I feel like someone was reading their horoscope and saying "Ohhh, that sounds like me", as if all our personalities fall into 12 neatly defined catagories, just like our looks will fall neatly into one of the contintents on the planet. I'm worried that the results will just leave me with more questions, than with anwers! And I am afraid of the results more so, because I *don't* know anything about my family history. Many videos I've watched are of people who aren't adopted and have known who they mostly are, all their lives. I'm also afraid of who might call me as a result of my taking the test. I hadn't realized that was a possibility.. am I ready for that? I'm not sure!
Thank-you Nicka for your advice! I don't want to get my hopes up that any biological connections are out there waiting to find me, but it would be nice to find out... I just hope I'm ready if/when that happens!
I'm very interested in finding out any medical history I can, as it's scary not to know what diseases I might be pre-disposed for.
Ack, it's just a scary thing from all angles, to do a DNA test as an adoptee! Living without knowing is just as hard. I will go for it anyway and will let you know what comes of it. ;) Thanks for looking out for people like me. xx
Did you do it? what are the results.
Hi, did you do the test? If so, did you find your biological family or relatives?
What a terrific job you did breaking everything down! I'm adopted....but had done some research years ago and found some biological family. They were very open to me, but alot of information was lacking and uncertain. My lifelong questions have now been answered, and I'm happy about that!
thank you this was insightful
This is an excellent and well put together video. For a long time now I have been telling these things to people. Too many people have done DNA testing to find out their "nationality" and get disappointed. My nationality, I was born and reared in America so I am American. As for my heritage, I am a mixture of Anglo-Saxon, French, Irish, and Native American. This too I have known since pre-school. I appreciate how you approached this subject.
I love your video. My parents just had there DNA done let me tell you that Lucy had a lot of 'splanin' to do. My uncle down right refused to accept any of the results. It has opened a whole can of worms on the pa isn't who we thought pa was side lol. How ever it has given us places to fix our genealogy and patch holes.
As soon as we have at least some of it figured out I will. I have a question. My parents went through Ancestry would we get a better picture doing us kids and/or going through one of the other DNA places?
Nicka Sewell-Smith ☺
Cher England-Johns how do you fix your genealogy and patch holes?
What happened y'all had some black pop up?
VERY good video. One BIG thing I would like to add : NEVER rely on family lore or stories passed down. There are a lot of people who simply want to believe they are of some particular heritage and then start saying that is what they are. This has been noted quite a few times on celebrities, probably most often dispelling their alleged Native American heritage. Finding Your Roots, and Who Do You Think You Are are good programs to give you an overview of genealogy, including some DNA results. Warning ! A few people who take DNA tests will find out their father is not their father ! Or in rarer cases that their mother is not their mother (actually stepmother, adopted at birth, or switched at birth), but unless you are the kind of person who would be emotionally crushed by that, take the test. In my case, I was connected with cousins on both the maternal and paternal sides, cousins I already knew, proving that both of my parents were who I always thought they were. And I found out a lot about my heritage which largely agreed with an already established paper trail.
Great video, thanks for making.
Point # 1 is spot on. I just took the raw data from my Ancestry test & uploaded it to My Heritage. I was BLOWN AWAY by the fact that the 2 sets of results were completely different. Still kinda reeling from it actually...
lol at 4:21
African americans are you watching, LOL
Took my DNA test, nope that mythical Cherokee ancestor is NOT There. The only thing I share with Elizabeth Warren. On the other hand, I learned by twin brother is actually my half brother. I also learned my Dad was NOT my dad. Flash forward five years and I have found my biological father and family. Wonderful. They have been so great, I love them. And, I'm NOT German, I'm Irish and Norwegian. So glad.
Nicka Sewell-Smith Sorry but I'm 100% Middle Eastern. I can show you my results if you want.
Nicka Sewell-Smith can I have your email please
Im mixed with over 6 ethnicities. European, english, Irish, Italian, Spanish, native American and a bit south American.
I am over 90 percent African. 😊😊😊😊
Nicka Sewell-Smith I am a semi-Unicorn! My cousin came out 95%. It is great!
I am 97% African 🙂
Tye Shanté Right on sis! Welcome! That is great news!
I'm 10 percent African!!!!
Swarthy Daisy im pure european, from the north. :)
Girl.- so true. One thing that these DNA sites have ads for is that you find out who YOU are. if you are an American Citizen, born in America and taking a DNA test -YOU ARE AN AMERICAN and Not the highest percentage of what your DNA says just like Nicka said. Thank you.. If you are Japanese, in Japan, born in Japan, you are "Japanese - even if you are anglo. Nicka said it is based on what the data base of the company has.
Great video thanks for the info. Let's hope I am not related, anyone infamous
Very well done. A PhD friend of mine does family DNA research with NIH, and he says low single digit % of time there are certain "anomalies" in a family's DNA history versus what the family reports. Rather than get into it, he tells them "sorry, you do not qualify for the study" and just lets it drop. Why get into it?
I am Cherokee, they keep great books. the reason why you are probably not Cherokee or Tsa La Gi is bc the tribe name became like saying Coke when you mean sprite, or when you need an asprin when you meant Tylenol.
Why, I really don't know other than they were & we are good ppl. My GGGG grandfather made East Texas famous...so it gets to where when a family member was pressed as to what We are Native American they used oh I dunno Cherokee.
Another thing I've noticed is Cherokee DNA is odd. It often comes out as Mid Eastern or Asian...It is & isn't native American. I think Cherokees were here when the time of pez & the lands parted an they were possibly the missing one of 12.
Cherokee here as well. The Dawes records would indicate me at 1/8th Cherokee, or aspirin, or sprite, whichever it is...(ScarlettKriss). My kit came in yesterday. Can't wait to find out what I am, or find out what the latest collections and algorithms say I am......
ScarlettKriss ok this make sense my DNA from 23 and me it came back to me having less then 1% of American Indian however it also % of Asian and middle eastern. I knew my Greatmom was part Cherokee and white. Thanks for clearing that up.
ScarlettKriss from the history that i red, native american is the same root with south east asian..
Scarlett Min Ji your just not Indian stop lying to yourself and get over it
This is a great breakdown and a very realistic advice segment of what to expect. I especially liked the gentle reminder to be kind to people who may reach out to you looking for a little help with their own DNA journey. Thankyou!
Smart video.
6 seconds in the video and I finally understand that we have 5 fingers on our hands so that we can hold the number 5 when we want to show ... well 5 :D
Oh shit ..... actually MORE important we have 10 fingers that come very handy while using a Base 10 system .. Coincidence ..?
Im African American primarily, and still trying to figure out where the 3% West Asian and 1% Asian came from in my family tree! After having done Ancestry.com and gotten this far, I may just go for Gedmatch.com to dig deeper into these totally unexpected areas!
+Windsingerful It could be true ancestry, but I have doubts if it is labeled a "trace region" (which you didn't say but at that low a percentage it probably is a "trace region") A whole lot of people (though not everybody) with European results (including quite a few AA's) get small "trace region" percentages for "West Asian" on ancestry.com's test. I've also seen it on some of the gedmatch calculators too.
I've asked ancestry.com about this probably twice over the last few years and they've never given a straight answer.
Like I said, it could be true ancestry, but I think what's probably going on is that at this point in time, ancestry.com and the gedmatch calculators might not have adequate enough reference population data, so a trace region for "West Asian" might really be misread European. The algorithms that ancestry.com and the gedmatch calculators might play a role too.
I wonder if the companies and the calculators update their ethnicity (and they haven't done so in a long time, as in several years now), would things like these funny trace regions still be around. I'm speculating, but no one from the companies and the third party sites has ever come forth to give an official answer.
APgeneticgenealogylover Yes, trace regions. My euro percentage (including Iberian Penn - which was from my maternal grandfather's side) was 24%, with the rest West Asian, Native American, and slight East Asian (less than 1%, so why bother). Not relevant to daily living, but it is interesting.
+Windsingerful I'm hoping one of the companies finally stops playing around and update their ethnicity test this year. This will be the fourth year. Right now, these tests are still gaining more and more popularity so most folks who are brand new to this won't get where I'm coming from, but I'm sure some folks like me, especially non-Europeans, who have been around these tests for several years will find this frustrating why there's been no visible progress for this long, and why the companies have kept silent when asked for this long.
I'm definitely going to check into the new company myheritage DNA and see if that "founder population project" lives up to the hype.
Look up Keenan Ivory Wayans-DNA
One web site said this: "[Maya] Rudolph’s African heritage extends not to West Africa but to Southeast Asia, likely to a group of people who traveled the Indian Ocean from what is now Indonesia to Madagascar, where pirates engaged in the slave trade, even though the route to America was circuitous. Rudolph had always thought that she had Native American blood, but the tests proved negative. Wayans’ ancestry was also traced to Madagascar, but not Asia. "
Windsingerful If you have Italian ancestry, the West Asian is part of the Italian ancestry. If I’m not mistaken, if you have Iberian ancestry (Spanish, Portuguese and/or Southern French ancestry), the West Asian is also part of that ancestry. The 1% Asian is likely “statistical noise”.
My husband did the DNA test and we got several matches. Unfortunately, most of the matches did not have a family tree attached to their results. Others had private trees and did not want to know. One man in Canada showed up as a match. We already knew that he was my husband's 4th cousin once removed and my 4th cousin. We have not really gained much.
Eastern European 😎 Я Русский!
Молодец! )))
Well done - you really nailed the big 5. Completely agree on all points; however, with the caveat that as DNA testing companies expand their databases, the results are more reliable for all races. That said, National Geographic Helix 2.0 Next Generation DNA test is closing in on 1,000,000 participants/DNA contributors. I've taken the AncestryDNA test, FamilyTreeDNA Test (with the autosome, Y-67, and mtDNA comprehensive package), 23andMe DNA test and the National Geographic Helix 2.0 Next Generation DNA test --- additionally, I sent my AncestryDNA and FamilyTreeDNA raw data to MyHeritage DNA for their "version" of the results; plus I sent my FamilyTreeDNA raw data to LivingDNA/GPS Origins. Surprise -- "No" surprise -- they all did not display the same results. Only 23andMe and National Geographic Helix 2.0 Next Generation DNA results matched fairly closely. Thanks for publishing this video.
My question may be a little on the odd side. I'm wondering if any of the available DNA tests are recognizing Roma/Romani or other migrant heritage?
+Judas Wolfe As far as 23andme, ancestry.com, FTDNA, Tribecode, and possible Geno 2.0 go, then that would be no. I think it might be possible that Roma might show up as "South Asian" given that I think Roma people originated in India.
Thank you for the response. I'm now wondering if there is a way to encourage the focus on these groups? It could be a wonderful way to map historical migration patterns.
That would be awesome indeed. If I'm not mistaken, they would have to take enough samples from Roma people in order to create a sufficient database to genetically define such an ethnicity (or perhaps more than one ethnic groups). Maybe that's something not very easy to be achieved yet.
+joanna_k and also from several other groups in India, Pakistan, Nepal, etc. I don't know how long from now that would be done and when we'd see the samples used for companies' tests.
APgeneticgenealogylover That's true. I've heard of a theory that the "Gypsies" originate from Egypt (and that explains their name). I suppose that theory is probably wrong, right?
My mom did this as a "why the hell not" type of attitude.... her parents came from cuba... well when the results came back she's 52% african american.
You remind me of Michelle Obama, and that makes me like you and this video even more. 😊👍🏾
You're most definitely welcome! :)
i agree!!
Now you mention it, she really looks like her. If she had the same hair they could be sisters
GoodOlAllisonHarvard gross. stop looking for heroes when there are NONE
GoodOlAllisonHarvard lol she does
Thanks for sharing this! I would suggest a few points for research (maybe another video?) 1. Before doing a test, do some research into what the different companies offer in terms of database. And 2. Read the terms and conditions of each company regarding use and storage of the DNA. In some cases you can opt out of being contacted for example. Finally, I would also recommend, if you're unsure of which company to go for, to research laws on gene/ DNA/ bio data in the country or region where each company is registered. You may find your right are better protected in one place than another.
Yes there are many weaknesses and blind spots in modern tests.
DNA-Test can varie: My wife is african, me european, we sent our spits but changed our heritage, we wrote names of our ancestors vice versa, result was astonishing, she was white and I grew black. We laughed and hugged.
In my opinion, none of the DNA test are not 100% accurate, but they try to see which matches the most.
I mean, just for fun to see results. 😂
the thing im not comfortable with this new trend to determine one's ancestry/dna.., is how will that information then be used? can the companies doing these test truly be trusted 100% to preserve our privacy? whats to stop a hacker getting to the data base? in my opinion this is a very dangerous trend. with potentially very damaging, unknown consequences.
So glad you made this video and shared this info. Especially your comment about needing the genealogy. Everything still requires paperwork, linking family members down through the years. Thank you.
As the database expands accuracy will improved. I believe Ancestry did a major random testing to expand their database.
Our family tree goes back to 909 AD. It is absolutely spot on. The only people who contacted anyone were those who were building their tree and wanted information on great-great-grandparents. Not a problem at all. If DNA can get innocent people released from prison, I'm certainly all for it. I believe DNA has identified people who were classified as John or Jane Doe. Why not let a family have the remains of a loved one for burial? Also, I am definately human.
Subbed . I cannot watch any video on YT without having to watch the myheritageDNA advertisement . Its like the new selfie/meme/latest trendy whatever in our society and I'm not a believer of giving my building block info to random companies .
Well done Nicka Sewell-Smith, informative as well as entertaining. I think the advertising for these kits encourages the misleading expectations many people have. The common testing is autosomal and at best, reveals who you have common ancestry with today. The past gets rapidly diluted. Then you add statistics to the pot and if you're paying attention, you realize that the results are not carved in stone. Though, as another tool in the toolbox of a family researcher, it has advantages, but ultimately is not much different from a vital statistic fact. Kudos for recommending that those who do get tested start at least a rudimentary family tree. There is nothing quite so disappointing than to have a bunch of "matches" to individuals without any tree. As a person of science, I also enrolled in the Genographic Project. Very interesting to have the genetics along with a history and geography lesson! I'm as white as the driven snow but my genes say that my maternal haplogroup was the first woman to walk out of African. Many people might not be comfortable with that but a whole wack of us did walk away from the cradle of mankind at some point. Awe, but lets not get into that can of worms. History is what it is.
There is also the issue of margin of error. I briefly exchanged messages with a genealogist asking about margin of error and he replied that he and his colleagues have yet to determine a proper margin of error since the databases and technology keeps changing.
There is also the issue of common ancestors amonst different groups. The Scythians held much of Eastern Europe and part of Central Asia which may explain why many Eastern Europeans might get test results that claim to be part Central Asian.
Regardless, I say do the mirror test. Your phenotypes will speak louder than any number on some speculative test.
Most African Americans that were enslaved came from Nigeria and Cameroon so who has those two regions as the highest or a significant amount of their DNA (atleast 10)
its true that u can't take DNA percentages within related populations to heart. it's hard to tell the difference between populations within Europe and within Africa or Asia. however to tell the difference between African and European DNA or Asian and European DNA, it's very easy and pretty accurate
I agree whole heartedly with what Angela Walton-Raji said. Your presentation is excellent and absolutely so true. I did my DNA as did my husband, who is an adoptee. So far DNA has only found him one close family match 1st/2nd cousin. The rest are 3rd, 4th and beyond which is NOT what he's looking for. Thank God we also have a fantastic, talented search angel.
Thank you for posting your video.
You deserve the kind words, Nicka. Pray that we find his brother soon.
Hi I ordered a kit but ten minutes after I checked reviews and there were 890 one star reviews on Amazon for myheritage which is USA based. The worst qualm was it's subscription based hundreds of dollars. I immediately emailed them for a refund. Because I'm in Australia I can't use their phone number at the bottom of the email they are in USA. Unfortunately I got conned by a CZcams video which promoted it and CZcams put that video in my feed. Your video is really good. Thank you. Eventhough I want to go ahead with it despite it not being accurate information I don't want to pay hundreds of dollars for information that's provided via subscription and these reviews even not happy with the information saying it's insufficient. Also apparently they send out random emails saying they found a distant cousin in a spammy way.
I can't wait to take one of these tests. My dad side of the family swear we're Seminoles. Lmao!! I highly doubt it and wonder what my dad would say if it comes back that we aren't. Mwahh hahaha. lol
Excellent analysis of the things that a DNA test may not tell you. I have a theory that more Americans of any color are interested in the DNA data because we come from so many different places and eventually we hit that big X when the paper trail runs dry because no records were kept. Of course if gramma wasn't strictly honest, the male name on the birth certificate or baptimal record may not be the actual father. I took MyHeritageDNA first and got results that made me scratch my head. Even though my paper trial of baptism records went back to German and British churches, I supposedly had no ancestors from either place???!!! 23andMe gave me a slightly more recent snapshot of where my ancestors were around 300-400 years ago. I was looking for Jewish ancestry, whether Ashkenazi, Sepphardic, or Mizraic, and still haven't found it. The paper trail for that ancestor goes dead cold in Poland/ East Prussia. African-Americans hit that X at the Middle Passage or even later if records weren't kept, and of course adoptees hit that wall at the first generation behind them.
The big question is why we care. We just do, because we're human beings and human beings are curious. And bear in mind, we are all descended from East African Eve. Some of her children went south and adapted to the heat and the strong sunlight. Some of her children went north and adapted to the weak sunlight and the cold. We can all be proud of the journies our ancestors took to get us here.
I have a family tree on MyHeritage, and I've learned how important it is to confirm the possible family links even if they have no new information for me. It's the same with genetic matches, especially for women, because they lack the ability to detect the Paternal line Y alleles.
My mom told me my whole life that I was more German than anything and when I got my DNA back it said I was less than 1% German
Yo also got to remember markers play a role. You could be say, Scottish, but it could be just that you yourself haven’t had any Scottish dna markers passed down to you.
That’s why they suggest getting parents done too if there’s some part of your history you’d like to verify. Also this is just your genetic makeup, not you history, heritage or origin
Thank you for this video. Very important things to consider before getting a test!
If there was any doubt how Lilly white I actually am, I have the proof now! 70.4% North & West European, 23.7% English and 5.9% Scandinavian. That’s it!!!! A friend of mine did 123 and me and she was a true mutt, way more to brag about than me! I used my heritage because that’s the site that gave me the best deal for researching my lineage. I was on the phone with the sales guy and he reduced the price down to an offer I couldn’t refuse. I wonder now if it was even worth it! I don’t know what else to do with it! Thanks for the video!!!
Im going to guess 75% Asian- Vietnamese Chinese 10% German-French 15% European- Polish
i found my sister who i havent seen her for 40 yrs when my niece who took a ancestry test and so did i thats how i i found my sister. again .. but i have to give the honor and glory to God i ask him if i ever was going to see my sister again and in that week i check my ancestry just for fun not even thinking about my sister or anything and thats how it all happened...God works in mysterios ways ...
I was surprised by my results, that it was awesome. But, i also do research into my family tree branches. Because after so many generations some DNA we not show up. But it's all good and yes, I have been contacted by a person who was adopted. I did my DNA because my grandmother was adopted and we really didn't know what we were maternally until the test.