The Family Finder autosomal DNA test from FamilyTreeDNA
serves a two-fold function with regard to genetic genealogy: (1) it measures
the changes in the single points in your genetic code (the A, G, C, and Ts) and
calculates the relationship to your matches based on the number of markers you
share with each one; (2) and it compares your marker values to those represented
by population groups in other geographic regions to determine your ethnicity. This second function of the
autosomal DNA test has come in handy several times, most recently with my
friend Keith, whose data I am helping to interpret.
Shortly after I sent Keith his list of matches he sent me
an email asking if his DNA test could tell him if he was Native American
Indian. I get this question a LOT – anytime I mention a DNA test to anyone. It
seems like everyone wants to prove their Native American Heritage. The answer
to Keith’s question is both yes and no. The autosomal DNA test will tell you
your ethnicity but it is only an estimation, not an absolute. It varies
depending on the sample size ftDNA has
collected for that geographic region.
Well all ambiguities aside, I was still able to use
ftDNA’s Population Finder tool to pull up a map of Keith’s ethnicity based on
his results and matches. Here is a view of his map:
According to ftDNA, Keith has the following ethnicity:
90% Western European (defined as Orcadian)
10% Middle Eastern (defined as Palestinian, Bedouin,
Druze, Jewish, Mozabite) – primarily Jewish
Keith was disappointed that he didn’t find any Native
American Ancestry. To be honest, I’m not sure what it would say if there was
Native American Ancestry! I’m still reading blogs and trying to find people who
have tested and whose results have come back as Native American Ancestry.
His report didn’t really tell us much about his ancestry.
If we look at a map of the world we can determine that the area on his map that
is shaded dark blue and labeled as the “Orcadian” population corresponds to the
present day UK (England) and Ireland. The Middle East population corresponds to
present day Algeria, Libya, Egypt and the Sudan.
Keith said he didn’t have any Middle Eastern heritage
that he knew of. This was the first I had seen of this population showing up in
a person’s population finder results. Then it just so happens I was reading
Roberta Estes’ blog, DNA-eXplained one morning while eating my breakfast and
came across her blog post, “The
Dreaded “Middle East” Autosomal Result.” In this post, Roberta explains
that the result of Middle East ancestry is sometimes a clue to Native American
Ancestry! She reports that she often sees this Middle Eastern admixture in the
results of people who are looking for Native American Ancestry. In this post she uses the inhabitants of
Hattaras Island as an example of how populations intermarried with persons on
the island, mixing very little with non-inhabitants, resulting in very little
new DNA being introduced.
Although Keith’s ancestors were not native to Hatteras
Island that we know of, his great-grandparents and 2nd
great-grandparents were already in the United States following the
Revolutionary War. According to Roberta’s calculations, a 10% ethnicity of Middle
Eastern should have come from his great-grandparents or 2nd
great-grandparents which would have been alive during the 1800s. We do not have
all of the names, birth dates and locations of all sets of his first and second
great-grandparents though, at this time, so there is still a possibility of
Middle Eastern ancestry showing up.
Ginger R Smith, "Genetic Genealogy - What is my Ethnicity" Genealogy by Ginger, posted 08 August 2012 (http://http://genealogybyginger.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]).