DNA vs Paper Trail
Introduction
I use to think that DNA could answer all of my questions as far as my ancestry. Yes, DNA can confirm paternity. Does it truly tell the the full story about a person's heritage or pedigree? I remember taking my first test years ago through DNAtribes. I wanted proof of the oral traditions of having an ancestor being Native. Indian is the term they would use. My father and others, would tell me about my ggrandfather, Dili, and that he was a Cherokee medicine man/herbalist from GA. He was from the Oconee River area. The Cherokee Indians lived on one side of the river and the Creek Indians lived on the other side. When I came to a road block on finding them on any Indian rolls, that's when I decided to turn to DNA.
My Results
I was looking forward to seeing my results. The first thing that I looked for was the Native/Indigenous part. To my surprise, I saw 0%. Instead, I received a small amount of Polynesian and Metis. I called my father to tell him the results and asked him why did he lie about our heritage, overlooking the fact that Polynesian and Metis are indicative of Native ancestry. I was new to this and didn't know any better. The Polynesian took me by surprise because I have never been told that I had an ancestor from Polynesia or the other islands that represent it. Well, I decided to contact a geneticist and he explained why those populations showed in my results. Apparently, those populations was representative of the African, Native and European all balled up into one. After I understood it, I called to apologize to my father.
New Test /Different Results
Years later, I was talked into taking another DNA test through 23AndMe. My friend was curious to see what my results would be. It was free for people of the African Diaspora. When I received my results, there was my Native DNA! It was like finding a long lost relative. I also found out that my friend and I were cousins, which was very cool. I have found cousins from different countries that I wouldn't have expected. It was neat connecting to cousins from all over the World.
Other Interesting Results
I decided to upload my raw data to this company called Gedmatch. Later on, I uploaded my raw data to MyHeritage and NativeDNA. Through NativeDNA, I received more diverse results. Each test uses different algorithms and populations presenting different results. On MyHeritage, Balkan showed up as a population match. The populations included are Greece, Albania, Romania, Turkey and Roma Gypsy ethnic group. Even SW. Asia, which is no surprise considering that the Roma originated out of northern India.
Note: DNA test can't tell you what tribe you descend from, whether it's an African or a Native tribe.
The Reason Why No Native DNA Shows Up For Some With Ancestors On The Indian Rolls
From my observation, I have seen conversations about people having ancestors on the Dawes rolls, but no Native DNA showed up. In some cases, African showed up instead. This made me scratch my head and all sorts of hypothesis started popping up. I started wondering why this was the case. It would take an expert in genealogy and history to understand this. I recommend googling $5 Indians, paper genocide and Walter Plecker. That will explain why some with ancestors on the rolls, have no Native DNA and the ones who don't have a documented Native ancestor on the rolls, have Native DNA. This doesn't always mean that you don't have a Native ancestor. It could be because that particular line goes so far back ,that it may not show up. In that case, it's good to have an older relative test. Also, the unassigned category could be the N. American Indian population, but there are not enough of those sample populations in the database.
My DNA And Paper Trail
To make sense of my DNA results, I needed to research my lineage. This included the territory they were in, their migration patterns, the community and core surnames that are found among certain tribes. Well the Spanish DNA turned out to be from the Portuguese/Croatan Cooper/Clark line. Today, you will find those names in the Tuscarora, Lumbee and Waccamaw tribes. Refer to my blog on the Brooks, Clark And Associated Families In Western NC. The Balkan and Native could have come from that line as well or the Stewarts, Austin and Peay line from Louisa Co VA. The Peays were French Fur traders who traded with the Souian tribes. The Stewarts have been referred to as "Black Irish or Black Dutch. I have also been told, by the white Stewart cousins, that the African/black side was by way of Barbados and Jamaica. Coincidently, I met a co-worker, who has Stewarts from the same area, and she also mentioned a Barbados and Jamaica connection. Last, my ggrandfather's name is Dili, which is Tsalagi. Also, there were other Cherokee families in his community. In my research, I have found that some of these native families were labeled as Portuguese, Cuban and Free People Of Color. Below are census records for both my Cooper/Clark and Dili Wright's family.
Conclusion
While DNA can give a person an indication of where their ancestors possibly came from, it should not be the only source to find out your true lineage. I feel that both DNA and paper trail are equally important. Finding cousins has been a neat experience for me. The test has never changed the way I have always identified myself.
Source:
https://www.ancestry.com/?ancid=w6hv7rzkbd&gclsrc=aw.ds&pgrid=2562909222&ptaid=aud-931029202980%3akwd-29051670&s_kwcid=www+ancestry+com&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-uH6BRDQARIsAI3I-Uc82ZWUxnHzQjNBxj0XMsBrwqTqjvGl5FmFV9oonNOF8EpZ0hBGYoEaAkqvEALw_wcB&o_xid=57465&o_lid=57465&o_sch=Paid+Search+Brand
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