4 BIG problems with my DNA Tests
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ธ.ค. 2022
- #findingyourroots #ancestrydna #dnatest #louisiana #nativeamerican #creole #23andme #familystory #genealogy #hiddenstories #history
I took a DNA test to find out who my mom's family really was. I did 23andme and then ancestry DNA tests. But the dna tests were very very wrong.
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Come join me on a new docu-series that explores identity, racial tensions in the South during the 20th century, and the unique experiences of those who historically called Louisiana home.
My name is Danielle Romero, and all my life, I have romanticized Louisiana.
Growing up in New York, it represented a place where I could step back the sepia-toned life of my great grandmother, Lola Perot, who died before I was born.
Now, it was time to go back to Louisiana--although I had no idea what the truth would be or what questions to ask---who was Lola really? Who were we?
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Try and upload your DNA data on GED match. That should be able to help you a little bit. Your DNA matches are also very very important because it will point you to the regions your geneology originated from. As far as I'm concerned, your DNA matches is as important as the regions the DNA test claims you came from.
you just don't understand the science lol, the tests are accurate but the "statistics and reff population is the issue" just wait a few years where they have more data and you can find online sources to compare things, the egyptian from italian comes from southern iberians have mixture from north african DNA
@@KAIZORIANEMPIRE I get all that, but these tests were giving me like 20-25% unassigned DNA. That was unexpected. I had no idea it was that much of an art and not much of a science in that realm.
Ancestry DNA is another tool used in researching your family history so the matches are accurate. The ethnicity percentages are just estimates based on reference panels, and they divide the globe into 61 overlapping geographic regions, each representing a unique genetic profile. Hence, as time goes on, they have been testing people from all over the world now, so, of course, it is going to change as more people take the test but what I have found with this is the people I have a match that I have been able to communicate with have given me valuable information about where they came from and their family history. My recommendation is to do your family genealogy research and use your matches as a tool along with your research to get an idea of your ethnicity because no test can tell you exactly your ethnicity. Still, it can connect you with the people who can help identify your ethnicity.
@@jarrettjjackson1 Great recommendation! As I started working on the paper trail and cross-checking cousin matches on Ancestry, that is where the magic happened! For instance, i was able to trace an enslaved ancestor back to Africa! You can learn about his story here: th-cam.com/video/y24jVsgx2Rw/w-d-xo.html
The unadvertised problem with DNA tests is that they can only look at your *inherited* ancestry not your full ancestry. You only have about 1/4th of each grandparent's markers so you can loose entire braches of your ancestry.
You don’t inherit 25% from each grandparent. The distribution will be more like 31% from one, 18% from another, etc. Your siblings would inherit different amounts from the four grandparents. You know this but I posted this in case others think that the range is almost 25% from each grandparent. This is why it’s useful for all siblings to be tested.
You don't inherit exactly 25% though. It's around that percentage but it can be lower or higher for each grandparent. That can make huge differences. The result is that you don't inherit any DNA from most of your direct ancestors, the further back you go in your family tree. Also, you don't inherit exactly 50% DNA from each of your parents. And that roughly 50% of DNA from each parent isn't always the same from sibling to sibling. Otherwise, your mom and dad would have given birth to identical twins each time. Every sperm of your dad and each egg your mom makes aren't the same genetically as the other sperm or eggs. There is something that is called DNA recombination.
These commercial DNA tests aren't for what many people use them. To break down their ancestry to ethnic groups like a blood chart which you can determine by an accurate percentage. The origin of modern ethnic groups is diverse and interconnected. It goes beyond language, looks, nationality and etc. Besides that and the fact that DNA recombines, those companies compare you to PEOPLE who said that a recent ancestor was born in a specific place GEOGRAPHICALLY. It doesn't mean that that ancestor has an ingredient that is unique to one specific nation and he's unrelated to nearby people of other ethnic groups more recently and distantly with others too. DNA isn't like an element for a company to test how much gold you have and how much silver. Most people who take those tests (and make those commercial DNA companies rich) don't know what DNA is, don't know that all humans originate from the same group of Homo Sapiens that left Africa and that all modern and ancient nations were products of mixing, integration, and assimilation. Those DNA tests have been highjacked by people who don't know basic history and most often have very racist views.
th-cam.com/video/cbASKiJu0ug/w-d-xo.html
@@georgekech4903recessive traits
Another issue could be, areas you are similar to are mixed too
I have only taken the Ancestry test. Yes, Ancestry about once or twice a year updates the spit test results. They claim it is because more people worldwide are contributing their DNA, thereby changing/refining the DNA groups. I would love to take a course on how Ancestry is computing all the data. My percentages haven't changed that much BUT the descriptors for the percentages have. I was originally Iberian (percentage 10 percent or less). The last contact from Ancestry indicated German instead of Iberian. What I really am is French (probably same percent) according to my mother's family lore. French Canadian. Why did Ancestry tell me I was Iberian? Because they drew a huge circle around Spain, Portugal and France and called it Iberian. Why are they telling me I'm German now? Because I think the part of France my DNA is from is today where other people with that same DNA now live in Germany. For example, the Alsace-Lorraine area has been part of France and part of Germany over the centuries. The borders kept changing depending on who won what war. So you see, it pays to study if one wants to deeply understand ones DNA.
My 23andme test that I took years ago still says I have a good chunk of Iberian. I am French Canadian through my father. Has anyone in your French Canadian side done an actual family tree? I can go as far back as the 1500s through my great-grandmother's line and one of my direct grandparents is from Normandy. Normandy became a mixed cultural area when a Viking ruled. They were different than the other parts of France, such as Paris and Brittany where I have others from. I also learned through that line that I descend from the king's daughters, which was a program that King of France signed off on to send women over to possibly marry in French Canada.(The English colony in Canada was heavily populated in France was attempting to get their numbers up). They weren't all necessarily French, they were from various countries in Europe. These are the two possibilities I'm thinking for Iberian for me. According to 23andMe I have enough to have a full-blooded third great grandparent Iberian. French Canadian is such a mix ethnically, so looking at the tree would be incredibly helpful for you.
Those are some pretty huge swings of breakdowns. I think your point on the borders is so important. Borders are irrelevant when studying family history!
I am also part French Canadian. Some DNA is from the same region as yours. Most are from Perche in what is now Normandy. In other words, they have a lot of Scandinavian ancestry from Iceland of all places.
I took the Ancestry test and I have been giving 4 updates, when your provided a test they should provide you a solid results. With no updates you are what you are. This is why I don’t feel that they’re telling you the truth. I don’t trust ancestry anymore.
To make matters even more complicated a person can be born in a country but not be of that ethnicity.
Take my friend as an example she was an army brat, Scottish and German but born in a USA naval base in Japan. So her birth certificate says Japan but no way is she Japanese.
DNA doesn’t show “ethnicity”, it can only correlate with some ethnic groups! The difference is huge!
What is the difference though, my english is not so good, but my results say extra ethnic group Javanese (high trustable), what does this mean?
@@Myyoutubeaccount8999 It means that among Javanese people your haplogroup subclade is very common, but it doesn’t mean that every carrier of this subclade is of Javanese ethnicity because DNA just correlate with ethnicity but doesn’t define it. People historically have more close biological ties within ethnic groups just because of local isolation of ethnic communities. The ethnicity is more about culture than about biology.
In other words it means that your ancestors had been mostly representatives of Javanese ethnicity over a long period of time. For islanders such certainty is more common than for mainlanders.
@@mikeeforma2281 thank you for your reaction
So according to them im part javanese and share the same dna as a lot of people who live there
@@Myyoutubeaccount8999 Yes, you’re absolutely right! 😉
Our local high school had a Belgian exchange student who was a Korean orphan adopted by a Belgian family. She grew up in Belgium and spoke French as her native language.
I've not taken an ancestry test, but people often forget/don't know that nation state boundaries like Italy/France/Sweden/Germany/Zimbabwe, or whatever, were most often created/solidified in the past couple of centuries. So ethnicities, groups, countries of origin often come as a total surprise in 'reveal' videos. Also, with travel, trade, (and sadly slavery), even if you know a grandparent came from a particular country or culture, their forebears may have migrated from elsewhere. I'd guess - particularly where ancestry is very mixed - the percentages aren't an exact science. Hopefully further research will allow more accurate results. Kudos for your fascinating research. So much more practical and satisfying to track down real-life stories of your family than jumping to false conclusions as a result of dodgy commercial tests.
I agree, I love the stories and the family history. I just had SO many people asking about my DNA tests, and I get that- it is superficially interesting, but I dont love the reveal videos myself...I want to see what happens AFTER you take the test. Now what?
Many Europeans also wandered around and back until the late 18th century. Germany didn’t become Germany until the late 1800s, just in time to start WWI. My family is from a part that is south and west. It is west of the Rhine river and east of where Luxembourg and Belgium border each other and Germany today. Their German dialect has French words in it because that was also part of France at one point. It was also part of the Holy Roman Empire which covered most of Europe at one point, including France and Italy. Possibly Spain, I didn’t look. My great grandpa was born in what we call Germany today. He was born in 1876 and the country was called Prussia. He spoke German or the dialect that included French. Europe is not big. It is smaller than the US. It was easy for people to move around and many did. I had a couple of surprises in my DNA. I only have 8% German and I have 2 great grandparents who were born in the area. That should be 25%, but DNA is never exactly equally divided. I am mostly almost 50% England and Northwestern European and that is where my grandmas parents DNA must have been. My grandma being 100% German. I also have great great grandparents who were born in Ireland. That is an 8th or 12.5%. I have over 30% Irish DNA. I know where my gg grandparents are from. The mention another are in Ireland that is probably where the other DNA came from. I’m certain I have Irish ancestors in other branches of my tree. So that is why the other areas are included. Also, Ireland has been Ireland as England has. They are both islands and the names of the countries haven’t changed much, or the borders. So Irish DNA is easier to pinpoint. So is English DNA on that point. So yes, the more people that test the more accurate it becomes as well as refined. If two people test as the same nationality or heritage it doesn’t say as much as 20, 200, 2000, etc. The results are always more reliable when more results say the same or similar things.
@@staceyorourke880 This was so interesting to read, thank you for sharing your experience with the test vs paper trail!!
Like you mentioned DNA Ancestry Tests should be used in combination with traditional Genealogy methods i.e. paperwork. These DNA Testing companies are constantly tweaking their matching algorithms and the reference populations of different ethnic groups in their databases the algorithms are supposed to match. So percentages will change over time because you're dealing with a relatively new technology evolving in real time.
As someone who used to work in the DNA Sequencing field, I can tell that PCR Amplification is the basis of the DNA Sequencing technology. PCR amplifies a small amount of source DNA to large enough amounts to easily sequence and analyze. The larger the amount of source or template DNA you start with, the more accurate the results tend to be because you don't need to over amplify the template DNA and potentially introduce errors like false positives. Your mother being a generation closer to your Mexican ancestor has more "Mexican" DNA and therefore produces more accurate matching results to the Mexican reference populations in the testing company's database.
That makes sense about my mom's DNA! I am trying to use her results now instead of mine because that was probably the case.
You are correct when it comes to using the test just to point you in the right direction. Your experience reflects that of many who have multiple races or ethnicities where it is difficult to pinpoint specifics. It is so beautiful that in a way you are the world wrapped up into one. Many people will see themselves in you yet you are your own unique person.
Very beautifully stated
Even if you are only a few things those companies keep changing everything.
Thank you for taking the time to write this, it meant so much to read!
Another suggestion, if it hasn't been mentioned already, you can take a mitochondrial and Y chromosomal DNA testing. We're from Bayou Country where it's totally an amalgamation of ethnicities and cultures. We took AfricanAncestry DNA testing along with the more common ones. The autosomal testing is like a guideline but it helps to find relatives also. Respect.
great idea!! I think my mix was just too much for the algorithm Lol.
She is female so cannot take the Y chromosome test.
Thanks for sharing this info. Are you able to tell us where these tests are done?
Yea that can have the same effect as Autosomal. In my case, I have obvious African features and my identity lately has been shaped by being black in America by as much as my DNA says I am (20% of the time it seems like I experience discrimination). Well, I know if I do Mitochondrial DNA, it will be 100% European. Why? Because my mother's mother was Polish. So it will come out Polish lol. Look at me. A Polack? LOL Nothing agains Polish, except that many of them are racist as hell, but thats another story. I am part polish, in fact I am about the same amount of Polish as I am Black.
In her case, the indigenous may have been male, in which case its possible her mitochondrial dna results in Greeco-Roman, or hell, pure Irish depending on where it came from.
@@ayinke4551 She can't take the Y test, but a brother or maternal uncle can.
The other elephant in the room is that we are way too trusting in our females telling the truth about a child's paternity. It was a common practice to marry someone quickly or just lie about the fathers and they take those secrets to the grave.
This is true! We found an NPE in the very close family line a few years back (didn't affect this stuff) but definitely changed the paper trail and that was only possible to find with DNA!
@@nytn I always suspected that my Johnson Wexford descendant was related somehow to my Scallan Wexford descendant and searched for decade. A Johnson cousin did y-dna and results came back with no Johnsons just Scallans. So now we are trying to figure out who did who lol. And looks like the Johnsons from early 1800s are not Johnsons after all no one wants to know this.
@@nytn Julia Roberts is not a Roberts! th-cam.com/video/8sXCRjTtHNU/w-d-xo.html
True that. My grandmother connected with her real Father through the Ancestry test in her 70’s. Her mother straight up lied to her about her fathers true identity.
Still happening to this very day. There are cause and effect to our choices as we all are very aware but when it come to lineage, identity, belonging, etc. those pieces are vital and when they are missing we have people who are left in a state of wondering where do I begin. Our ancestors decisions may have been best for them and their survival during that timeframe of living but in the end it harms those left behind searching with no place to start to find answers. Tell us something before you leave this side of living to help those left behind to ground themselves too and pass on for each generation. The Greatest Gift I would like to receive is a Full True Account of the Life of My Ancestors. I love what your doing for your family. Thank You for including us all in your journey.
So, from what I understand, you don't necessarily inherit 50% of your parents specific DNA. That is why siblings can test differently and look different. My husband is half Italian, his bio dad was born there. He tests a little above 50%, like 51, but his mother may have had some trace Italian heritage. I am not Italian at all, but our daughter tested 36.9% Italian! Over the years, my Asian percentage has changed to Indigenous American, which makes more sense with what I know about my family. And you are right, the test does not change the way you identify, and everyone is different. I identify as an African American period even though I am not full African. My daughter will say she is of mixed race ancestry, African American and Italian, because that is primarily what she is and she is raised.
I like the way your daughter is choosing to identify right now. It's okay to say mixed. Or get more specific if she feels like that. Funny about the Asian to indigenous, I noticed that happening too!
@@mikejones-wn1sw , more rubbish.
@@nytn Indigenous people actually migrated from Asia to the Americas.
@@princesschanel469 My haplogroup was C1C (indigenous to america) BUT i saw that "C" is an Asian haplogroup. Sometimes my DNA results would show me both ethnicities depending on the update.
Actually you do inherit 50% from each parent. But the mix for each child is different. (Think about your total DNA being a pot of Veggie soup and into two bowls you ladle soup from the pot. Every bowl is going to have a different number of carrots, meat, potatoes, excetra, yet every bowl gets the same amount of soup.)
I think its probably more important to understand who you are culturally as it to understand which ethnicity you might belong to. Your cultural identity is what gives you the feeling of belonging, your values and beliefs etc that help shape your world view, while allowing you to acknowledge other ethnicities you may also be connected to. For example, my mother is of mixed European heritage while my father is Maori. Culturally I identify as Maori, I follow Maori family values and customs and am largely governed by our tribal societal rules, but I absolutely acknowledge my European heritage as well. The percentages might bounce around on a DNA test (I've never taken one so I wouldn't know) but culturally I know who I am and that never waivers.
This is 100% right! I dont know if you saw my docu-series on trying to find my hidden heritage, but that was the reason I took the test way back when. My mom's gram had tried to pass for white and we had zero heritage or culture. Now, I am starting to piece together what we lost, but it was not because of the DNA (although it helped a little bit!). I am working to get to where you are....meeting our family, incorporating more of the community and culture that we almost lost forever. Here is the 4 part series: th-cam.com/play/PLvzaW1c7S5hQcox9CjaJWA7QKTYXw9Zn2.html
I think too many people are trying to say that I am (whatever race they think they are) instead of just being the individual that they are. Without the stories of your ancestors it's just some kind of bragging right. It's those stories and customs that really matter.
My father took 2 tests from 2 different companies. They were very different. One had him at 39% total of various European nationalities and one said he had no European ancestry at all.
Exactly I hate that people use these bs test to say that they are all these races that they ain’t
@@AceX22 Oh but trust the Schyience!
Oh & I love your videos! Telling our family stories is so important.
So true!
They messed up on my test too. They left out my Spanish, Italian, Serbian, Syrian , Yemeni, Sri Lankan and distant Mohawk First Nation DNA.
That's because you don't carry any of that DNA...
A DNA test works at best when you know the history of your region and at least some parts of your family timeline. Most people project modern borders to their results or their place of living instead of their grandparents etc.
This is a really really excellent point. Thank you
Exactly. You need relatives to fill in the blanks. It's a huge collaboration with everyone contributing a piece of the puzzle.
My family has been digging for 5 years. We recently found documents from 1760 which was like a miracle. However, it only lists birth date and marriage dates no death dates. The further back you go the less complete the info is.
@@jazzythecat918 Wow, keep up the great work. What was the 1760 document??
@@nytn it was church records that my second cousin found. He was born in that town and speaks the language, so he knew is way around.
I was lucky in that I had my grandfathers original birth certificate and his death certificate and naturalization papers ( getting those papers is a big legal expensive hassle) so I was lucky to have them. I've learned each relative either knows stories and or has some sort of documents. However, I only speak English so I encounter language barriers with some European relative's. Problem is 6 different languages are spoken amongst them so that makes it very difficult for most of us..
@@jazzythecat918 I wish I knew more languages, I had no idea how many places my ancestors came from. Reading the old records is difficult!
Just to clarify, such tests reflect population movement (where one's ancestors may have been), but do not indicate 'biological race', a notion that has been thoroughly dismantled by modern genetics. These tests do not indicate distinct population groups tantamount to subspeciation (e.g., Darwin's Finches, breeds of dogs, etc.).
Hi, I completely understand where you are coming from with the DNA tests. I got way too obsessed with the percentage component and it really confused me on how to identity myself. Some of my percentages have changed a lot. As you said, DNA doesn’t always reflect experience or upbringing. I found out through my maternal grandmother, there’s a significant connection to India. I never knew that I had any South Asian heritage at all. I found this out when I was 15 and am now 20. It’s been a rocky road because I too get asked what my background is all the time.
Moreover, the most important takeaway I have gotten from this is to secure my identity as a child of God and to learn more about all parts of my very diverse heritage!
Absolutely agree with you! And proud of you for that conclusion. Im a Christian and I have been learning that my identity is not my ethnicity, sometimes I forget that basic truth though. That is a big component of this journey for me, maybe for another video:) India- wow!!
@@nytn Thank you so much! God bless you and your journey! I too get really caught up in worldly labels which distracts me from healing and fulfilling my true purpose. Our ethnic background (especially the parts we didn’t know about) is special, but it can become idolized if we don’t put God first! I look forward to seeing further updates of what you uncover! Happy New Year!
It's like Ancestry themselves say, your DNA doesn't change, it's the science that changes. It gets better and better at pinpointing where your DNA originates from as they have more and more DNA to analyse. I've definitely experienced changes in the results over the years.
Ancestry uses a much smaller Gene pool than other companies.
But the Schyience is Settled!
Btw you are mind bogglingly gorgeous. Also I did my Ancestry and It confirmed my North American Native blood coming from my grandma her birth certificate says *English/Scottish and part Cherokee* also I've traced my tribal heritage back to my Grandmother's Fathers Great-Grandmother. Yes I am also European but I'm proud to have Native blood.
Edit: Either way I don't need a DNA test to know I'm Indigenous it's easy to see in my Grandmother. it's on her birth certificate and we know which ancestor passed it on.
Thank you for sharing this information, Danielle. ❤ I was not aware of these updates that could affect previous results/numbers - that is maddening. Having family connections that could confirm and enlighten you as to your true ancestry is a big bonus.
I can't imagine what an individual would go through if they only had these tests with the ever-changing numbers to work with. I like the idea of using the results as a general map of one's genetic makeup. It is possible that doing tests from more than one company and looking for information that is common across the tests may be all that can be done without some sort of "paper backup" from family, etc.
There are good and bad to most things. I am thankful for the good here, connecting with family I would have NEVER found without the ancestry tests!
My Lola is Ella, my great-grandmother. Everyone always said Ella was Native. I found a picture of Ella on Ancestry before I had ever taken a DNA test. It was very evident through the photo that Ella was multi-racial. I saw African American in Ella as well as Native. In any event I took Ancestry, 23andMe, and My Heritage. Ancestry and 23andMe confirmed African and the My Heritage and 23andMe confirmed Native, but Meso-American from South America. My results have changed over the years and some results have disappeared altogether. I uploaded my results to GED and I feel they give a better analogy.
Priscilla, thank you for sharing your Lola! We all seem to have at least one...did you get to connect with any family on that side?
It's been years since my Ancestry DNA test and my results are perfectly aligned with what I knew about where my family came from. The update differences were minimal and the more that they've been updated, the closer they are to what I've always known about my family.
Same here
Same here
Same here and match my papertrail
I'm a Mexican-American, when I first got my 23 and me test I had like 9% unassigned dna. It has changed a bit and has thrown me through a loop each time. A tool that is interesting on 23 and me is that you can adjust the confidence level. The one they present to you is like 50% and you can move it up to 90%. So at 90% confidence I have 36% unassigned DNA lol.... so that kind of helped me to take it with a grain of salt. What it sort of revealed to me is that my ancestors have been mixed for a long time so I guess it's hard to quantify how much of what belongs to what especially if you come from a mixed population.
Yes, the confidence levels! Oh my gosh mine were a trainwreck. When I did the 90% confidence level I was mostly unassigned. Hmmm. I think you are onto something with very diverse ancestry....
@@nytn Concerning your Egyptians DNA that disappeared, you may need to know that a lot of northern Egyptians are descending of Greek Macedonians.
You also need to know that Sicilians have majority Greek DNA, in fact it was a Greek colony called Syracusa, before the Romans took it.
Therefore a DNA that appears common in Egypt (let's say Haplogroup J3), can be also common in certain parts of Sicily, but not the rest of Italy.
Therefore they only make a Link between Sicily and Egypt. Cleopatra could be your relatives because she was Greek Egyptian.
@@majuscule8883 I have never studied history of this area, and I love reading comments like this. I actually DID see my dad's haplogroup when he took the test but I dont remember it. Im going to look right now.
@@majuscule8883 OKAY I found his groups. Maybe this is beyond you but If you are familiar.... his paternal haplo group is J2 and his mother was H1N
@@nytn j2 is typically Greek today, but it probably wasn't before Alexander the great invasion of Egypt and the middle east, there was race mixing between Greeks and middle eastern people.
That would explain why the algorithm is confusing between Sicilians ( Who are 80% Greek but speak Italian) with Modern Egyptians ( having ancien Greek DNA).
Let's not forget that Sicily was Muslim during centuries because the french took it and send the Sarazzino Muslims away.
Islam is gone in Sicily but the DNA of the Arab occupiers, which Egypt could also be a source, continue.
I've really enjoyed seeing my estimated ethnicity percentages, but I understood from the start is was a guess. I also put my data into GEDMatch and looked at a bunch more ethnicity estimates based on different algorithms. I honestly didn't know I had black, but I'm really glad to know it now, although I realize it came about because of tragic circumstances. My native Mexican also includes Yucatan, which I think is pretty cool too. Please keep creating content.
Thanks for sharing your experience, it is interesting that we have some similar overlap! The hidden african ancestry was so great to find. I dont think my Yucatan was real but....maybe it was!? LOL
For me the most important tool is setting up a tree based on your DNA matches. If you use Ancestry you can add your matches into colour coded groups. You can then establish where your ancestors actually came from more accurately than the ethnicity estimates.
I started a fresh tree to try and keep it organized and backed up with documentation. I dont know how to do the organizing by grouping but I am going to look into that today!
@@nytn th-cam.com/video/UBh9X4qi7Xw/w-d-xo.html this will help you the most.
DNA doesn't lie. If you suspect there's been a mistake with the test then take another one. Ancestry DNA have actually released a couple videos on how to read the results, how they run the tests and more.
It's more about how they cant read my DNA. I had 20-25% unassigned
@@nytn Then why haven't you contacted them about this? If they've not provided the service correctly it's up to them to rectify it. Can't see what the problem is.
Plus, it sounds like your sample wasn't correctly taken which could explain (if I caught the right bit of your video correctly) why they're ignoring you.
Bro the problem is that you can’t get someone’s ethnicity from DNA obviously the company selling this wants you to use it more, my mother was a scientist and my family also know people who worked in that industry they just compare you’re features to the test subjects they have representing those countries, meaning that usually a lot of you’re results will be wrong. That is a stone cold fact whether you want to take it or not. Ethnicity or country of origin doesn’t show up in the 0.1% that differs you from other humans only features such hair and eye colour that has been passed down from family do. So over all DNA test are incredibly inaccurate especially if you’re mixed but even more if you’re mixed with countries considered in the same region as each other. Finally the only way to know where your heritage lies is through paper records.
It did the same to me! I suddenly have 15% Irish and my mom only has 10% and my dad 0%. I used to have 11% and my mom had 15%. My English also went from 20 to 10. It just makes me think it'll randomly change again drastically. I am focusing on my tree more than these results, but I did like how one of the commenters mentioned looking a specific parent for a clearer picture regarding a certain lineage. I also like the DNA matches.
It's not that your DNA tests were/are "Wrong" exactly, it's just that the science is always changing- I would wager your native heritage is being conflated for "Mexican" even though it's likely Caddo and/or Lipan Apache, Choctaw, etc. just because it's southern-shifted native north american DNA and is similar to northern mexican and texas native reference populations. Another possibility is they just don't have many texas/louisiana native reference samples, and mexico has wayyyy more that look similar.
I think you are actually right about that, I am goign down to film with some people at the Texas Missions soon...I think we have a lot of ancestors from there. I believe majority were from those groups. Cant wait to share that trip!
In order to get reliable information about our ancestry, we have to use whole-genome DNA sequencing.
In Myexperience DNA tests work well. I found a lot of relatives all over America, Europe and Australia. And all correlate well with the found ethnicity and the family history.
You have made some really good points. Thanks so much.
Ilike the honesty of your work. Subcribed
I have noticed that my Ancestry test changes dramatically sometimes with each update, but my 23andMe test has been consistent with not much change over the years. Ancestry is now the largest and most diverse database but not the most "scientific" in my opinion. That being said the ethnicities are not written in stone and should be used as a guide not an absolute truth.
Really great perspective. I had to learn the hard way!
Ancestry is constantly getting more reference populations, so as you get more and more reference populations, it better estimates ancestry. 23 and Me does not have as many reference populations, so I think Ancestry for ethnicity and ancestry is better. 23 and Me on the other hand gives you more information across broader metrics, an Ethnicity estimate, your haplogroup/s, Neanderthal variants and it gives you detailed health reports.
I agree with you on Ancestry. Which makes sense because it started out with people telling their own family history before it got into dna
Ancestry uses a much smaller Gene pool than 23andme. Ancestry does not send its tests to some countries that 23andme does.
I went through the same thing with all 4 big companies and they were all different. So eventually I had my whole genome sequenced and now it fits my paper trail and oral history
Can you tell me about that process??
Me too…
What is that?
Whole genome sequencing. You can upload your DNA to GenomeLink but I would get my DNA done by 23 & Me first then upload that. I found Ancestry hopeless all that chopping and changing. My first time with ancestry was more or less right then they updated it and removed my North African and Middle Eastern and with each update they changed it every time. Now they have given my North African and Native American back. Genome Link and Nebula sequence your whole genome not only the small sections that most companies use. I just don’t trust ancestry. Have you used Gedmatch to find more matches? I’m loving your story as its so much like mine
@@veronicalevin2325 What a fantastic idea! I started using GEDmatch, it's overwhelming. I am so glad you found the channel! :)
Thank you for sharing.
I’m glad you explained this.
That is so frustrating! It sounds like you've spent a lot of money on these tests. I always tell people to wait before you get too attached to what they say your DNA represents because it will change. This science is still very young and needs more time to develop. I knew one girl who found out she was 43% Nigerian and spent all this money going there and learning about the culture. She even studied the language! Then her sister took the test and it was totally different so she sent hers to the same company her sister did hers with. OMG there was ZERO Nigerian. She was SO upset. Just take the results with a grain of salt and do online research to see if the DNA matches your family tree info.
What you describe happened to me. When I got my test back my ethnicity had me with being Norwegian. A year later my Norwegian changed and said I was Welsh. The next update the Welsh disappeard and French took it's place.
Ethnicity changes as more and more people test. Also Ethnicity is a guess on Ancestry's part. The percentages also do not mean your ethnicity now. It's the ethnicity 100 to 1000 years in your past.
exactly!
Ethnicity is why Ancestry is most popular. I have DNA matches that only took the test for that reason. It's why many "No Tree" matches exist.
“Soooo like… the ancestry tests don’t matter. But please believe me, I am part black, native american, and every other historically oppressed group that ever existed and feel qualified to speak about” 😂😂😂😂😂😂 help me lord
Excellent evaluation and explanation. I will look at my results differently now.
Thank you for posting this. Finding your family history is tough sometimes. I am native American ( Apache ), Spanish, Danish and German .. Lucky I was able to figure out how the Scandinavian got in the mix. That stumped me because I was skeptical ( I look native and Mediterranean) not Danish ..
It is a pointer not a absolute science. I think there is so much about DNA and inheritance that we don't know keeping an open but skeptical mind is important.
Best of luck on this journey!
Absolutely! Im still thankful for some of the information that did come through even if i was missing like 20% of it :)
When I first did the ancestry DNA test years ago, I had a large percentage of Iberian DNA show up, Spain and Portugal, and my Puerto Rican friend took the test after I did and her Iberian was lower than mine. After updates, however, that did change and now I have zero Iberian showing up on there but she has Spain and Portugal showing up on hers. I think it's very much dependent on the algorithm changes as they get newer and more specific data to work with, and if you look at the percentages that show up for me in MyHeritage that I've uploaded from my ancestry results, that Iberian is still there. But genealogically, the last ancestors I have from that region were almost a thousand years ago, so it is interesting, but it's definitely not an exact science. Where it is incredibly valuable, however, is in connecting you with relatives to help you build out your family tree. And filling out your family tree and filling in crucial gaps is really valuable if that's something that's important to you. It certainly was to me and I finally was able to fill in the blanks from the side of the family we had almost no information about beyond my great-grandfather because his father was orphaned as a child and didn't have as much information to pass down. And I'm still trying to fill in some blanks on my recent immigrant side of the family, which is a lot more difficult because of the lack of available records and information to even use to figure out where to start searching, but I've connected on ancestry with a couple of cousins who have more information than I did, and in turn, I had some information that they didn't have, so we're sharing resources and all of us are able to build a more robust family tree as a result.
That is beautiful, finding cousins and rebuilding the family story together is what really matters going forward. Your family is lucky to have you doing this hard work!
IF you are adopted having your DNA results are ALL you have unless you KNOW your biological family. Which in many cases is not possible due to disconnection, no interest, or death. Your DNA numbers change based on the number of people who take DNA tests through that specific company. So ever evolving of course. These updates aren't that frequent so I think it's important to understand that there isn't a perfect way to KNOW your genealogy path. IF it were easy or simple or completely clear then there would be no need to search or research. I don't know that unassigned or percentages changing are red flags with that fact that the information is rolling in as people take tests constant ebb and flow. POV
Great POV. This is not a "quick" way to know your family. Doing the hard work of talking to elders, learning how to look at records and dig into history is still the only real way to know your genealogy and family story. I wonder if the DNA tests are a distraction
@@nytn Without DNA I wouldn't have been able to find my moms biological dad. My mom was adopted so we had no idea, just a name, and I was able to narrow it down to a family with 3 sons (Its definitely one of these sons but their family never responded to my emails.) I then even got to see on the 1950 census that Bio grandma and bio granddad only lived 2 streets apart! (my mom was then born in 1960)
No offense ment, but the DNA Tests are EXTREMELY important! They aren't important for the "country of origins" at all, that stuff is like zodiac. But for the Genetic matches! In those genetic matches.
You can sort your DNA matches to find common ancestors so you know what real genetic/family lines you belong to. You can cluster your DNA matches, sort them, organize them.. The dna matches are why DNA tests should be taken, not the ethnicity stuff.
@@Idellphany I’m with you on this, people lie. DNA doesn’t. Witnessed this multiple times in my family. These DNA ancestry tests revealed some major family secrets.
My dna numbers have changed at least 6 times in three years since we did the tests. I don't put much faith in the numbers but it has been fun. The dna matches have been the best (and worst) by exposing surprise family members, who, once the shock wore off have become a blessing. Through the matches, I have learned about my own missing ancestors (who do not show up in the dna numbers) and it have given me such tangible connections to our American story. Love you videos - it is insping me to dig deeper.
Happy New Year xoxoxoxo health, happiness, safety,to you and yours❤🙏🌹💯
I went through this but I look more to my actual tree than anything else. 🖤 I have matched Mummies but that doesn't make me identify with Egypt directly. I identify with my great grands and their families who went through so much here. We represent them all.
Trees and paper records can be wrong as well as misinterpreted. Trusting them over science is never a good idea. Science always wins. Just like not long ago we couldn’t use DNA to determine our heritage in the future it will have more accurate and precise data. Eventually they may be able pinpoint the town or hospital a person was born in.
We do represent them all indeed. Our heritage is complex
I saw a documentary on DNA pop testing, and it’s a lot of guesswork due to the data base being very incomplete worldwide. There would have to be samples from the majority of the world population contributing to all databases. There would also,have to be accurate records going back several generations, and most people don’t have that. It’s tricky to say the least. It is only natural to to have wide variations in results. Don’t worry.
Thank you for this video Miss Romero, as many people need to hear all that goes on with it and what revelations and even errors it can bring. This is why I have questions for some as I was in the field and there are ambiguous testing and media used in some different stages and even companies. The interpretation is one you must take with a bit of faith...Then research again with different testing from even different companies that are reputable. Peace
I have done both 23 and me and Ancestry as well. When these companies refine the ethnicity estimates as more people contribute to their database, I think it significantly depends on the numbers of people from different regions and ethnicities who even have access to these tests or even care to take them that also influence the results. If there were 1million new customers a week but ethnic breakdown isn’t representative of the global ethnic breakdown, there may not be enough comparative dna for significantly underrepresented groups to draw definitive conclusions. There were major changes to my first ancestry results and the following update, but they have remained relatively stable since then. Interestingly for me, when they first listed listed recent ancestry locations (the communities section), they were spot on. I’m one of the first in my generation of my family born in the US. Both of my parents were born in Barbados as well as most of my older first cousins. It said I had recent ancestors from there… well of course! Not ancestors, but nearly everyone in my family except a handful of 1st cousins. On additional updates, it no longer lists Barbados but lists St. Vincent, Grenada, and Trinidad. While they’re all very close in location, I don’t have any known family in those locations. It leads me to think maybe there may have been more people from those islands or with ancestry from those islands taking these tests (or some other reason) leading to a shift away from my family’s home country as the primary community listed.
But the Schyience is SETTLED!
I will never willingly hand my DNA to master.....these Whyte folks are looking for something......and God help whoever they discover when they find it?
I took three of the tests and they all show something different. Unless I get a test from Dr. Henry Louis Gates, I’m gonna go with the paperwork on my family history, given from an elder. 👍🏾
Over-the-counter DNA tests are truly for entertainment purposes only, based on actual scientific twin studies, at best results are usually no more than fifty percent accurate. Around the holidays, such tests can cost $30 or less as stocking-stuffers, whereas, a truly scientific DNA study with any potential for real accuracy would cost in the thousands of dollars and would be carried out by a team of true professionals.
Here's the thing northern Mexico is very mixed with Irish individuals especially in native so you could essentially have these markers from both parents
The reasoning for the updates is that the companies are essentially guessing based upon the database they possess, the guesses gets updated as the database grows. Ive done ten tests and have gotten ten different results. Databases are also based upon the location of the testing company. For example ADNTRO, a Spanish company said I was essentially 50% Spanish and 59% Dutch. DNALand, a Brit company said I was 100% Brit. 23andme says I’m 0% Spanish, Dutch or Brit… The haplogroups will also change as more people test…. And the biggest laugh were the results of a Chinese friend (from China), who was told she’s half-Irish and half-Scot.
Another thing to note is that many tests aren’t testing for recent ancestry- some are testing very deep ancestry, so old that it predates even the concept of a nation state by thousands of years. It’s not uncommon for people of northern Euro ancestry to find 3-7% of their ancestry coming from Spain, Italy, Greece or the Levant. This doesn’t mean anything except to note that your family has Ice Age roots in the refuges of southern Europe.
Danielle, I think the reason you #'s change is that more people are in the database. I'll have to look at the other comments. I agree, this is a guide and connection to people.
Yes! Some of my original percentages were Iberian Peninsula, but when an update was done, that disappeared and it added Arabian Peninsula. 🤷🏻♀️ I’ve just been going off of my tree and building on that, slowly. Lol
I tried to take the shortcut and it didn't work! LOL
My grandfather was French-Canadian, but when my mom first did her DNA test, it showed up as her being only like 9% French. So I said something dumb to my grandfather about him not really being as French as we thought, and he kinda shrugged. Well, in the next update, it changed to my mom being 50% French. My big mistake in the beginning was believing the numbers/percentages as truth. My full-blood brother and I have very different results. I take it with a grain of salt for sure. It's good to use as a hint, but it's not fact.
Oh my gosh, I did this to my dad. He was so proud of being Italian and when the HUGE egyptian came out, I called him immediately. When it went away, I sheepishly called him...
Danielle, thanks for opening this up, can relate somewhat to these issues, although I have to say that my 23andMe ancestry results have gotten more accurate over time. TL;DR its because we are "tri-racial" (I know the technical term is people with multiple mixed biogeographic ancestry, but that is just a mouth full). I was born and raised in Tennessee, and was also surprised by my tri-racial ancestry. Like you, earlier on my mom's results reported some Middle Eastern segments, which now are mostly unassigned. Think about it, small DNA segments that would normally cluster as being from NW Europe (NWE), Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and North America (NA) get shuffled together so much that the algorithm clusters them to the geographic "average" = Middle East. Under the hood this is called PCA with the reference populations and more components able to distinguish populations. So the first 2 components will superficially cluster to the Middle East, or if more SSA is prevalent to Egypt, or if more NWE is prevalent then to Italy/Greece. Over time as they added more data and components, the populations emerge with more distinctive statistics and the "unassigned" results arise. I've seen this kind of averaging happen on a regional scale too, e.g. between Western Switzerland and Austria to predict Eastern Switzerland which is not true. Another thing that can greatly affect the quality of these predictions is if your DNA results gets "phased" or not with your parents. Also keep in mind that your parents results may not be phased and this forces the prediction algorithm to do more guessing as it may struggle stringing the neighboring SNPs together. Now my paternal aunt has small Bengali segments which seem legit (colonial era history ... makes me "quadri-racial"?) but these segments show up quite differently in other relatives test results ... yep Middle East again. Basically, the SSA and South Asian segments tend to be accurately marked, but the mixing in of very small segments can get "averaged" as some other region or unassigned. Conversely, Native American DNA is woefully under sampled in its pristine form, as most tribal members are "mixed race". This lead my Virginian Native American ancestry to be initially marked as Japanese - total poppycock, but there aren't exactly many Powhatans left. So the result is that your mix of peoples "breaks the algorithm". So don't let the shifting results define you, but enjoy the fact that your marvelous mixture cannot be simply described by a machine - you get to do that.
I absolutely loved reading this, thank you Jason! I was missing up to 20-25% of my DNA as far as "ethnicity". I concluded that I broke the machine😂 I hope you were able to connect with cousins on there? That was the game changer for me.
23&Me is pretty accurate from what I know about my family. Ancestry has been all over the map and never what I consider quite "right". The first two versions of the test took away all of my Southern Italian and lumped it in with my grandmother's French-Canadian heritage. Then, it became more accurate, but the recent update has given me a lot of slivers like you. When I add up my Northern Italian, Southern Italian, Maltese, and Sardinian slivers, they are about what I would expect from my "Italian", so I'll buy it. However, all but 4% of my French Canadian heritage has been removed (I should be more like 20-25%), even though I still match to those groups and have a million cousin matches from Quebec. Instead, they are now telling me I am significantly Scottish, which no other test has given me more than a small amount. I can find some on my mom's side, but I am definitely way more than 4% French Canadian.
Thank you for sharing your experience!! I hate all the slivers. I also ended up with like 20-25% unassigned. BUMMER
The people in your research are those who stayed. The actual birth parents could be from a relationship that didn't make it...and you got the DNA, the puzzle, and the confusion. Remember there was no prescription birth control until the 1960s. Our world is much different that way than ours. Love your idea about close proximity both sides of my family lived within 300 miles of each other and the families look like a shuffled deck of cards with some of it in my DNA results and the records.
I usually love the puzzle aspect, but sometimes I just want the answer! :)
I wouldn't say the tests are WRONG, exactly. The computer software rounds things up and down and compares you to other people who have tested and (here's the key) what they say about themselves and where they are from. I think over time new discoveries about what is "English" and so on may change too. And... what is "English" anyway? Are we talking before 1066? Before the Roman invasion of BC? Can we separate the Angles from the Saxons? An odd thing popped up recently in my tests... WELSH. I am 3% WELSH. Well, I'm sure I haven't changed since birth, but somehow the Powers That Be have assigned 3% of my DNA to an area about three blocks away from the other parts of my English DNA. I also now have SCOTTISH. My great-great grandparents on my mother's side immigrated from Lanarkshire, hit me up sometime on facebook and I'll share his little plaid pant "Navy" picture from the Highlanders, complete with cute mustache and... wand? Riding crop? Something.) but thankfully Ancestry has gotten round to figuring out that some of that English was really SCOTTISH. But anyway... all expected percentages have ebbed and flowed to match my dad's as the program updated, so I don't know what to tellya.
Can you imagine 500 years from now having arguments about who has MISSOURI vs IOWA DNA? No, no... it is even more specific than Missouri vs. Iowa. At least Missouri and Iowa are larger areas geographically...
So all that being said, I was very glad a commenter on a previous video wanted all your percentages so that he could personally verify whether you are a real Native Person. This will finally settle all arguments. He would know based on whatever percentages whether your claim to Native Ancestry is genuine. If it is genuine, maybe you can send him $150 and he can print you up a Certificate of Authenticity or something. That would be nice. /
Agree, some of my updates make alot of sense and others don't like my 3 percent Aegean was replaced with Welsh and attributed it to my fathers side who's ancestors are from Mexico/Spain. I mean I guess it could be but idk. We also have some issues with my scottish/irish percentages. But my german and portuguese increase make much more sense.
It's something... people saying others of aren't Native American ancestry when these people had ancestors who lost their languages and ethnic and cultural information due to in part to social pressure, and oppression like caste systems, slavery etc in the first place. The whole reason they passed for white or Spanish was due to these reasons. They were denied/discouraged a chance to be themselves back then and now people are denying their decedents the ability to acknowledge/ explore part of this their heritage as well. My own grandparents didn't teach my dad Spanish because they didn't want him to be discriminated against.
lol, I LOVE that you remember that guy!! I have so many tribes I am eligible to enroll in right now, but at this point have chosen NOT to enroll. I disagree with the genocide by paper that envelops (Bad pun intended) "proving" I am native enough to be accepted by the US government. It doesnt sit well with me. I love learning the heritage and that is what I am focusing on this year. Maybe I'll change my mind on enrolling at some point but...probably not.
I’ve gone though that too..my great grandmother was Cherokee and African American..we have her birth certificate and tribal papers..none of her descendants enrolled because 1) We never lived on a Cherokee reservation like she did. 2) Our experience was that of an African American family so we didn’t feel right because we had not been brought up in the culture. When I got older I began to learn more but I still get the “you can’t be Native American” response which boggles me because what does a person who of Native American descent look like anyway?
I agree with you. When in time the data is based on is a big issue in the swaying percentages. Maybe they should all get together and agree on some standard time, I don't know.
@@Raymond_Petit or we could filter by a standard time. really interesting...
I wish you well on your journey . Also, I enjoyed watching Lola's story. I just wanted to hug her... she went through so much. The documentary was put well together. I don't believe that our ancestors' DNA should affect or define who we are today . You are who you choose to be. Love and bliss
I feel that way so often. I wish I could sit down with her and ask so many questions. I dont think Id get those answers though :)
Been watching your journey🙏
Im so thankful for that!!
Mine does not change drastically, Numbers go up and down, just a little. I like the Ancestry paper trail. It helps me confirm my family tree.
The ancestry paper trail is wonderful. I wish more people saw the value in it!!
What were your results basically?
I'm African American and so far Nigerian has been my highest estimate it went from 46 to to 40 to 43 to 46 again England was present but they took that away but now it's back the only thing I have double digits on AncestryDNA is Nigeria and Cameroon, Congo and Western Bantu people
I recommend that you watch the GeneaVlogger to explain all this to you. I believe he would even analyze your DNA results for you. He is a licensed genealogist.
I just started watching his stuff!! thank you!
This, I love GeneaVlogger, Geneology TV and Family History Fanatics as my go toos for DNA stuff. Geneology TV has taught me the most I'd say.
@@Idellphany is that a TH-cam channel?
@@ThisIsMyTH-camName1 yes they are all youtube channels.
Having been a biology major in college and taking some genetics (in the late 70s and 80s), it appeared that the thinking was that you would inherit 50% of DNA from each parent. A friend recently told me that it is possible to inherit more of DNA from one parent rather than the other parent... I looked it up as I had a hard time believing he was correct... I believe the thinking now is that you can inherit different amounts of genetics from your parents (not necessarily 50% of each gene from each parent) - different whereas I may be more of less Italian than my sisters. My dad is Italian (mom polish, jewish eastern european) and one sister looks a lot like my dad, one looks a lot like my mom and I am in the middle.... I wonder if the difference in our looks will show up in DNA. I liked your series.... kept my interest. I like that it seemed like being around regular people.
I was 20-25% unassigned dna at times. That made no sense to me at all. But I am learning that this is a little bit of love and a little bit of science with the ethnic guesses. I like your questions about the different percentages reflected in our looks... I think you are right about that, but can only point to anecdotal evidence in my family as well! My DNA communities were SPOT ON. I was blown away by those. I did a video on that here: th-cam.com/video/gamZ2iCTEU8/w-d-xo.html. Im glad you are here, I hope you chime in on other videos! :)
I'm German
And you are a beautiful american woman!
My wife she's from Cameroun. And her group comes out of Soudan And her ancestors were descendants from the old kingdom of Meroe, the so-called black pharaohs.
Your appearance shows beautifully your heritage! From every part of theses heritages one can see parts in your face like little mirrors shining in the sun. 😂😂❤❤
It’s interesting - I also took 23&Me and Ancestry DNA tests, and always felt like the 23&Me results were a lot more accurate, although my Native American occasionally flops back forth to Chinese, Siberian, or some other Asian ethnicity, but my Sub-Saharan African hasn’t changed. Now that Ancestry has a chromosome browser, I understand why they don’t correspond better - anywhere that’s non-European in 23&Me, Ancestry has as Unassigned. I’m just not sure what to think about why that might be.
I had the same thing with the Asian vs Native! Also the unassigned is the worst. At various confidence levels for 23andme I think I got up to over 20-25% unassigned
I really laughed about the Missouri vs Iowa DNA. Honestly, that puts things into a different perspective! This is a fools' errand LOL
Who says Ancestry has a chromosome browser?! That's news to me!
@@Raymond_Petit - sorry, I meant chromosome painter, not browser. On Ancestry, go to Your DNA Results Summary - Ethnicity Inheritance - Chromosome Painter Beta. In my opinion, it’s not very good, not nearly as detailed as 23&Me, but it does exist, and maybe they will make it better over time.
I had a lot of issues with AncestryDNA too but it was great at first because it was more specific than 23 and me, which I felt was too broad.
Then Ancestry rolled out another update which was way different, drastically changed from my first result. It was soo confusing I nearly cried. I mean you think you know who you are and then you change right before your own eyes.
However, I've been tested with 23 and me since 2012 and even though I criticized their broad categories, they took their time, and they got the ethnicities right, before they made their results more specific.
AncestryDNA is too busy trying to increase their profits by giving out more specific results first that were ABSOLUTELY false, and quality control later.
At this point I don't even look at the ethnicity results any more. I have one parent tested and my maternal Aunt on AncestryDNA and my results have improved but they removed some ethnicities recently, and then replaced them, so do I have this or not, it is infuriating!
As more data is contributed by more groups of people, the information gets updated with new markers and more definition etc. My dad's genetic results have updated and become more detailed as the years have passed which is really cool to see actually. Still the same areas and such just more pinpoint locations and information etc.
The key is to understand how the tests are performed in how the analyzation of the results are determined is that analyzation and sample populations
Ethnicity Estimate ( guess ) you are correct. Never believe a guess. Believe your tree backed by dna 🖤🔥.
My dna test confirmed for me indigenous ancestry mostly from Mexico. However, I always knew that my grandpa was a first gen Mexican American, both his parents from Mexico because he’d tell me stories about how they came over, and how they used to go back and forth before the US stopped honoring a certain treaty. The family mentioned proudly that they were Spanish and Portuguese heritage, of that they were sure, but when it came to the NA heritage it was vaguely Native American, Aztec or my grandpa would sometimes say Yaqui. Then as we grew up he said he was only joking about Yaqui. The thing is he didn’t really know, so some of us were a somewhat surprised to see our percentages indicate that there was 80 percent between him and my grandma, but it is pretty clear that based on phenotypes the majority comes from my grandpa. I spent a lot of time with him as a teen, when he took me to get my license and we were sitting in the dmv waiting the man next to me asked “is your grandpa Native American?” I replied he’s Mexican.
I’ve found some of documents including census data, border crossings etc. most where they were listed as white, but sometimes complexion listed as dark. Only a few had them listed as Mexican/Latino. I can go back a few generations past his grandparents but then things start to become hard and I beginning hitting walls. In Mexico over the generations so many people stopped speaking their languages and moved around and assimilated that it is difficult to get more specific info. I still really haven’t found a single document with specific indigenous ethnicities or even really indio stated. However there is a dna test called Somos Ancestria that focuses on Mexico/South America and tells your more specific ethnicities based on their indigenous reference populations. I think the company supposedly uses people from certain areas who speak indigenous languages as those references. I don’t know how accurate it is, but I got percentages of tribes like Pima and Tarahumara who lived in /near Sonora and my grandpa told me part of his family came from Sonora. Most of it was Nahua /Otomi. Also have some African coming from Mexico presumably from my grandfather.
My Native American, Spanish and Portuguese seems pretty consistent but there’s been changes with the updates and some little changes that are confusing and some that clarifications that do make sense. Seems to be a funny issue with the Scottish/ Irish from my moms side but I think that it’s because there was a lot of immigrants from Scotland to Ireland. Also my uncle has more Scottish than his father, however when combined with Scottish it is less than: grandpa 38 percent Scottish/ Irish versus son 32 percent Scottish/ Irish. Which is appears he is inheriting quite a bit of that, if that’s even possible. Have to keep in mind it's all estimates.
Anyhow as my paternal grandpa would say in his older age is that we all came from the same place originally, Africa and we’re all humans. Race/ ethnicity, gender, sex, physical attributes are only a surface level aspects of our beings but at the same time something we can appreciate in a balanced way like the different colors of flowers in nature :).
I really enjoyed reading about your family! Im working on finding the tribes, connecting with people from the Texas Missions seems promising. I have never heard of Somos Ancestria!! Off to google...
Agreed. My DNA results have shifted around a bit since I first got started over 10 years ago.
I started with 23 & me. The results were about what I expected but nothing more. My brother started with ancestry and spent a lot of time looking at church baptism & marriage documents. This has allowed him & I now to discover our 5th & 6th great paternal grand parents from basically the same area since 1750 that I came to know as a preteen during summer vacations. All of the percentages were different then 23 & me.
That’s pretty bad to be Egyptian and Mexican and then not to be either one. I was thinking that they were confused because of the two very different lineages from your father and mother. Mediterranean sometimes shows up in Native Americans too. I lost my 2% Caucus even though I have a Jewish Great Grandfather and they were always confused about my German ancestry as well. Recently they did add some German. The truth is that we are all basically the same thing anyway.
TRUE. We are all more alike than not!
I also had my original Ancestry test a long, long time ago. Originally, it confirmed the heritage I always heard I had -- English, Irish, Dutch, French, etc. Every update makes me more English, to the point where now it says I am 90% from the countries making up the United Kingdom. What I learned after visiting Quebec City Canada and Normandy France (in tracing the steps of my "French" ancestores) was that many parts of Europe were under British rule, and the English "spilled their seed" just about everywhere. In fact, Normandy, comes from the Norse, which were in the UK, and before that, Scandinavia. In other words, all of the places I thought my ancestors were "from" turned out to be victims of English Imperialism. It all depends how long ago the genes arrived on the shores of that country. Ancestry's reference groups do not necessarily reflect where the people who have lived in a certain place may have come from generations before that. Ancestry's researchers and databases are combining our DNA data with tons of historical research on immigration patterns over thousands of years. The data combining is complicated, but results are likely getting better, not worse.
The Normans (Northmen) were in France prior to the Danes (not the Norse) invading England and creating the Danelaw, which was a century or two later. The Danelaw was around for another century or two before the Normans invaded England (not the other way around). That whole five-hundred-year or so timeframe was a lot of back and forth conquering because even the tribes that created the small kingdoms in post-Roman Britain which became England a few hundred years later were from the southern part of what became Denmark and the northern part of what became Germany.
Saying it was all English imperialism is kind of unfair. It was really more Germanic and Scandinavian imperialism, which took over from Roman imperialism, which took over from Indo-European Celtic spread that happened in the centuries before that and wiped out or intermarried and culturally consumed the Bronze Age hunter-gatherers…and that was just in Europe! Similar waves of military and/or cultural conquest have been happening for millennia across almost every continent. Before the Aztecs in Mexico there were the Incas, and before the Incas there were the Mayans…Before the Egyptians rose in power there were scattered tribes up and down the Nile, then the Arabs spread and formed the Sulayman empire…The English and Spanish were just the most recent and arguably most successful in terms of large swaths of geography. And even then, Russia and China probably have them beaten, and those two countries have had their own violent and/or culturally oppressive empirical pasts (and presents, really).
I just want to say I’ve never met anyone other than my family members that share C1c haplogroup. I heard it was very rare, so when you said that’s what you are too I was shocked! I took both Ancestry and 23 and me tests.
Danielle, what you're going through is a really critical thing for more Americans to see. What it shows, roughly, is that identity is *so* influenced by our family (both immediate and distant) and what they choose to impart to us (or omit) as we're growing up.
Genealogy is a wrench in the gears as much as it is a solution, as cutoff points for reference populations are made, then changed, according to what time frame and context they're based in.
With all the division we see in the U.S. right now, I firmly believe that the importance of nuance cannot be overstated. We are all a blend of different backgrounds, influences, and beliefs. I think you've done a great job not letting external perceptions of who you are, distract you from this journey you're on. Trying to integrate your family history with your genealogy is difficult and complex enough, and unfortunately, we can't make everyone happy.. As someone with a clearly Irish last name, and skin color that makes it easy for others to make quick assumptions about me, but who also possesses genetics that skew in a totally different direction, I can relate-- and I have a sense that most Americans, once they start digging, would find much of the same thing.
What can we learn from this? We are not our skin color. We are not defined by external perceptions of who we are, as those perceptions change (the Irish in America from the 18th to 20th century is a perfect example). But, we will always be who we are as individuals, and that's the beautiful thing about America. It is a place where individuality means something over cultural affiliation. I fear if we don't reassert that notion, we will repeat the same painful, destructive, mistakes of previous generations.
Keep doing what you're doing. It's the most interesting channel I've stumbled across in a while, and I think a really wide group of people can learn something from it.
Nate, I am not overstating when I tell you that your comment made my week. You summed up the heart and intention behind what Im doing and it's good to know that it's coming across. Despite some push back, I feel overwhelmingly hopeful that these are growing pains for our country, who in the grand scheme of things....is still quite young:)
@@nytn Danielle, I'm so grateful my perception of what you're trying to communicate is accurate, and that it made an impact on you-- More than I can put into words. Why? Because, we all benefit from hearing it. We need to hear that we are not the enemy of each other, and that history is filled with nuance and contradiction. For a long time, I've wondered what America needed to see/hear to help us move forward, away from this time of division. Your stories, and the honest and forthright way you tell them, are most definitely part of that. There is enough room in history for all of our stories and experiences to be true. It isn't a zero sum game where one person's truth makes another's a lie. You and your journey are living, breathing proof of that... and that's an incredibly valuable thing. Thank you for doing what you're doing, and staying true to yourself. It shows.. and yes, our country is quite young... Maybe, if more people see that, they would also have the humility of knowing we're part of something that isn't done yet.
7:24 the ethnicity is just an analysis from their guidelines I agree with you I keep getting less Nigerian 😁
LOL it's so weird to me
So true! I just looked at ancestry dna today. My mom’s Scotch dna, that we know she has dropped to almost nothing. I am not surprised. My parents, myself and my brother took ancestry dna tests when they first became available. They have changed many times. At one time I was Italian! I was so excited! I couldn’t wait to figure that out. But then it disappeared. I think as more people test at each website the dna gene pool of that particular website evolves. Ancestry is still a great mystery to be solved.
But you are right, the numbers, the ethnicity are very much likely to change.
Thanks for this. I've always been unsure about DNA being "out there" and how it might be used, but also quite curious for more insight into nationality and also possibly finding other family.
Your experience is very helpful for people to have more realistic expectations. Do I really want to worry about risks if the information that I get will be inconclusive and could even change? It makes total sense how emotions can be tugged this way and that way with changes to the findings/information. Where we came from and who our people are can be meaningful and emotional.
What I'm learning in a nut shell is what you are really getting for results, like you described at the start of this vid. There is no current test of any kind that tells what nationality a person is. There are only samples of DNA taken from people from an area of the world and then a person gives DNA and it is compares to those group samples. Is this correct?
Unless or until there is more accuracy or a real nationality test, I don't think I want to put myself through thinking I have more information and then just having it change like happened with you and many others.
Love your series. I have opted not to pursue with the various vendors- pretty confident who my recent generations are. I saw a video a while back, two identical twins from Canada sent to two different vendors, and got two different ratings = and they shared the same conception and birth, same parents. That led me to believe there was ambiguity in the industry. It was a few years ago, you may still find it. I believe out of Toronto.
I had a similar problem to this ! Ancestrydna testing changed my results too! I literally have this same problem and been dealing with this myself !!! And your story is a lot like mine too with the creoles and African American and Native American and native Mexican In Louisiana, Texas .
I think it truly is too mixed to separate correctly!
I related to you when said People assume you're identity. I've felt pressure to take a Dna test to prove im this or that. But after watching this I really don't see the point thank you for this video.
Especially when they point you in the wrong direction
Recently, I watched a video that showed people using DNA tests to determine the age of a person. Is that a thing, and if so, does DNA change over time? If DNA changes over time, will DNA tests exonerate convicts over enough time by disproving old DNA tests?
Interesting results. Keep going on your tree all sides 🖤.
My understanding is the DNA tests percentages represent what percent make up you, not what percentages went into you. In the simplest terms, if one parent is 100% x and the other is 100% y, you and your siblings may come out any percentage range of x and y. You’re not definitely going to get 50% of each, some genes are stronger in some than others. My sister and I are three years apart and have the same parents, proven by all shared relatives but we didn’t receive the same percentages in our DNA. It’s enlightening, thanks for the conversations.
The CBC here in Canada featured two identical twin women who took the same DNA test and received different results. I'm not sure how accurate these tests are in determining etnic backgrounds.
I have had a similar experience with AncestryDNA. After delving into my genealogy, interviewing family members, etc., several years ago I decided to take the test to deepen knowledge of my heritage. I already knew I'm overwhelmingly Italian and a tiny bit Irish, but I was curious to learn more. When I got the results, they made sense. Similar to what you got, my results included 15% Middle Eastern (based on my research this is fairly common among Italians, especially in the south, with ideas and genes freely traversing the Mediterranean for millenia), as well as the expected Italian and Irish percentages. There were other ethnicities which could also be explained by historic migrations and conquests. The only oddity was
My 1st ancestry DNA test was2014. It changed at least once a year and sometimes twice. I discovered that it was like weather, wait five minutes. I know you have done a lot of grunt work on your family history. I also discovered anything under 1 percent is indicated on the map through contrasting shading. I discovered that I have trace amounts of South American , Mexican, Southwestern and Texas, Louisiana Native American; African American and Eastern African area, Various Asian areas, Middle Eastern, Jewish Eastern European and German Jewish and Israel, Oceana. Also, used 23 and me, and my Heritage.
Your absolutely right it only points you in the right direction. They split my dna between 15 countries and Mexico was one of those countries and I had no idea about that ancestry my percentage was low for the ancestry but I tested high for genetic traits in that region so called them and they told it’s highly possible my percentage is higher but they need more people from that region to test and for my mother to do hers so it can become higher. At least now I know exactly where I come from which is exciting.
I’ve had some concern of my results too awhile ago. I ordered a kit again 1 for 23andme and the other Andestry DNA. I know my percentages are going to be close but I’m curious for the countries.
Im interested to hear what you end up seeing with your results between the two. I had up to 20-25% unassigned DNA at times. BUT the ancestry DNAcommunity update was SPOT ON. It shocked me. I made a short video on that one th-cam.com/video/gamZ2iCTEU8/w-d-xo.html
My sons were updated recently and so were my mums cousins, they changed a heck of a lot. One other thing on desktop ancestry it gives me matches that don't show up on the app.
There's also the possibility of sample contamination. You have to see the process itself. How they handle and proceed with the material provided to the lab.
I took both ancestry and 23&me. My ancestry is 62% African, 36% European, and 2% Indigenous Americas (North & Mexico). My 23&me is 60% African, 36% European, 2% Native American, and 2% unknown. My region estimates change (mainly the lower estimates), but general estimates (Africa, Native American, Europe) stays the same (+/- 2).
I’d be considered “white presenting”, but I often feel like a chameleon. I don’t know my paternal heritage but discovered there’s a strong Louisiana Creole history and matches on that side. I also found my maternal grandfather and learned his mother was Creole. 🤯 I was raised AA in the Midwest so this was a shocking discovery. I grew up hating my complexion because it made me feel different from my family.
My 3 different company tests were close to one another. Along with each paralleling each other pretty close all said 18% Irish, 8-10% Native Indian, now it's 5% Irish, 3% Native Indian with Welsh now appearing with more Scottish. Recently my Native Indian became 4% and more Scottish. I have the rough estimates at least and it's been fun to know and match my paper work with these is interesting too. I look Italian and have been asked by Italians and Greeks if I'm one of them. I've been given free food in 2 different states in Italian restaurants. In Wisconsin and Oklahoma I've been asked if I'm Native Indian by myself or when we go to Pow-Wow's as my girl friend is a full blood. In 8th & 9th grade I was even asked if I was part black. I know we're a mix of western European and 3 different Native Indian tribes. My mother looks Spain-Spanish, my Grand and Great Grand mother both look Phillipino,. Some of my uncles & cousins look Native Indian and Mexican. We're definitely a mix of the old days and hearing people try to guess who we are shows the question of being a mixed batch but as I said it's been interesting and it's fun at the same time as I try to get a real understanding of our history
WHAT PART OF MEXICO?? I AM FROM JALISCO, A PUEBLO (VILLAGE) NAMED LA SAUCEDA WHICH IS FROM THE MUNICIPIO (COUNTY) OF COCULA.. ALOT OF HISTORY... LET ME GET TO THE POINT. IN THE AREA MY FAMILY AND I ARE FROM ARE STILL MANY TRIBES.. MY BROTHER HAS TAKEN 23&ME, I WILL TAKE MINE SOON.. I REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT CIVILIZATION OR TRIBE WE ARE.. WHAT IS YOUR SUGGESTION.. WHERE DO I START BESIDES TAKE TEST??
I was just watching - ‘My Cousin reacts to our white passing Grandmother’ on TV and decided to comment and immediately TH-cam presented your answers in this specific video on my phone!
I keep meaning to try a DNA test, but now there are too many and I’m confused.
🤔🧐
At the mention of ‘feeling’ Irish, I had to laugh. Somehow I always thought (for 40 years or so) that I was mostly English, some Irish with a hint of Cree Indian somewhere?
I have done some casual research on all of my grandparents, but I’ve tended to focus on my Maternal Grandmother, because I knew her the best and I knew many of her siblings and lots of 2nd and 3rd cousins.
I have found SO much information for free, but probably need to pay to satisfy my curiosity!
It has been wonderful to learn so much about my Grandma’s side of the family. I really want to know about the other three as well.
So far, not Irish! 😉
Thank you for sharing you experience. First I would like to say I like the Unity involved or found in the DNA testing. I find it interesting that to a certain degree of deep thinking we are related. However distantly related to one another.
I have been questioning whether or not to take DNA tests for a couple of reasons. I was more interested as to finding more lineage in my line. My Identity as to who I am and what I believe certainly is not the same as my great grandfather on my mother's of Father's side. I agree with you.
I find Census records do a lot for understanding what some of my family was like and find it interesting concerning some similar interests in family inhave researched in 1800's.
I think sometimes of the complexity of humans and the enormous amounts of possibilities of relationships can make things very difficult to except. Especially as you mentioned when you have documentation providing evidence.
Unfortunately my father is dead and my mother will not take the test. I am not even sure I will take the test as curious as I am.
I am interested in see how others with multiple siblings and even twins or triplets testing turns out for testing.
Thanks for taking the time to share and I am grateful for your openness.
3:22 Always wait for at least two years for updates. Mine became more specific from a generalization of three main regions of nearly every county in Ireland to specifically Ulster Scott's. This is to be expected as the sample pool increases. My English side went from London and Manchester to the Pennines in West Yorkshire and the Scottish lowlands.
This was no surprise and makes sense.
Only just found your channel, hence the late comment, but I have a number of comments on what you said, and some of my own to add to them. Firstly the Ethnicity Estimate from AncestryDNA is a bit of a gimmick, and you're right it can be a rough indication of your ethnicity but nothing more. What most people do do these Ethnicity DNA videos (of which you aren't one btw) is that they take the percentages as spot on fact. If you look closely at your results, which most people don't do (I didn't at first), is that there are margins of error, and and big ones at that, as you say because these estimates are based on their reference populations and these change as more people test, so they should get more accurate as time goes on (but obviously this isn't always the case).
Secondly, I think you should have a look at the history of Sicily because even though it is Scrolls the Mediterranean from Egypt (and from what you showed in the video, I may be wrong, it didn't specify Egypt, but North Africa). I would expect a lot of Sicilians would have North African DNA in them because of the mixing of populations in the Mediterranean, Sicily was once ruled by Arabs, and some time ago, but this will have meant trading between Sicily and other parts of the Mediterranean, and because maybe not many people had tested from Southern Italy, but had from parts of North Africa (or at least one that emigrated from there, but had many matches from that part of the world), and maybe they had misidentified those previously they put into this group and have now corrected this, you said yourself that you knew you had some Southern Italian ancestry so this is now right isn't it (even if you liked having a bit of Egyptian in you, and why not)?
Lastly the power of taking these DNA tests isn't too find out your ethnic mix, not beyond an estimation that may get you interested to dig a bit further at least. The power is when you look at your matches, even your distant matches, maybe especially these ones, that are from places you didn't know you had any ancestry (of course they may have migrated there from somewhere you did know you had ancestors), looking at their family trees, doing some DNA clustering of your matches to groups them together and maybe find common places and surnames, and then finally linking some of them up to your family tree. That is what the spitting into a tube is, not getting some numbers (that have margins of error in them) that tell you where you are from.
Oh, and finally, you didn't show any numbers (which is fine), but trace results, ones that are only 1% could be totally wrong so I'd take any of those with a big pinch of salt. Unless you've proven you have ancestors from a certain place you have to be skeptical. They could be right, they could be wrong, but things should for most people get more accurate with time, they are though the gimmick that is being used to sell these tests, and there are so many TH-camrs doing results reaction videos that just don't understand the results it is embarrassing, so thank you for not doing that. There is a channel called Geneavlogger, a professional genealogist, who has helped build trees for some TH-camrs, who reacts to these, you should check him out.
The numbers were a hot mess, sometimes I had 20-25% UNASSIGNED Dna. It felt a little worthless, and that was something that I hadnt prepared for. The distant matches are a key that I am still figuring out how to use, now that I know how incredible of a tool they are!
@@nytn I think that it's the combination of distant matches (not too distant, unless you get lucky, which can happen, but not very often, so I'd say 20cM and above, to start with at least) that have fairly extensive trees. I would also suggest using different platforms to look for clues (I'm not sure if I said it in my previous comment but I tested on Ancestry, but have just found MyHeritage has some great free tools, though it depends on the quality of matches of course, which differs from person to person). It is like solving a big jigsaw puzzle and takes quite a bit of patience, if it were quick and easy then we'd all know our family trees at the click of a button.
Just as a bit of encouragement I helped a distant match of my grandfather's, whose great grandfather's mother who had a the same surname of my grandpa's mother link up (well it's not totally proven beyond all doubt, but it's very likely) link up to my tree. Her great grandfather had been orphaned in his teens, and all she had was her name and a couple of census records from Ireland to go on, which stated she was from the same county my grandpa was born in. She had moved away from her family when she was ostracised after marrying a Protestant and so was not from the same area on any evidence we have, but through cooperation and me going away and researching other parts of my tree and noticed I'd added and hey presto things clicked into place.
So, I would say try to reach out to any matches you feel might be helpful, though don't overload them with too much information at first, be prepared for them not to respond (check their profile page on Ancestry to see when they were last active for example), and even if they do they may react like your close relative so I personally wouldn't stress the ethnicity too much (unless it's necessary) just talk about people and places and that you are trying to find more information on certain people, some people can be a bit funny about things, as you will know. I just thought I'd share because I know it can feel like banging your head against a brick wall sometimes, and that there no one out there to help.
Finally, if you want to get a bit more technical about things you could check out some videos about clustering your DNA matches, the Leeds method, and how to use tools like the WATO tool (What Are The Odds) from the FamilyTreeFanatics channel. You could also try and reach out to the Geneavlogger (I think he's called Jerry Ross) who has done since TH-cam series researching and building the family trees of some TH-camrs like MrBeat and a few others, he might well be interested in doing yours as well, if you're open to it, your story is quite an amazing and very unique one I think.
All the best, and good luck. You're found so much so I'm sure you'll get there in the end.
Did your parents redo the test also or are you just going off their old information?