Within the past few years, DNA tests have become more and more popular. But would these tests work for someone whose genetic background is not predominately European? That is, would the DNA results be as valid as the results from someone whose ancestors came from Europe?
Being of Afro-American descent from the USA, I felt very frustrated in researching my maternal ancestors. My mother was born in Mississippi, USA. She died about 8-9 years ago. A few years after her death, I began to get interested in her life. That is, where did she live? Was she a slave or a free person prior to the end of the American Civil War in 1865?
But when researching one’s ancestry, how does one start? I spoke to some relatives and friends of my mother, etc. Then I began to use some well known family history websites. These websites provided information including: the names of family members, ages, occupations, etc. However, very little was discovered about ancestors prior to 1865.
Next, I began to explore the 1850 and 1860 slave schedules in the American Census. But it contained only the names of the slave masters. For each slave master, their slaves were listed only by gender and age. As a result, my mother’s ancestors prior to 1865 were probably slaves and not freemen.
About 4 years ago, some members of Yorkton and other Genealogical Society strongly suggested that I take a DNA test. I did. It consisted of me spitting into a tube and mailing the results away. It was easy. In the personal identification section of the DNA testing, I did not provide any information about myself about: my parents, my siblings, or my ethnic background.
About 3-4 weeks later my results were emailed to me. The DNA company identified: my ethnic group membership, country of origin, and a list of highly probable persons whose genetic background was identified as being my cousins and how I could contact them. So I began to email some of the names on the list.
One of the cousins on the list emailed me first. She promised to contact me. About 4 months later she phoned. She lives in North Carolina, USA. She spoke of lots of relatives and ancestors. We spent many hours on the phone trying to match our relatives. I was thrilled!
Several years after I sent my results away for DNA testing, my identical twin sister who lives in the USA, decided to submit her results for DNA testing. In her information to the DNA testing company, she did not mention anything about having a twin sister. Nor did she state her ethnic group membership or anything about her background.
When my sister received her results, she immediately contacted me. The DNA testing results, identified her as either having already submitted results several years earlier or having an identical twin sister named Doris Maben.
This news shocked me. I said, “oh no, we’ve been busted!”.
We both had a good laugh about the results. Her DNA results were similar to mine. I breathed a “sigh of relief” as the findings did indicate some credibility with my test results.
In early April, 2019, while I was in the USA, my sister and I visited a cousin as identified from the DNA testing. In this visit, we socialized and discussed our ancestors. Our cousin introduced us to other cousins. In the near future, we plan to visit more of our cousins
The next meeting of the Yorkton Genealogical Society will be May 14, 2019 (Tuesday), in the History Room of the Yorkton Public Library at 7 pm.
If you are interested in family history and would like to meet other people with similar interests please join us. We can provide tips to help you get started on your family history quest. Or, we can help you “break down a brick wall - genealogical barrier”.
Our mini-conference in Yorkton will be toward the end of September, 2019. This mini-conference will feature a speaker (genealogist/historian) on First Nation and Metis early history, a DNA expert, and a highly researched speaker on Eastern Europe Immigration.
The Yorkton Genealogical Society website is: yorktonchaptersgs.wordpress.com
Our facebook page is: yorkton genealogy society
