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WePurrsevere

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5. FWIW, it's possible to have NA ancestors and not have it show up.

Fri Aug 9, 2019, 05:05 PM

Aug 2019

While your sister may have found records showing that Susie was from Germany it's still possible that you do have NA ethnicity back in time and it's just not showing up.

Here's a great article that explains why this can happen with NA DNA:
http://www.rootsandrecombinantdna.com/2015/03/native-american-dna-is-just-not-that.html

For a decent explanation about ethnicity in general not being reliable this is a good one:
https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2019/01/27/and-still-not-soup/or

DNA for ethnicity, as a science, is not as accurate as it is for matching.

As an adoptee searching I'd tested at the big 2 plus uploaded my raw data to GEDmatch, MyHeritage and FTDNA. Now that I'm 'in reunion' with both sides I have a decent family tree started that's based on records (plus DNA) so I can tell you from experience ethnicity definitely can vary quite a bit between testing sites.

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My family thought for generations that we had a Cherokee ancestor. [View all] Lunabell Aug 2019 OP

Better be careful with revelations like that DFW Aug 2019 #1

Lmao Lunabell Aug 2019 #2

I, on the other hand, can boast 2 distinguished grandfathers DFW Aug 2019 #10

Interesting! A similar story about our family says that the original ancestor Nay Aug 2019 #15

Jesus, we have the same story in our family. Codeine Aug 2019 #18

Really! I wonder what book it IS from! The larger story is that my grandfather Nay Aug 2019 #20

WE supposedely have an Indian ancestor on moms side. My dad ALL Germans. (probably the BAD guys) trueblue2007 Aug 2019 #23

I think around the 1960s every family Codeine Aug 2019 #24

Ha, we have one from northern Ireland who was a rum-runner. The Velveteen Ocelot Aug 2019 #25

Sounds like a good reason to be neither Catholic nor Protestant! But hardly disreputable. DFW Aug 2019 #30

As George Carlin observed SCantiGOP Aug 2019 #3

As Bill Murray observed..... DFW Aug 2019 #11

Lol...+1!!! Docreed2003 Aug 2019 #12

Carlin also said that Canada SCantiGOP Aug 2019 #14

It was the same with my family. Supposedly 8 generations ago Arkansas Granny Aug 2019 #4

While it's possible that it's a family myth, it's also possible that it isn't... WePurrsevere Aug 2019 #7

Best explanation I've seen of this phenomenon yet. n/t PandoraAwakened Aug 2019 #9

Thank you for sharing this! n/t Niagara Aug 2019 #22

Thanks d_r Aug 2019 #29

Probabilities from the International Society of Genetic Genealogy... Buckeye_Democrat Aug 2019 #19

FWIW, it's possible to have NA ancestors and not have it show up. WePurrsevere Aug 2019 #5

Well damn. lark Aug 2019 #6

YYMV, Of Course RobinA Aug 2019 #31

There are so many other possible explanations for why that corporation Farmer-Rick Aug 2019 #8

I've researched family stories. I've proved one wrong while another has been applegrove Aug 2019 #13

I had a similar result but given the odd NA DNA issues nolabear Aug 2019 #16

What I want to know is - why does everyone claim Cherokee ancestry, wny not some other tribe like Kashkakat v.2.0 Aug 2019 #17

... Kali Aug 2019 #21

That's what I thought too Merlot Aug 2019 #27

That's crucial. PoindexterOglethorpe Aug 2019 #28

I Always Wondered This RobinA Aug 2019 #32

EXACT SAME THING Brainstormy Aug 2019 #26