Posted: Mon 22 Sep 2008 02:56 Post subject: Onlyhuman77's Ancestry by DNA 2.5
I think these tests are really cool, when I received my results I already knew how much African Admixture I would have, but getting these results confirmed it. I forget where I read it, but supposedly Geechee/Gullah people have the highest admixture of SSA 97%.
Here are my results:
96% Sub-Saharan African
3% European
1% East Asian
0% Native American
Not only do these results place my heritage solidly with my Geechee/Gullah people but more importantly with Africa. I vaguely remember the trips to the Sea Islands for family reunions, and vacations from my youth. But being there I recalled seeing it as Little Africa. After Papa (My Great-Grandfather) died and the family started fighting over his land including the big house on the island, to resolve things everything was sold (for pennies in my opinion). That was the last time I was on the islands I called Little Africa (Geechee Islands), I was ten and that was almost 20 years ago. I had no idea that what happen in my family has happened to many many others and that now people are fighting, perhaps a losing battle, for land and culture that the majority of my people gave up to have better employment and be more American.
So I suppose as excited as I am to have my DNA (and spirit) be so in tune with my Geechee people, it's disappointing that there is not much land that reflects the imprint my people left on those islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. But that is America, who needs an African sub culture in America when you can have luxury resorts and beachfront townhouses.
Last edited by onlyhuman77 on Mon 22 Sep 2008 18:04; edited 1 time in total
This is very nice to read your results, thank you for the post
That is yourself in your avatar pic, I presume right?
...I myself am in the UK, and Im considering doing this shortly (its MtDNA isn't). I will google search for where and how much near my area and any possible costs.
I didn't realize these tests even existed until joining this forum. Now I feel like giving everyone of my older relatives one of these kits as a gift to get their results. But chances are it will come out almost identical to mine, so what's the purpose lol.
I think mine cost like $240 U.S. dollars, it was definitely worth it. I would suggest if you already have an idea of your results like I did, you might want to pursuade one of your siblings or a parent to do the tests that shows where you come from in Africa while you wait for DNA admixture results. It gives you more things to share with your family at the family reunion, if your family is doing that.
Oh and yeah that is me, just figured since I am posting my admixture figured I might as well add my hairy mug (sporting a beard now, the pic is tiny not sure if anyone can notice that).
Joined: 07 Oct 2007 {Posts: 188 } Location: United States
Posted: Mon 22 Sep 2008 19:22 Post subject:
Ahh...That's interesting. I really want to try this test, but I feel like it's a bit much for how much money I make at the moment (i'm only 20, work at a retail store, and am a full time student). I'm gonna guess that I will be some 65% to 75% African admixture, followed by some 25% to 35% Euro admixture, and some 0% to 10% NA or EA. I want to see how close I am to my estimate, considering sagascend's predictions.
20-25 was definitely a financial roller coaster, if ever I had one. If you can't afford it at the moment, you should do research on your family tree. Currently I am speaking with my Grandma (Great Grandmother actually), and I and getting as much info from her about the family as possible. From family gossip to actual proveable facts with photos and other documents, this would be a good way to stay excited about your ancestry while you figure out a way of getting the money. Good Luck
Thanks for sharing your results, onlyhuman77. I have been going back and forth about having this test done. I have not been convinced about the accuracy, but you are probably the sixth person I know of who has taken the test and gotten results very close to what family history predicted. The "black" side of my family is so mixed (and for so long), that I really don't know what to expect. So, I wouldn't know if my results were logical. I mean, I'd know if they were completely illogical, like 65% SSA. I guess I'll get around to taking it eventually.
Posted: Tue 23 Sep 2008 13:59 Post subject: Re: Onlyhuman77's Ancestry by DNA 2.5
onlyhuman77 wrote:
I had no idea that what happen in my family has happened to many many others and that now people are fighting, perhaps a losing battle, for land and culture that the majority of my people gave up to have better employment and be more American. ... it's disappointing that there is not much land that reflects the imprint my people left on those islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. But that is America, who needs an African sub culture in America when you can have luxury resorts and beachfront townhouses.
Don't give up! Fight on! I think it is wonderful when people can preserve their unique ethnicities and avoid being homogenized into the U.S. dichotomy. I am joyful whenever I hear of a group maintaining or resurrecting a culture that was (almost) lost. I am saddened whenever I hear of one more culture's vanishing into the mass.
Mary Lee and I have a couple of friends, Doug and Frankie Quimby, who also perform on-stage at folk festivals. But where we do history, the Quimbys (A.K.A. "The Georgia Sea Island Singers") perform Geechee/Gullah songs and stories. But he died a couple of years ago and it is unclear whether the traditions that they have preserved will be carried into future generations. Also, as I recall, there is an annual festival held on Sapelo Island every February, but we have never been to it (at least not yet).
[For violation of rule 1.3 (expressing political advocacy and/or value judgment outside of the political forums), the administrator (me) hereby warns himself (me).]
Posted: Tue 23 Sep 2008 14:50 Post subject: Re: Onlyhuman77's Ancestry by DNA 2.5
fwsweet wrote:
[For violation of rule 1.3 (expressing political advocacy and/or value judgment outside of the political forums), the administrator (me) hereby warns himself (me).]
Thanks for sharing your results, onlyhuman77. I have been going back and forth about having this test done. I have not been convinced about the accuracy, but you are probably the sixth person I know of who has taken the test and gotten results very close to what family history predicted. The "black" side of my family is so mixed (and for so long), that I really don't know what to expect. So, I wouldn't know if my results were logical. I mean, I'd know if they were completely illogical, like 65% SSA. I guess I'll get around to taking it eventually.
While I was waiting for my results, I asked my Paternal Grandfather and his mother my Paternal Great Grandmother to give me some names and date estimates. I paid for a subscription to genealogy.com. And I begin to research this part of this family. The real importance about researching this part of my family was that they were the 25 % of my ancestry that is African American. If my admixture test would show results less than 95 % SSA admixture it would be because of this part. Researching my Geechee/Gullah side was simple, everyone was married til death, and the children all had the same parents. Researching my African American side was very different.
I searched the census for three different decades and my Great Great Grandfather had a different race in every last one of them (B,M,W). He was married several times but he only had children with his first wife. My Great Grandmother believed her mother was biracial, this info has not been verified, but all of my Great Grandmother's sibling including her were very light in complexion. Before seeing any pictures I had already assumed that my Great Great Grandfather chose wives that were of a darker complexion than his first wife. I believed the enumerator came to my Great-Great Grandfather's house while he was not home saw the children and saw the wife (at the time) and came to his own conclusion.
My Great-Great Grandfather looks like in his picture like an actor by the name Clifton Powell, a very dark complexioned African American. But yet his race was listed as "White" in one census "Mulatto" in another and "Black" in yet another. Based on this I realized just how difficult genealogical research must be for African Americans and MGM's in the U.S.
Since you are from a MGM family and you at present have reservations about the AncestrybyDNA 2.5 I can not tell you that this test will tell the true story of your racial DNA. I have sat on a many porches with MGM neighbors, friends and distant relatives of Georgia and taken great delight at the stories of their families. And each family has their own idea of beauty that their ancestors maybe have (or maybe not) so unknowingly maintained in phenotype. But with each family's preference of beauty there has been a family exaggeration in phenotype. How can someone from an MGM family be able to accurately identify their admixture when since the 1840's each generation has preferred to have children with different colored eyes and different colored hair? There is the MGM family with straight hair and Native American phenotype or the MGM family where just about everyone is Caucasian, but some still identify racially as something else.
Honestly speaking, not being a scientist or geneticist I don't feel this test will tell you anything solid. It's like a genetic gamble, you may have received more European admixture so your phenotype is Italian, but your older brother received more SSA admixture so his phenotype is Ginuwine, then there is your little sister who was born with more of a Nordic influence in her European admixture and has an Vanessa L Williams phenotype. You all have the same parents with the same DNA but all of you received a different amount of racial admixture which has resulted in the differing phenotypes. That is the beauty of being an MGM, you don't know what proportion of admixture you inherited from your parents or what admixture you will pass down to your off spring though you can influence it by choosing someone 100% East Asian, or 90% European (just as examples).
You are a blessed person because it has taken so many generations to create the person you have come to be, DNA test or not. It is up to you to determine if it is important to know what racial DNA breakdown you have and if it is accurately reflected in your phenotype or to let it ride, refusing to allow your beauty to be racially broken down since they are all part of the uniqueness that makes you you. It is indeed up to you.
Posted: Tue 23 Sep 2008 18:51 Post subject: Re: Onlyhuman77's Ancestry by DNA 2.5
fwsweet wrote:
onlyhuman77 wrote:
I had no idea that what happen in my family has happened to many many others and that now people are fighting, perhaps a losing battle, for land and culture that the majority of my people gave up to have better employment and be more American. ... it's disappointing that there is not much land that reflects the imprint my people left on those islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. But that is America, who needs an African sub culture in America when you can have luxury resorts and beachfront townhouses.
Don't give up! Fight on! I think it is wonderful when people can preserve their unique ethnicities and avoid being homogenized into the U.S. dichotomy. I am joyful whenever I hear of a group maintaining or resurrecting a culture that was (almost) lost. I am saddened whenever I hear of one more culture's vanishing into the mass.
Mary Lee and I have a couple of friends, Doug and Frankie Quimby, who also perform on-stage at folk festivals. But where we do history, the Quimbys (A.K.A. "The Georgia Sea Island Singers") perform Geechee/Gullah songs and stories. But he died a couple of years ago and it is unclear whether the traditions that they have preserved will be carried into future generations. Also, as I recall, there is an annual festival held on Sapelo Island every February, but we have never been to it (at least not yet).
[For violation of rule 1.3 (expressing political advocacy and/or value judgment outside of the political forums), the administrator (me) hereby warns himself (me).]
I do apologize for the slight anger I have expressed on this forum at the corporations that have taken such interest in the land my people inhabited when first arriving to the U.S.. It is just that I started taking an interest in my culture when I came to NYC and realized how different slavery was for my people over African Americans and how it has been reflected in many of their spirits and feelings toward African descended people in negative ways (though not all African Americans are as such). But NYC is not Georgia or South Carolina so I had to study in New York public libraries and now the internet to gain knowledge on Geechee culture and people beyond what I was told before I left the south.
And there was a Geechee/Gullah festival on one of the islands I believe, my mother went this summer with my nieces and nephew though I think she mainly went for the seafood lol, my family's achilles heel but she said she had a great time. And I actually convinced my mother to add the Geechee flag onto our family Reunion T-shirts for next year's family reunion which I believe we will be spending one of the islands renting out some of those beautiful beach houses for a week lol. But yeah I do apologize since this is not the forum to express such protest, so I will not.
Posted: Tue 23 Sep 2008 22:47 Post subject: Re: Onlyhuman77's Ancestry by DNA 2.5
onlyhuman77 wrote:
I do apologize for the slight anger I have expressed on this forum at the corporations that have taken such interest in the land my people inhabited when first arriving to the U.S.
No need to apologize at all! My warning was addressed to myself, not to you.
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