holy cow. i sent a message to my nearest dna match. she is adopted.

[wnylib]

47. Goodness! Your family's history parallels mine.

Last edited Wed Oct 14, 2020, 04:05 PM - Edit history (2)

My grandmother's colonial British ancestors lived in CT and MA before the Revolution, then moved to western NY in the early1800's. From there, they went to NW PA, where I was born. I ended up in western NY for my husband's job, so I've been able to do some local records checking on ancestors who used to live here.

One big reason why most Native Americans resisted (and still do) DNA testing is the way the gathering of scientific "evidence" about them was used in the past. Biologists and anthropologists used to measure skull size and shape to "prove" a hierarchy of races. They raided Native burials, often very recent ones, to get their data. It was the same as if someone went to European-American cemeteries and dug up graves - without consent - to study the skeletons in order to establish which ethnicities were inferior to others. Native people mistrust the way people use science (pseudoscience) against them. That past practice is the reason why NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) was passed.

Another reason for hesitance about accepting DNA testing is that people with distant Native ancestry sometimes think that proving their ancestry makes them an instant Indian, without knowing the culture or history of the people they claim as their "identity.". They often have fantasies about "special treatment" that Native people get and want to be part of it, e.g. getting proceeds from casinos, or preference in hiring, etc. It's ridiculous. My British ancestry does not make me a citizen of the UK. My mother's German ancestry does not make me a German citizen. I am not Seneca, for example. I am a just person who has some Seneca ancestry. And I want to learn more about it.

But more Native People are interested in knowing what their DNA can tell them. Most Native Americans today have some non Native ancestry.