DNA & Ethnicity- Who, me?

Like most genealogists (and family historians):

I am not a DNA expert, but
am curious about my family history, and
I want as many clues and facts as I can unearth.

All in all, I guess that makes me pretty average. Although, I hesitate to emphasize my being normal.

World Map of Y-DNA Haplogroups: Wikimedia

By way of providing some further background and context, I really do know quite a bit about my familys’ histories (awkward grammar alert). But, I continue to want to learn more. Like most of you, when I get stumped chasing previously obvious leads, I look for new information and data threads to pull. DNA clues have always seemed to offer an intriguing and somewhat mystifying set of options.

So it was that one day, we, my wife and I, went off shopping for DNA testing, money in hand, curiosity at the ready.

The reasons for our ultimate choices were quite straightforward. The first test we purchased was from 23andMe; because they were the first company to offer the extra bonus of health-related data analysis. Later, we chose to use AncestryDNA because my wife’s siblings had used them and we wanted to directly compare my wife’s DNA results with those of her family members. I assume her siblings chose AncestryDNA because one sister was actively “raking leaves on Ancestry” and Ancestry advertised sufficiently to entice a DNA purchase from that end of our clan.

In the end, we each obtained two sets of results, one from 23andMe and one from AncestryDNA.

The base dataset from which this article and my DNA Ethnic analysis and breakdown analysis are derived are:

23andMe– they were my first test, no studying required. They performed the first Ethnic analysis of my DNA. I passed.
AncestryDNA– they were my second DNA test provider. They, also, performed an Ethnic determination on my DNA.

Much to my surprise, I was not the same! I got substantially different breakdowns and groupings. I thought I was me, but maybe I was wrong and I wasn’t?!?

To complete this background discussion, last month one of my Genealogy Workshop attendees suggested I take my DNA to the DNA processing experts at GEDmatch. So, I did. What I discovered was, I didn’t have a clue what they were trying to tell me (see my article). The amount of technical data and analysis available made my little brain hurt. However, their analysis gave me an idea. Why not shop my DNA raw data to a number of places and check out my “Ethnic” background.

Disclaimer: I think this is right time for me to say that I am an Ethnic Group agnostic. Yes, I am sorry; but I am not a true fundementalist believer in the inviolability of Ethnic Groups. I actually believe, and have for most of my adult life, that Ethnic Groups are simply collections of people who self-identify with each other based largely upon cultural and linguistic preferences. So for the purpose of this aricle, I will use the term in that manner. However, many who I encounter in public forums look on me as a heritic when I state such radical notions. I promise no more…

Now back to my riveting tale…

With my “raw” DNA data in hand, I carried my DNA, figuratively speaking, to a number of laboratories for “further” analysis. My criteria for selecting secondary analysis providers was pretty simple. Whomever I chose had to be reputable, and free. You probably know why; trust me, this genealogy stuff does not pay well. I already let the cat out of the bag on who the first dataset analysis provider was, but here is my entire list:

GEDmatch
MyHeritage
DNA.land (no longer online)

Yes, there are other analysis providers available. But for my analysis, this seemed an adequate population. Besides which each of these providers was able to model and analyze both my 23andMe and AncestryDNA data; thereby making my spreadsheet much more balanced in appearance. It also allows me, and you, to see if the original differences between 23andMe and AncestryDNA carried through each “re-analysis”.

A couple of items first to clarify my truly sophisticated analysis.

None of the DNA Analysis Labs use an “industry standard” set of Ethnic Groupings; probably because none exists. They seem to prefer their own Ethnic Grouping(s). To cope with that I tried to group regions and Ethnicities appropriately; that is appropriately by my definition.
Because I personally do not “contain” all possible “flavors” of Ethnicity, your favorite Ethnicity may be missing. Sorry.
I organized the columns such that they appear with 23andMe first, AncestryDNA second; just because I received them (took them, bought the tests) in that order.
The columns do not add up to 100%. See item 1 in this list, the reason may be hiding in there somewhere. But that’s just a guess on my part. I can, however, say that I’m pretty certain the spreadsheet adds the columns correctly.

Below you can see how the services analyzed two DNA datasets from a single individual, me.(click on the image to make the image larger)

I do not know what observations you might derive from my spreadsheet analysis. However, here are the conclusions, observations I have drawn from this exercise.

I would not want to use DNA Ethnic Grouping analysis results for my genealogy work without having, at least, a basic personal and family history context.
A person’s DNA is built up over all the generations that preceded them, that and little bit about the luck associated with which bits of DNA you get from mom and dad. Historical context is a huge adjunct to understanding where and when the ethnic components may have ‘arrived’ into a person’s DNA composition. You’ll never know which ones went down other branches because your person on the tree never got the “cool” Ethnic marker(s).
It seems clear that knowing where Ethnic Groups lived, and when, is also essential. Not to mention when they might have been eradicated from a piece of real estate (Ethnically Cleansed).

Obviously, all these “contexts’ can be built and understood. But knowing your DNA Ethnic mix is more useful in confirming your genealogy research than it is in kicking it off.

If you are a bit uncertain about some of the major events impacting North American and European History, you might find The Brickwall Checklist helpful. You might also view/ study the:

ManyRoads European & North American Timeline

If you would like to read other articles on this general topic area, here are a few I recommend.

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