Author Archives: Roberta Estes

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About Roberta Estes

Scientist, author, genetic genealogist. Documenting Native Heritage through contemporaneous records and DNA.

Updated Native American Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroups

I’ve updated the list of Native American Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroups and their sources. This most recent update comes from both GenBank the Anzick extrapolations, with links provided when possible. If you know of other credibly sourced Native haplogroup information, please let … Continue reading

Posted in DNA | 1 Comment

The People’s Path Native Site to Disappear

The People’s Path webpage was created in the 1990s to provide resources to Cherokee researchers, although there are resources from many other tribes included.  Just scanning, I see Ojibwa, Micmac, Lumbee, Navajo and lots more.  There is truly a wealth … Continue reading

Posted in Cherokee | 1 Comment

Kostenki14 – A New Ancient Siberian DNA Sample

This week, published in Science, we find another ancient DNA full genome sequence from Siberia in an article titled “Genomic structure in Europeans dating back at least 36,200 years” by Seguin-Orlando et al.. This sample, partially shown above, is quite old and … Continue reading

Posted in Archaeology, DNA, History | 4 Comments

Life Among the Mohawks in 1644

Kiliaen van Rensselaer was a Dutch minister affiliated with the Dutch West Indies Company who lived at Fort Orange (above) in 1642 with his wife and children in what is today Albany, New York.  Today, the fort is under an expressway. … Continue reading

Posted in Mohawk, New York | Leave a comment

American Indian Records on Ancestry

Recently Ancestry.com added several sets of American Indian records to their collection, and some are free. This link should take you directly to the American Indian Collection search function at Ancestry. This collection includes the following data bases:

Posted in Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Five Civilized Tribes, Freedmen, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Osage, Research, Resources, Seminole | 5 Comments

Connecticut Indians, 1647-1789

In 1922, an index was assembled of the references to Indians in the Connecticut State Library. This 186 page index covers the five hundred ninety nine documents which were selected about 1845 from the files of the General Assembly by … Continue reading

Posted in Connecticut | 1 Comment

Allen County Public Library Native and African American Online Resources

The Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana is far more than a local, county, state or even regional resource. It’s one of the premiere genealogy libraries in the country and draws researchers from all states and Canada with … Continue reading

Posted in Cherokee, Research, Resources | 1 Comment

Married in the Manor and Custom of the Time

Primus Tyler was a slave, bought by the Quakers and freed. You can read the whole story on Lisa Henderson’s blog, Fourth Generation Inclusive. I’ve excerpted a piece here from a letter where Primus describes the marriage customs of an … Continue reading

Posted in North Carolina, Slaves | 1 Comment

Matching DNA of Living Native Descendants to DNA of Native Ancestors

As most of my subscribers know, I also author the http://www.dna-explained.com blog.  Recently, the ability for currently living people who have taken an autosomal DNA test from either Family Tree DNA (who I recommend), 23andMe or Ancestry can download their … Continue reading

Posted in Anzick, Clovis, DNA, Montana | 9 Comments

Ring Found in Indian Grave Inscribed “Think of Mary”

Charlotte News, Charlotte, NC, Sunday, July 3, 1921 “There has been one incident in my life that has fascinated me for years,” declared T.J. Saulter, traveling sales man of Norfolk, Va, who was in Charlotte Saturday. “My pet hobby is … Continue reading

Posted in North Carolina, Tuscarora | 18 Comments