Category Archives: DNA

Cherokee Ancestry – The Most Persistent Native American Family Legend

Posted on May 16, 2018 by Roberta Estes

“An aged and dignified chief. … This man … as well as a very great proportion of the Cherokee population, has a mixture of red and white blood in his veins, of which, in this instance, the first seems decidedly … Continue reading →

Posted in Cherokee, DNA | Tagged Cherokee, DNA | 10 Comments

Native Male Y DNA Haplogroup C-P39 Branches

Posted on May 2, 2017 by Roberta Estes

I am extremely pleased to provide an update on the Haplogroup C-P39 Native American Y DNA project. Marie Rundquist and I as co-administrators have exciting discoveries to share. As it so happens, this announcement comes almost exactly on the 4th … Continue reading →

Posted in Acadian, Appalachia, Canada, DNA, Micmac | Tagged DNA | 15 Comments

Native American and First Nations DNA Testing – Buyer Beware

Posted on January 27, 2017 by Roberta Estes

This week, a woman in North Carolina revealed that she descends from the extinct Beothuk tribe in Canada as a result of a DNA test from a Canadian DNA testing company. This has caused quite an uproar, in both genetic … Continue reading →

Posted in Beothuk, DNA | 10 Comments

John Iron Moccasin, Story of a Sioux Man

Posted on December 8, 2016 by Roberta Estes

Occasionally, the project administrators of the American Indian project at Family Tree DNA are presented with a rare opportunity to test an individual who is either full-blooded Native or nearly so. Recently, a Native Sioux man, John Iron Moccasin, born Earl … Continue reading →

Posted in Algonquian, Canada, Chippewa, DNA, Kaskaskian, Mexico, Mohawk, Sioux | 5 Comments

Hyde County, NC Indian Families in 1850

Posted on May 14, 2016 by Roberta Estes

A friend was looking through the Hyde County, NC, 1850 census and noticed something quite interesting. On page 4 (at Ancestry.com) of the Currituck district, one entire page (except one person) is shown with M, for mulatto, overwritten over something … Continue reading →

Posted in Algonquian, Bare River Indians, Bay River Indians, Catatkpncy, Cherokee, Chowan, Coree, DNA, Hatteras, Lumbee, Machapunga, Mattamuskeet, Meherrin, North Carolina, Pamplico, Peedee, Reservation, Tuscarora, Waccamaw, Weyanoke, Woccon, Wynganditoian, Yawpim, Yeopim | 42 Comments

Further Analysis of Native American DNA Haplogroup C Planned

Posted on February 5, 2016 by Roberta Estes

Haplogroup C is one of two Native American male haplogroups. More specifically, one specific branch of the haplogroup C tree is Native American which is defined by mutation C-P39 (formerly known as C3b). Ray Banks shows this branch (highlighted in yellow) along … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Cree, DNA, Miawpukeks, Micmac | 18 Comments

Native American Haplogroup X2a – Solutrean, Hebrew or Beringian?

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Roberta Estes

I was very pleased to see the article, “Does Mitochondrial Haplogroup X Indicate Ancient Trans-Atlantic Migration to the Americas? A Critical Re-Evaluation” by Jennifer Raff and Deborah Bolnick. This is one of those topics that gets brought up over and over … Continue reading →

Posted in Algonquian, Anthropology, Anzick, Archaeology, Archaic Indians, Asia, Beothuk, Canada, Chippewa, Clovis, DNA, Europe, History, Jemez, Kennewick Man, Michigan, Micmac, Migration, Montana, Navajo, Ojibwa, Sioux, Solutrean | 8 Comments

Mass Pre-Contact Native Grave in California Yields Disappointing Results

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Roberta Estes

In 2012 during excavation for a shopping mall near San Francisco, a mass grave containing 7 men was unearthed. The manner in which they were buried led archaeologists to believe that they had been murdered, and quickly buried, not ceremonially … Continue reading →

Posted in DNA, Ohlone | 1 Comment

Native American Haplogroup C Update – Progress!!!

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Roberta Estes

Haplogroup C-P39 is the Native American branch of Y DNA paternal haplogroup C. It’s rare as chicken’s teeth. Most Native American males fall into haplogroup Q, making our haplogroup C-P39 project participants quite unusual and unique. So are the tools needed to identify branches … Continue reading →

Posted in DNA | 3 Comments

Kennewick Man is Native American

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Roberta Estes

Finally, an answer, after almost 20 years and very nearly losing the opportunity of ever knowing. Today, in Nature, a team of scientists released information about the full genomic sequencing of Kennewick Man who was discovered in 1996 in Washington state. … Continue reading →