A while back I ordered DNA testing kits from africanancestry.com. The PatriClan kit studies the Y chromosome(passed down from father to son) to determine paternal ancestry. The MatriClan kit studies MitochondrialDNA(which we inherit from our mother, her mother, etc.) to determine maternal ancestry.

According to the test results, I share paternal genetic ancestry with the Nkonya people in Ghana, and maternal genetic ancestry with the Serer people in Senegal.

Check out the website - it's great stuff.

uPtoWnNY said:

That is very cool! (but, I'm not going to ask you what you had to turn in for a DNA sample )

I did some research a while ago. My ancestry is East African, Israeli, South Asian and Southern Russian

I saw a documentary on this kind of test...it's so amazing how they can pinpoint exactly where your family came from!

I think my immediate ancestors were Greek, French and Irish.

Doesn't everybody come from Africa, originally?

Sweeny79 said:

Yeah, the documentary was called African-American Lives(on PBS). DNA has made it easier for black Americans to trace their roots.

applekisses, all you have to is swab the inside of your mouth. But women can't take the PatriClan test. Your father, brother, uncle or another male relative on your father's side has to do it.

uPtoWnNY said:

have they got a MatriClan test then?

charlottegelin said:

Check this out...

http://www.africanancestry.com

This is tempting...

uPtoWnNY said:

ooh it does!

I've wanted to do this since I heard about it. May I ask, how much does a test set you back dollar-wise?

Nevermind. Just checked the site.

Looks interesting. I may do this eventually.
[Edited 4/17/06 20:26pm]

Lammastide said:

Have the family chip in. I think it's worth it.

Byron said:

isn't it? if i had the money i would totally find it out
i remember watching probably the same documentary mentioned earlier
they were interviewing oprah and whoopi and chris tucker and a bunch of well known Black american icons, and it got me going i totally wanted to findout my own ancestry...

from what i know (which isn't much) i am part cuban and east indian...

for all i know it could be wrong

uPtoWnNY said:

I think this is so great. The price is a little steep, but, as you said, if your whole family can contribute, it wouldn't be so pricey.

uPtoWnNY said:

$300 isn't a lot really....most people spend that on crap they don't need in a month I would guess. Just cut back on the going to the movies, getting take out or buy cd's or whatever for a few weeks.

And you are right it's also great if you have brothers and/or sisters.... you can split the cost then

uPtoWnNY said:

I just ordered the Family Package!

Thanks

wow that's really interesting. i wonder.....

uPtoWnNY said:

That was an interesting show. The host 'wanted' to be from African SOOOO bad.

Here's a list of Web sites and pricing...


African Ancestry Paternal and maternal lines, specializing in links to Africa $349
DNA Heritage Paternal line $138
DNAPrint Genomics Ancestry percentages $219
Family Tree DNA Paternal and maternal lines, including Native American lineages $129
Oxford Ancestors Paternal and maternal lines $320
Relative Genetics Paternal and maternal lines, testing for Native American lines $95
National Geographic Paternal and maternal lines $99.95

applekisses said:

This stuff should be FREE.

SHANNA said:

Cool! After you send them your DNA, you should have the results within six weeks. These tests don't cover your ENTIRE lineage - just a particular line. But it's a great start.

Now there's something called the ADMIXTURE test, which tells you what percentage African, European, Native American, Asian you are. I'm thinking about taking that test.

I'm seriously going to consider one of these packages within the next couple of weeks.

uPtoWnNY, if you don't mind me putting you in the spotlight... now that you've got the results -- something many diasporan Africans have ached for for literally centuries, how do you think it may transform you? Do you feel it may motivate a deep change in your outlook or actions? Or do you think it's merely the simple peace of mind in re-establishing a cultural-historical link?

Lammastide said:

Hmmm...I'm going with your second point.

(Most) white Americans can trace their ancestry to a particular town in Europe. Thanks to slavery, black Americans couldn't do that. Alex Haley was one of the lucky ones. His family passed down the story from generation to generation. That gave Mr. Haley a starting point. DNA testing gives ALL of us a starting point. I'll probably do more family research..my dad was on cloud nine when I told him the results(he LOVES history).

I'm going to join that website and talk to other folks about their test results. That should be f-n AWESOME!

My test would reveal I'm a mutt.
Ain't no purebreeds in my family.

uPtoWnNY said:

That sounds cool. Are you gonna look into any interaction with the tribes/countries of your ancestry?

Lammastide said:

I'm not a big travel person...but if I can correspond with folks from those countries via that website, that would be nice.


Now if you want to find out about other lineages in your family, you must enlist other family members. These tests only deal with YOUR maternal & paternal ancestry. Each family has hundreds of lineages - imagine trying to research them all!
[Edited 4/18/06 20:55pm]

SHANNA said:

It arrived yesterday...I'm about to open it and dive in.

~Sammi, sweetheart, orgNote.

SHANNA said:

Sweet. Make sure you post the results. Who's going to take the PatriClan test for you?

uPtoWnNY said:

My baby brother Terry...

And I will.

applekisses said:

There was one features on 20/20 it was $600.00. That one didn't specialize in a particular type of ancestry. The special feature a guy who all his life thought he was black and it turned out he had very little african ancestry. He was shocked. His mother didn't give a shit. She was black as far as she was concerned