John LaCoste is our Wednesday afternoon volunteer at
Fort Myers-Lee County Library. Dr. LaCoste is considered our local
expert on DNA testing and has first hand experience with the most
current battery of tests. His knowledge of these tests also extends to
helping patrons interpret their results. DNA testing for Native American
Ancestry (NA) is one of the fastest growing areas of interest
nationwide. This article was in response to a recent patron query.
Feedback or questions may be forwarded to Dr. Lacoste at his e-mail
address: Drellsworth@wmconnect.com. Based on your answers to various
questions, Dr. Lacoste may be able to provide some recommendations on
what test, or tests, to have conducted, and what companies offer such
tests.
There are three different tests that you can have conducted which may
prove your Native American ancestry. The first would be the Y-DNA test,
which tests your ancestry from your father's lineage. If you believe
that you inherited your Native American ancestry through your father, or
your father's father, ancestry going back on your paternal line can be
tested from the Y-DNA test. The second test would be the MtDNA test. You
inherit your MtDNA from your mother; thus, if you believe that your
mother brought the NA into your family, you may want to have this test
conducted. The MtDNA test shows your maternal ancestry only, from your
mother or her mother. Both of these tests limit the number of ancestors,
the Y for male ancestors only, and the MtDNA for female ancestors. The
third type of test is the Autosomal DNA test. This test tests your
Genome for all ancestors within a modern ancestral context. Your results
could indicate Native American ancestry. If your NA ancestry came into
your lineage through any of your distant ancestors who married into your
Y-DNA lineage, or who married into your MtDNA ancestry, the Autosomal
DNA test could bring this out. In my case, I knew the Great-Grandparent
who had my NA influence on my lineage, and after having the Y, and MtDNA
tests conducted, these tests showed no NA ancestry. However, my
Autosomal DNA results did show 14% NA ancestry within the last 1000
years or so. Although this test could not tell me which tribe, it did
prove that the family stories were correct, and it proved that I did
have NA ancestry.
Based on your knowledge, or lack of knowledge about the probable origin
of your NA ancestry, you may have to take all the tests to determine
your chances and percentage of NA. These tests will help determine the
answers to the following questions. Was it on your father, or mother's
side of the family? Was it your mother's mother, or father that may have
brought it into your line, or was it your father's father, or possibly
his mother? You may have to conduct the Autosomal DNA test to determine
the amount of NA admixture in your DNA. This test will indicate the
chances and percentage of NA.
JLC/BLM 6/10/2008
Bryan L. Mulcahy
Reference Librarian
Fort Myers-Lee County Library
2050 Central Avenue
Fort Myers, FL 33901-3917
Tel: (239) 479-4651
Fax: (239) 479-4634
E-Mail: bmulcahy@leegov.com
