Connection to Madagascar?

[Herb.]

Originally, I took the Central Asia DNA as a connection my Native American roots. But someone brought it to my attention that this be Mongoloid DNA, separate from my Native DNA.

Read his response to my thread here:

http://forums.familytreedna.com/showthread.php?t=38703

This isn't the first time someone mentioned the possibility of a Madagascar/Malagayse DNA to me. I've just finally looked into it, and discovered their SE African Bantu and Asian connections. As well as Polynesian, which appeared in small trace amounts in my AncestryDNA makeup as well.

Also, I checked the African DNA makeup of a Madagascar native, and it is very similar to the one which I received from Ancestry DNA. Almost eerily similar, in regard to the way Cameroon precedes SE Bantu.

Madagascar native's AncestryDNA results:

link removed

My more detailed African breakdown from AncestryDNA:

http://i68.tinypic.com/2ce6cs1.jpg

Is there validity in what I am being told?

[Marianne]

Melvin Collier wrote a blog entry on the subject a few weeks ago:

http://rootsrevealed.blogspot.ca/2015/10/trekking-edwards-dna-trail-back-to.html

The interesting bits:

T.L. Dixon, a DNA scholar in the Malagasy Roots Project Facebook group, confirmed that South Asian DNA may be an indicator of a Madagascar ancestor. He further stated, “The range seems to be from 0% to 25%, based on my family's Malagasy ancestors….You should also note the Southeast Asian clusters very closely to South Asian (India subcontinent), so the algorithm may show percentages in both categories.” Another DNA scholar, Teresa Vega, who has also extensively researched her Madagascar ancestry, also explained that she has both Southeast Asian and South Asian admixtures in her ancestry composition. Her extensive research can be read HERE.

Although they are talking more of SouthEast and South Asia. Melvin also share the ethnic composition of a Malagasy, but I don't see any central Asia...

Well, maybe, maybe not. I could also be from Arab population genetic input in Africa, or for Huns input into Europeans, or Amerindian input in Americans. The problem with Central Asia is it is really central. ^^;

Also, FTDNA announced last month that we will get new results for my origin in a few months (it should be in the first trimester of 2016). Maybe this Central Asia DNA will be reassignated to other regions (my origin will have more cluster).

Do you know of any known Malagasy ancestor, or a least an ancestor who lived where Malagasy descendants should have been common?

[Herb.]

Hey! Thanks for your reply.

I actually just transferred my raw DNA to Eurogenes K36,which is a tool designed to break it down further and get more specific results on GEDMatch and it gave a distinction of South Central Asia!

FTDNA does describe the Central Asia cluster as one which travels all the from the north, down to the very south of the continent. GEDMatch has broken it down just a bit more, with a percentage of 1.92 ,which is reasonably close to the 3% I got from FTDNA.

[Herb.]

But I know of no of my ancestors who lived in areas where they were. Instead, I know for a fact that my great grandmother Chief Leach lived in Harnett County, where Coharie and Lumbee Indians resided.

I think it's safe to assume these are indeed remnants of Native blood more than anything. I have way more familial evidence to support that than I do to support a connection to Madagascar.

[Marianne]

You could contact this Malagasy Roots Project Facebook group and see if some of your ancestors lived around Malagasy hotspots in US.

And I see on the other thread you have Scandinavian DNA also, central Asia could come from there too.The easiest way to sort it out would to have your parents tested, to see from which side the central Asia DNA comes from and what else there is or isn't there as well. Grand-parents would be even better, but very few of us still have them around to test.