I am wondering about my hair...

[MorrigensCrow]

My mother and I fall into the category of puzzlement with our family too. We somehow look Middle Eastern while everyone else looks European. My mother's DNA admixture results revealed that her closest matches were from North and South India and within groups of Indians in other countries like Singapore and among Australian Aborigine mixtures. There were no matches for the British Isles, which is where her families claims they are from. We have the dark curly hair and dark eyes like the OP describes. No African or Native American admixture was revealed. There was a small amount of Transylvania and Romanian matches. One admixture calculator was a bit vague :"98% Eurasian" lol but that fits so I'll take it. We thought we had a tiny bit of Cherokee because an uncle had told us we did.

When I did some research I found pictures of Indian women and we would fit in with Northern Indians very well as far as appearance. Twenty or so years ago my dentist asked my mother if I was Asian because my teeth were distinctively "Mongolian", according to him. This trait is mentioned in some of the Melungeon research articles, but I have read others that say these traits are questionable. I am so glad now that he had asked that odd question because I would not even know it was significant until now. My family is from Tennessee, as well, so the Melungeons are a possibility.

I agree with the poster who mentioned that a lot of families were not concerned about keeping track of genealogy. I have been frustrated just trying to get surnames and maiden names. They act like we never existed before colonizing the Americas. To top it all off, a lot of my extended family are racists and would be angry and freaked to find out that we had more than just European "white" ancestry. Most of them denied the possibility of Native American ties. I find it hilarious that my uncle was technically right about having "Indian blood" but just had the wrong kind of Indian.

[507]

Who truly knows the whole story on anyone's ancestry? You can have all the records and Family tree evidence you want but it does not mean it is accurate. Multiple people can all have the same info and it all came from the same inaccurate source. As for DNA, its vague. Very, very , very Vague. No DNA test offered can tell you exactly how you and another person are related. No DNA test can tell you exactly where your ancestors came from or how closely two people are related. All they can do is guess. They can give you their best guess. Thats the cold hard truth. I found that out after paying the money for the YDNA test and joining a "surname project".

[EdwardRHill]

I think it was Biology where I got this I'm sure someone who remembers more will come along and straighten it out if I get something wrong.

A white cow and a black cow mate over time one will have the most dominant traits and it will become all one color. Over time there could be a black cow born to two whites cows. You decide which one is the bull and which is the heifer. I think its called a recessed gene. It doesn't sound like thats what going on with you.

You seem to be more in the middle on the path to one or the other color. It sounds like you are between black and white and I wonder if the mixing was more recent than distant. If it recent than it would probably be easier to find out when. More distant may explain why you only have one trait of one color and more traits of another. Hmmmm I just don't know

Change that title to Thinking out Loud

[JPHutchins]

I did the dna sample from my brothers cheek, so I did trace thru the male side.

Perhaps I either missed something, or am reading too much into this, but have you been DNA tested? I hate to say it, but just because your brother has a certain lineage, does not ensure that you have also (unrevealed adoption, NPE).

I thought my (divorced) parents were pathetic in not caring about their family trees and not giving me my ancestry information. But it looks the US in general has had the same mentality for many generations. Now it cost a lot of money, trial and error probing into possibilities, et al., to try to recover ones ancestry.

You think this is bad, try being adopted. I am still trying to track down my biological father. My biological (maternal) sisters located me, so now after 60 years I know about my bio-mom.

[EdwardRHill]

Thinking out load

I think it was Biology where I got this I'm sure someone who remembers more will come along and straighten it out if I get something wrong.

A white cow and a black cow mate over time one will have the most dominant traits and it will become all one color. Over time there could be a black cow born to two whites cows. You decide which one is the bull and which is the heifer. I think its called a recessed gene. It doesn't sound like thats what going on with you.

You seem to be more in the middle on the path to one or the other color. It sounds like you are between black and white and I wonder if the mixing was more recent than distant. If it recent than it would probably be easier to find out when. More distant may explain why you only have one trait of one color and more traits of another. Hmmmm I just don't know

[rainbow]

Kinky hair cure = conditioner

@ lotsaquestions

Maybe you need a new hair conditioner? Aussie 3 minute miracle or finesse is great. Right now I am using Suave Humectant. It's not as great as it used to be, so I think I will switch to another conditioner. Garnier Fructis sounds great, but I read the ingredients and it has something I'm allergic to. Most brands have that ingredient I'm allergic too.
Or maybe you need a hairdryer that has a diffusor. Drying hair without a diffusor can make the hair frizzy. I just towel-dry and comb thru. Too much sun can damage the hair. I remember buying a hair product (mouse or hairspray) that had sunscreen in it. Thermasilk?

edit: if you are gonna color your hair, DON'T use Thermasilk beforehand.

[Max von Pif]

I am wondering about my hair...

I also was wondering about my hair, mostly about where it went!
PS: I have 98% Euro and 2% sub Saharan African origins, needless to say the 98% ironed out the 2% kinky hair, when I still had hair that is!

[rucksack]

If you want to consider my rather large family, there seems to be an interested genealogist type about every third generation.

For me, that is 2 people out of 48 people in these 3 generations, at least.

One of the 2 is me, the other doesn't have a clue how to research yet, but she has interest.

[PDHOTLEN]

What's the matter with American mentality re family trees?

I thought my (divorced) parents were pathetic in not caring about their family trees and not giving me my ancestry information. But it looks the US in general has had the same mentality for many generations. Now it cost a lot of money, trial and error probing into possibilities, et al., to try to recover ones ancestry.

Perhaps you are descended from one of the Melungeon groups that were found in Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melungeon

Some of my family came from that area and I have an Aunt and Uncle (my Mother's sister and brother) who were often asked if they were American Indian, Mexican or Black. They both had very dark brown (looked black to me) hair and dark brown eyes. My uncle has very, very curly almost kinky hair. When he was young, during the Korean War, he was stationed in California. After several months at sea (he was in the Navy) he was very, very tanned. He visited a coffee shop each day in San Diego and flirted with a waitress there everyday. One day he asked her out, and she told him, "My Daddy would shoot me, if I went out with a colored boy."
I haven't been able to find any trace of Sub Saharan Africa in my DNA, my MTDNA is H1 and my Y-DNA is R1b1b2a1b. I had hoped the FTDNA would have given me more information about my "racial" make up, but I think that only DNATribes, DeCodeMe or 23andMe provide that sort of information. I sort of wish I had gone with one of them and got more information.

[rainbow]

You're welcome. Good luck.

wow! thank you dear ones!

You have given me so many leads and right away answered my puzzlement. I am going to follow the leads you suggest and I will let you all know what I discover in case my search might be helpful to someone else, as you have been helpful to me!!

[rainbow]

Hi,
The way to find out if your dna has admixture from different races is to have an admixture test. DNAPrint did mine in 2006, but they aren't in business anymore. I wish DNAPrint gets back in business again.
I know of two companies that exist today that do admixture tests. They are 23andme, and decodeme. Those two give you percentages.
Then there is DNA Tribes.


YDNA and MTDNA tests are inadequate when looking for admixture/percentages. A YDNA test doesn't tell you whether there is any Native American or African or European ancestry on your fathers side. It only tells you if your fathers' fathers' fathers fathers father (and so on) was from a particular haplogroup. A black man can have a European YDNA and a Native American MTDNA (as tomcat posted in another thread). A person can have a European YDNA and have non-YDNA dna admixture that makes up the bulk of his genes/phenotype. Same with MTDNA.

With Regards,
Elizabeth

[Jim Honeychuck]

If you don't find what you are looking for on your direct paternal line (Y-DNA) or your direct maternal line (mtDNA), you could try a different approach with www.23andme.com/ancestry/

Good luck in your research.
Jim

[Jim Barrett]

If they ran a Y-DNA test the results is for your paternal line (father's father's father's --- father) only. If they ran a mtDNA test the results is for your maternal line (mother's mother's mother's --- mother) only. Neither of these test tell you anything about your father's mother or your mother's father or any of your other ancestors.