I
took another DNA test, this one offered by Ancestry.com, after a cousin took
the same test. I already knew quite a bit about my genetic genealogy after
taking the DNA testing offered by Family Tree DNA, which has a New Mexico Project
that includes more than 2,000 participants. The difference is Family Tree DNA
tests Y-DNA, showing my paternal lineage, and MT-DNA, showing my maternal
lineage. The test offered by Ancestry.com shows ethnic and racial makeup of
participants based on both parents.
So,
based on what I already knew, my results weren’t surprising. I knew from DNA
and from the paper trail of my genealogy that I descend almost exclusively from
Spanish and Native American ancestors – at least during the past 400 years, with
some Portuguese and French mixed in. But it was still interesting to see the
results in black and white. And it took me some time to fully figure it out.
My
results broke down my ethnic heritage based on three primary regions: 32
percent Native American; 30 percent Iberian Peninsula (modern day Spain and
Portugal); and 16 percent Italy and Greece.
I
was a little surprised that Native American was the largest percentage, and
that Italy/Greece was significant. But after thinking about it, my paternal
Y-DNA tied me to the original Chaves family in New Mexico, which descended from
Spain, and going further back several centuries, to the Visigoths, an East
German tribe. The Visigoths migrated south through Europe and eventually sacked
the Roman Empire which is probably why I have the DNA connection to Italy and
Greece. The Visigoths eventually made their way to the Iberian Peninsula.
 |
| Visigoth Migration Pattern |
Further
complicating things, or possibly simplifying them, my maternal family also
descends from the Chaves family, which is proven through genealogy and DNA. So
that explains why nearly half of my DNA is connected to the Iberian Peninsula,
Italy and Greece. And a third of my DNA is Native American, which is probably
typical of most native New Mexicans who trace their heritage to the Spanish
colonial period of the 1600s. I know from my mt-DNA (my mother’s mother’s
mother’s mother, etc.) that I descend from the Chichimecas of North-Central
Mexico.
The
other benefit of this DNA test is that it accurately predicted I am the 1st
cousin to Mike Chavez, the cousin who took the test before me. Since so many
people are signed up with Ancestry.com, it’s also not surprising that there are
5 second-cousins who took the test; 45 second-cousins; hundreds of third-cousins
and thousands of 4th- and 5th-cousins.
You’d
think I might be done with the DNA testing. Far from it. My daughters want to
get tested, which would reveal their maternal ancestry. I also want to test my
father-in-law, Joe Casaus, to see what the Casaus DNA reveals. And I have
cousins who want to get tested, and I’m hoping to get my only DeTevis
great-uncle tested to see his ancestry.
And
I’m sure DNA testing will continue to evolve. It’s just a matter of being
open-minded and adapting to new discoveries.
