Native American ancestry

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Not to be confused with Native American identity.

In human population genetics, Native American ancestry refers to the theory that genetic ancestry can trace a relationship back to one or more individuals that were Indigenous to the Americas. However, there is no DNA test that can prove someone is Native American and cannot pinpoint specific Native American tribes.[1][2]

Genetically, Native Americans are most closely related to East Asians.[3] Native American genomes contain genetic signals from Western Eurasia due in part to their descent from a common Siberian population during the Upper Paleolithic period.[3]

In the United States, levels of what commercial DNA companies mark as Indigenous American ancestry (distinct from Native American identity, which is based on kinship, citizenship, and cultural ties) among non-Natives differ, but in general are extremely low. The genomes of self-reported African Americans averaged to 0.8% Native American ancestry, those of European Americans averaged 0.18%, and those of Latinos averaged 18.0%.[4][5]

Geneticist Kim TallBear (Dakota), author of Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science,[1] has written about individuals discovering what they believe to be Native American ancestry through DNA testing, who then self-identify as Native American in general, or as members or descendants of a specific tribe. She notes, however, that not only is there no DNA test that can indicate a tribe, but "There is no DNA test to prove you're Native American."[1] and that this group mostly continues to identify as white.[2] She also stresses that Indigenous identity is not about one distant (and possibly nonexistent) ancestor, but rather political citizenship, culture, kinship, and daily, lived experience as part of an Indigenous community.[2][6]

Hispanic families in Latin America may be of Native American, European, African, or Asian ancestry; many Latin Americans descend from two or more of these ancestral populations.[7]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Geddes, Linda (5 February 2014). "'There is no DNA test to prove you're Native American'". New Scientist. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  2. ^ a b c TallBear, Kim (2013). Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science. pp. 132–136.
  3. ^ a b Raghavan, Maanasa; Skoglund, Pontus; Graf, Kelly E.; Metspalu, Mait; Albrechtsen, Anders; Moltke, Ida; Rasmussen, Simon; Stafford Jr, Thomas W.; Orlando, Ludovic (2013-11-20). "Upper Palaeolithic Siberian genome reveals dual ancestry of Native Americans". Nature. 505 (7481): 87–91. doi:10.1038/nature12736. ISSN 0028-0836. PMC 4105016. PMID 24256729.
  4. ^ Bryc, Katarzyna; Durand, Eric Y.; Macpherson, J. Michael; Reich, David; Mountain, Joanna L. (January 2015). "The Genetic Ancestry of African Americans, Latinos, and European Americans across the United States". The American Journal of Human Genetics. 96 (1): 37–53. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2014.11.010. ISSN 0002-9297. PMC 4289685. PMID 25529636.
  5. ^ Carl Zimmer (24 December 2014). "White? Black? A Murky Distinction Grows Still Murkier". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 October 2018. The researchers found that European-Americans had genomes that were on average 98.6 percent European, .19 percent African, and .18 Native American.
  6. ^ Gupta, Prachi (16 October 2018). "'Our Vote Matters Very Little': Kim TallBear on Elizabeth Warren's Attempt to Claim Native American Heritage". Jezebel. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  7. ^ Bedoya, Gabriel; Montoya, Patricia; García, Jenny; Soto, Ivan; Bourgeois, Stephane; Carvajal, Luis; Labuda, Damian; Alvarez, Victor; Ospina, Jorge (2006-05-09). "Admixture dynamics in Hispanics: A shift in the nuclear genetic ancestry of a South American population isolate". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 103 (19): 7234–7239. Bibcode:2006PNAS..103.7234B. doi:10.1073/pnas.0508716103. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 1464326. PMID 16648268.
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