How can I find out what my ethnicity is?

Question

I have had genetic testing to find my haplogroups, but this didnt give me specifics about ethnicity. About 4 generations back on my moms side, there was some mixture of races, but this information was kept secret and now has been lost.

The reason I ask is because every day people ask me what race I am, and after many years of this, I am more and more curious about what ethnicity I might be. I have traveled to Africa, South America, and Asia, and in each country I visit, people assume I am native to their land. Mostly I feel like part of my history is lost, and I want answers.

Answer 1

Hey LothLorie...,

Sounds like the National Geographic DNA project is right for you, on one hand. Then some GENEALOGY research, to show what surnames are in your ancestry. Lost documentation can be found, today is amazing online research. Start with interviews of your parents, and living relatives. Get an interview format to collect information. Then get Vital Records from each for Birth, Marriage, and Deaths. Obituaries, and other deeds, wills, etc.

Then go to the WEB and GENFORUM for each name. Go to Family Search for Ancestors that have records captured. That is a great source. Free software is available to track your Family Tree. That will help you go back down the branches of your ancestory. So, you can answer the questions yourself. No secrets in the records of the Dead, especially ancestors. You can find the information.

Answer 2

4 generations back is about 120 years in most families; could be 240, could be 64. If someone lied about who the father was on ALL official documents, the data has truly been lost. But, if "Ebeneezer" appears on a slave schedule in 1860 and as a free white in the 1870 census, and you can sort of tell from his location, wife and kids that he is the same man, you can guess he wa slight enough to pass and did so.

That is an unlikely event, but it is an example. Some information may exist in places the family couldn't change and it may be there if you dig for it. Birth, marriage and death certificates, tax records, census entries - they all exist. Some may be untainted.

Answer 3

I would go with what Rust skipp has to say..... The National geographic dna project is helping people find say if your african americian .... where your african origins are in other words where exactly your dna matches africia .. and other africian peoples. .. Oprah.. did this along with Whoopie Goldberg and I cant think who else I watched the show to beginning to end... BUt CLaims to work for anyone I think its $100.00 to find out say where in Europe or Asia or americia if your amercian indian ... If you can find the last names .. of the 4 generations ago ,,, you can look at the census and it might tell you what race they were... just a thought... and you possibly can go to the local library geneology section to do this ....

Answer 4

First off I will say I dunno. But this poses questions I would have of anyone who seriously asked me that question face to face.
1. Why do you care ?
2. If you seriously do care how far back do you want to go ?
You do realize that according to any logic that question would extend back thousands if not hundreds of thousands of years, over the expanse of Human history I would venture that any one person could trace their ancestry back to many many many many "Ethnicities" given enough recorded history and ancestry informatation. Even lacking the information you can rest assured that whether you know the exact ancestry from which you came your ancestors over history have come from many different cultures.

A final thought on the subject. Knowing that our history as a species extends far into the past obscured by lack of record-keeping, and with the knowledge that it will continue to extend into the future for an indefinite period, I would suggest that to look forward and to that future from the perspective of the present would be much more beneficial to an individual than to look to the past for anything more than a guiding perspective on what mistakes not to make again. As far as "Finding your Culture" I would suggest that you are living in one regardless of where you may be, and that the best advice one could give would be to make the best of what you have.

Answer 5

Don't bother. You are you, the things you believe in, the music you like, the books you read, and all that other stuff. Ethnicity is just a word drummed up by politicians to pidgeon-hole people and minimalize their individuality.

Answer 6

The earliest humans can be traced back to northern africa. Since we all originated from these common ancestors, I'm gonna have to say that you're definately African at your truest and deepest.

Answer 7

hmm...well im halfway cheating here. but i remember this really dorky pop group from sweden that i liked from aaron carters tour and like...they had the same kind of nose as me, lol! plus i thought if i could sing i would have that same childish voice. and i asked my mom about it and she was like oh yeah you have a lot of swedish. and thats how i found that out.

so, you could just look at pictures of people from other races, lol! but if youre white you probably have a little bit of every country of europe in you...or something like that.

i dont think it really matters if youre from america though, i hardly ever hear anyone say anything about it, unless youre asian or something.

Answer 8

Go to a geneologist. Check records, refer to family members, do a geneology look up online. Your options are many.

Answer 9

Keep it a secret just like they did before.