Im wondering if my DNA ethnicity test results are true. How can you make sure its really accurate? Please read?

[lenora]

Originally Posted by willow1990

I do not agree with your statement about whites creating myths about Native American ancestry in African Americans. This one is on blacks. The myth comes from the fact that some blacks were slaves to the Cherokee and lived in close proximity. Over the decades the myth grew to fantasy. Now if you ask an African American if they have native ancestry and they say YES, it is always Cherokee. As far as the "good hair" is concerned it most likely is from European ancestry. Exception being of course blacks from South America and the Caribbean.

I am matching a LOT of African Americans who have a significant amount of Native American. Based on the DNA I've seen to date, I'd wager the shared ancestry is not a myth. I also have many more matches who are 100% white so I'm less likely to buy into the myth that there are "many" whites with black ancestry. If anything, it seems that the real myth is that "many" whites have black ancestry.

[Alandros]

Originally Posted by lenora

I am matching a LOT of African Americans who have a significant amount of Native American. Based on the DNA I've seen to date, I'd wager the shared ancestry is not a myth. I also have many more matches who are 100% white so I'm less likely to buy into the myth that there are "many" whites with black ancestry. If anything, it seems that the real myth is that "many" whites have black ancestry.

http://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(14)00476-5

This study found the average DNA breaks downs like:

African Americans

• African - 73.2%
• European - 24.0%
• Native American - 0.8%

European Americans

• African - 0.19%
• European - 98.6%
• Native American - 0.18%

So you can see African Americans on average have a bit more Native American DNA but still quite low. Both white and black people have overinflated Native American stories.

Also this data shows that white people have almost the same level of Native American DNA as African DNA (rather than one being drastically larger than the other as people anecdotally suggest).

This data suggests your first claim (of many Africans with NA DNA) is wrong, but your second claim (that many whites don't have "black" ancestry) is correct.

Of course this is overall averages, regions show much different breakdowns:

African Americans DNA by region


European Americans DNA by region

[AppalachianGumbo]

A lot of Black Americans and White Americans, especially with roots in the South will say, Cherokee is due to the common knowledge of the [called by the government] Five Civilized Tribes; Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole and Chickasaw. All were located in the Southeast of the US where large plantations were.
The earliest slaves were Native Americans before African slaves replaced them. A good book talks about the dynamics of Whites/Blacks/Native Americans.
Amazon.com: The Only Land They Knew: The Tragic Story of the American Indians in the Old South (9780029346907): J. Leitch Wright Jr.: Books

The Trails of Tears (The Forced Indian Removal) occurred between 1832-1839 so both White's and Blacks, especially in the south had knowledge of these tribes. It was certain states which participated in Andrew Jackson's green light to remove their Indians from their state to Indian Territory in what is know known as Oklahoma. Of course, these small areas where the tribes were located have been ceded several times.


These tribes were among the largest and also had lots of admixture. It is no wonder people will largely draw from these tribes as being descended from them, especially the Cherokee. They were more widely known then let's say the Wapani Indians of Poughkeepsie.