This is an OUTLINE of an Ethnic Ancestry presentation by Richard Hill that may be scheduled in person or online through the Contact form.
The inclusion of ethnic ancestry reports in autosomal DNA test results has greatly expanded the market for these tests. But there is considerable confusion about such reports.
This presentation is designed to shed light on the subject and provide numerous examples comparing DNA tests from different companies.
People expect “ethnicity” to match recent ancestors’ countries of origin. Instead, they get “admixture” reflecting hundreds of additional ancestors.
Contributions from four grandparents are often unbalanced
Some regions are difficult to distinguish, e.g.
Small components may be just statistical noise
Different “chips” sample different locations in our DNA
Different reference populations
Different proprietary algorithms
Different regional groupings
Examples will be shown, including one person on eight tests
Random inheritance
Examples of siblings on different tests will be shown
Dilution of ancient native DNA through mixing with Europeans
Multiple generations back to the Native American ancestor
Incorrect assumptions based on family stories or physical characteristics