Updated DNA information

piegrande

Bronze Member
May 16, 2010
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I have written before, about using ancestral DNA testing. For example, earlier data for my wife showed ancestors near Guadalajara, which since she is Aztec, I took to be the original home of the Aztecs, which agrees with Mexican scientists.

An updated package shows she has two principal ancestral location. The first one runs from our current location, where I am convinced lies Moctezuma's treasure. No surprise there. This area includes Tenochtitlan (currently known as CDMX) and our current locations.

However, it also indicates she has ancestral location including the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, quite a ways away. This was a total surprise and I am still digesting it. Her mother's family was definitely Aztec Emperors, her great-grandma was a Moctezuma. Records show she is also descended from Moctezuma I and II, and strangely Cortes himself, via a "natural' son from Northern Mexico. So, that explains Tenochtitlan.

Her father is still pretty much unknown as far as origin. An old aunt, deceased, only said one man came from a village a mile or two away, and another one maybe 15 miles away. But, where did they come from before that? The Moctezumas considered themselves to be 'white' and the paternal family in photos look like totally different ethnicity and considerably darker than the Moctezuma's. So, I am guessing they came from Tehuantepec but that is pure SWAG.

Part of the doubt involves the dates. The map which showed ancestry near Guadalajara I assume was for a long time ago, as much as tens of thousands of years ago. The new map implies not so very old, maybe hundreds of years ago. Without dating, it is not that useful. Well, somewhat useful, but it limits the value. I have a new project, I would say.
 

Get MTDNA testing and if she has a brother get a Y DNA test. The MTDNA tests tests only female, to female to female and so on, the Y DNA goes male to male to male, etc. It may turn up additional relatives and is good back many more generations.
 

For family relations both MTDNA and y-marker are obsolete. Now, they do family testing, and can identify siblings; cousins; parents, up to fifth cousins. I have identified many 3rd cousins in the USA. Here in Mexico, my wife's third cousins sometimes are in Guatemala or El Salvador, so it is hard to trace connections beyond second cousin.

I mean no insult, Smoky, but what you write is 100% obsolete. There are several ancestral DNA companies. Ancestral DNA can jump back and forth between male and female, unlike the two you mention. To me they were nearly worthless.

I had no special reason for selecting 23andme, but I do like it. You pay once for the test, and your kinfolks are available for a long time without paying another cent. I am told Ancestry shuts you off from your own data the minute you do not pay the monthly fee.

23andme gives you access to around 1500 kinfolk, and a system of communicating with them personally.

Please do not give out more obsolete information. I found one posssible error, my brother's grandson is listed as my first cousin or some such nonsense. I would believe it based on knowledge of my brother and the woman involved but my brother had surgery to avoid such things years ago.
 

Autosomnal DNA is the oldest method and its generally a shotgun approach. Is 23 and Me offering a different test? I haven't been on their site for awhile now. I do genealogical research for two different international organizations and they still rely on legal documents to prove descent. To date, the DNA testing hasn't been reliable enough to back more than 100-200 years. A haplogroup is a humongous group of people. Just tying to a haplogroup only gives you a broad brush outlook to the picture.
 

How long is a "while"?

DNA technology is changing very fast.
 

Let me add that almost every day, rapes and murders from many years ago, are reported as solved on the evening news and/or Internet using the latest ancestral DNA testing. After they find the guilty party, by using ancestral techniques, before they charge him/her they need to finalize proof by obtaining his/her personal DNA.

I do know quite a bit about ancestral DNA testing, but I will never know as much as I want to. I think you would need an advanced degree with a minor in ancestral DNA to know that much. But, much of the criticism here is simply not correct, based on obsolete information.

The packet on my wife's ancestral locations is really new stuff. The last information I had in the past showed evidence that Aztecs may have originated between Guadalajara and the ocean, which is what Mexican scientists have been saying.

Different groups have their own standards. Cat said his company requires hard copy, If I understand him. I was told by a member of the LDS that they look at the family unit. So, adopted children would be viewed as family members, though there many be no genetic connection. that is there view and I understand it perfectly.

And, American Indian tribes require more than genetic proof of tribal membership to quality for legal membership, but I am not going to say much because I know I don't fully understand it.
 

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