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For a fee, you can fill out an application, swab your cheek and find out if you have Native ancestry. Dozens of online services perform this service for hundreds of curious people. But does the result mean you can finally declare your Cherokee heritage? What do online DNA kits really tell us about Native ancestry? If you actually find out you have Native heritage, what do you do with that information?
Guests:
Dr. Kim Tallbear (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate) – associate professor in the faculty of Native studies at the University of Alberta
Shannon Shaw Duty (Osage) – editor of the Osage News
Break Music: Redman (song) Elk Soldier (artist) A Soldier’s Dream: Powwow Songs Recorded Live at Ft.Randall (album)
It’ll most likely result in a pile of people who don’t know a thing about First Nations people thinking they’re entitled to shout over actually Native people (by culture, language, history, nationhood, shared experiences, and also DNA).
“for a fee’ ? How much of a “FEE”?
I supposedly had Native American ancestry and when I took the test it came back with some interesting ancestry locations: Morocco & Spain (Iberian peninsula) and Pacific Islander. Along with some eastern European
I took this test a few years ago because our family supposedly had Native American heritage but the results did not confirm. Instead the test said I had Iberian peninsula (Morocco & spain) along with Pacific Islander
The first caller brought up an interesting point – how do you determine who serves as the Native American standards for genetic testing? Who is the the most indigenous person genetically? (Personally, I’d like to meet this person and shake their hand just so that I can tell my friends that I shook the hand of the most genetically pure Native American. LOL!!!)
A conclusion from pharmacogenomic publication from the University of Montana about Warfarin metabolism mentioned that there is significant genetic diversity within our Native American community. The genetic profiles of some one from the plains will have a different genetic profile than some one who is from the southwest. However, even tribes from the same region will region will vary. Resultantly, it is difficult if not impossible to determine a specific genetic profile for all Native Americans.
Further, there are epigenetic variables that are not fully understood that effect gene profiles. Genetic testing looks at the specific order of nucleotides in our genome. It doesn’t look at the methylation patterns that affect gene expression and essentially turn on or off genes. The DNA methylation patterns that effects gene expression is known as the epigenome. The epigenome is effected many variables that we are just beginning to learn about such as diet (starvation), stress, even the amount of touch that an infant receives from their mother.
In summary, there are too many variables to determine what a “true” Native American gene profile is. The idea of being able to do so is absurd and comical.