Totally Floored!

[grandchild]

I have been under the impression that I was of native American ancestry.  Well I get this DNA testing back on my moms line and WHAT... I got all these fair haired ancestors.  I am in the HAPLOGROUP U5a1a  with bases of 16093C, 16192T, 16256T, 16270T, 16291T, 16399G .. First of all I am relatively new at this DNA stuff, but I feel disappointed now.  grandchild

[Terry Barton]

Hi Grandchild.  You have learned that your mother's mother's ... mother's maternal line is U5a1a - not that you don't have Native American ancestry.   

After you get over the initial reactions, I hope that you'll explore the U5 heritage that you have, join the U5 mtDNA project, and become familiar with this part of your heritage.

As far as your Native American heritage - the challenge is to test the right family member to prove this.  You'll need to test a daughter's daughter's ... child of your Native American ancestor to prove that heritage.  (we all carry our mother's mtDNA - but only women can pass it on to their children)

Terry

[SueAnn]

But is Native American heritage detected only through mtDNA?  What if a daughter's paternal line has NA ancestry?  Does she not get any NA traits from her dad?

Sue Ann

[Carolyn Burke Bigler Hebert]

I too did the mtDNA test searching for the NA in my lineage and the result was U5a. However, the NA was on the paternal side. My great great grandmother's father was the full blooded Native American. She was a half breed. The DNA was on the paternal side so it did not show up on the maternal testing. However, I found the tribe by doing a search for her maiden name (not a person but the name) on the LDS website. Father Hebert's genealogy book states the family was Native American. I also found a living relative who has the tribe listed with his business in Louisiana. So all was not lost. Keep searching. You might find it via other sources than DNA testing unless you can find a male to do the testing for you. This living relative is not someone I know. But the family still belongs to the Chitimacha tribe.
We get traits from our paternal lineage but the testing for the maternal side comes strictly from the maternal mitochondria, no paternal influence at all. Therefore for NA to show up a mother would have to have been a full blooded Native American.
Read about your haplogroup. It a haplogroup that is so old it is very close to Eve.