Melungeon Roots Admixture

Today I am going to continue an earlier post on the process of discovering my Melungeon Roots. Like many folks who grew up in the Southeastern United States I too had many oral stories and traditions of Native American Ancestry. For someone with a strong European Genetic Makeup it can often be hard to flesh out those Native American components in ones DNA. I love 23andMe and am so thankful for their service. I have learned so much from having had my DNA tested. The biggest complaint I have along with others like me is that their calculations do not pick up small amounts of admixed DNA.

So what does someone like me do when faced with that situation? You turn to 3rd Party Services and use their calculators who are set to pick up smaller amounts from different populations.

My Maternal Grandmother referred to herself as "Black Dutch, Irish and Cherokee".  Black Dutch is a term synonymous with many things but what it all boils down to is it simply means she was of "mixed ancestry".  My paper trail has been able to confirm her claims of Cherokee ancestry as her Paternal Great Grandfather was born in Cherokee Nation East in Georgia. As you will see from the admixed results which I will post below, I do have some Native American Ancestry.

The first calculator I used which you see listed above was the Eurogenes K36 admixture tool. As you can see it did find some American Indian in my DNA.

The next tool that I used was the MLDP World 22 Calculator. It too was able to find and identify my Native heritage as well.
I have recently joined a group of cousins who we share common strands of DNA and feel that we have connection through our Melungeon heritage. I have yet to figure out which of my ancestors contributed to my Melungeon Heritage but I am on the right track. Aside from the Grandmother listed above I do have about three other Grandparents with whom I have always suspected they may have some sort of ethnicity other than European.

Above is my Grandmother who proudly claimed her Black Dutch ancestry. She was into herbs and herbal remedies. She liked to read Tea Leaves and was very superstitious as well. The other woman in the photo with her is my mother.