More Gedmatch Admixture Results

Interesting information about African Origins of Louisiana Slaves

The Louisiana Slave Database is a great source of information for those looking for clues into the African origins of their enslaved ancestors. I found some success to finding one of my ancestors in the database and DNA testing revealed that he was possibly of Yoruba ancestry.

In studying the population dynamics of the enslaved population, it is apparent that the origin of one's ancestors were affected the fertility rates of certain ethnic groups, the proportion of ethnic groups and the preferences slave owners had for certain ethnic groups, and the sex ratio of enslaved Africans.

According to Hall (1992), during the Spanish period of Louisiana's history (1762-1800), 2/3 of the slaves that arrived in Louisiana came from the Senegambia region (especially in the 18^th century) which included the ancient kingdoms of Ghana, Mali and Songhai where Pulaar, Wolof and Malinke were the most common languages. From the period (1762-1800), the majority of adults were born in Africa although after 1743, most African slaves were re-exported from Caribbean islands such as St. Dominigue, Martinigue, Jamaica and Cuba.

Africans from the Bight of Benin were a significant population during the Spanish and Early American periods in the St. John The Baptist, Pointe Coupee and St. Charles parishes. The Dahomeans also known as the Fon and Aja brought to America were nearly half female and these women had the highest fertility rates among the enslaved African population are credited by Hall (2003) as introducing a matriarchal form of voodoo.(Kein, 2000)

Members of the Bambara ethnic group made up a significant portion of the enslaved population. These men and women spoke the Mende language and originated from the Niger bend but were sold into slavery and sent down the Gambia and Senegal Rivers for transport across the Atlantic Ocean. They were casualties of war between Bambara Kingdoms, and most were men. These men were extremely defiant and often conspired with neighboring Native American tribes to conspiracy against Europeans.

Bight of Benin Africans (i.e. Yoruba, Fon, Arada, Aja, and Mina) were popular in parishes along the lower Mississpi Valley. Ethnic groups like Igbo and Ibibio were present in lower numbers. All slaves from the West and Central Africa region were listed as “Congo” despite their actual ethnic origin and were generally found in New Orleans and St. Charles Parish in 1803 and beyond.

It is also interesting to note that Africans of the same ethnicity were usually in close proximity to each other on the estates of their “masters”.

Fertility Rates

Hall (1992) and Bond (2005) point out some very interesting facts regarding fertility rates and sources of origin of African slaves. Bambara men and Ibo/Wolof/Canga women were the most fertile. African creole children more than likely had a mother who was Igbo, Wolof or Fon and a father who was Bambara or Mina during the Spanish Period. Their high fertility may have been due to the fact they were close to the Atlantic when they were enslaved and were in better physical condition than other ethnic groups who taken from the African interior. For example, while Congo slaves were brought to Louisiana in a substantial number, but they had low fertility rates.

According to Kein (2000), Creole slaves (slaves of different African ethnic groups) had at least one African parent as well as African grandparents and great-grand parents. Because of fertility rates among the Bambara, the oldest African grandfathers were more than likely Bambara and the grandmothers were more likely to be Wolof. Because Creole children were often separated from their mothers during slavery and had no knowledge of their biological fathers, many African men adopted children on the estates or plantations.

References

Bond, B. G. (2005). French colonial Louisiana and the Atlantic world. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
Hall, G. M. (1992). Africans in colonial Louisiana the development of Afro-Creole culture in the eighteenth century. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
Kein, S. (2000). Creole the history and legacy of Louisiana's free people of color. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.

Zooming in on the African Ancestry possibilities and The Limitations of MtDNA in Tracing African Ancestry

When I first started this journey with DNA testing, my ultimate goal was to find at least one African DNA relative whose origins would allow me to pinpoint a possible ethnic group for some of my African ancestors. My strategy was to research about the possible “ethnic” preferences that slave owners had for Africans in the areas where my ancestors were enslaved.

Despite these clues, I wanted something a little more definite but I realize that there are several obstacles that may prevent me from getting that African DNA match. First of all, African mitochondrial DNA has been subject to a large series of mutations throughout time so I may not be able to find an exact match. There is also the issue of limited samples with some areas being too dangerous to travel to due to general instability or budget and other issues hindering the ability of researchers to collect samples from some indigenous African populations.

One other possibility is tracing African Ancestry through MtDNA allows one to trace the maternal African ancestry of many African Americans to various geographic areas in Africa. Many haplogroup assignments are consistently found in areas that participated in the Trans-atlantic slave trade. L is the most common mtDNA group among African Americans and is African in origin. The different subclades of the L group are L0, L1, L2, and L3. The most common L haplogroups found in America include West African (L1b, L2b, c, d and L3b, d) and West-Central Africa (L1c and L3e). The L2 group, of which my ancestor descends from covers a wide range of geographical areas of origin. L2a is the most common subclade of the L2 group, representing 62% of total haplogroup assignments, and is the only one that is spread all over Africa. It is divided into two different subsets. L2b, my haplogroup is primarily concentrated in West and West-central Africa and is not found east African or Biaka/Mbuti populations, and only occurs at a rate of 2.9% in Southern African populations. L2b is common some Senegalese populations. L2d is the oldest of the L2 group. With the wide disbursal of mtDNA haplogroups before and after the trans-atlantic slave trade, it may hinder the ability of Africans to pinpoint their mtDNA to a specific ethnic group or modern day nation. I should take this into consideration when entertaining claims by certain genetic testing companies that they can pinpoint the origin of my ancestors. Divergence times for L2d (120,000 years), 55,000 years for L2a, 30,000 years for L2b and L2c, 70,000 years overall for L2.

According to Richard Oluseyi Asaolu, author of the book Slavery, the following list is the African nation-states that participated in the slave trade. I have highlighted possible related nation-states of my own in red:

Senegal: Denanke Kingdom, Kingdom of Fouta Tooro, Jolof Empire, Kingdom of Khasso and Kingdom of Saalum

Guinea-Bissau: Kaabu Empire

Guinea: Kingdom of Fouta Djallon

Sierra Leone: Koya Temne

Cote d'Ivoire: Kong Empire and Gyaaman Kingdom

Ghana: Asante Confereacy and Mankessim Kingdom

Benin: Kingdom of Dahomey

Nigeria: Oyo Empire, Benin Empire, Igala, Hausa Kingdoms, Fulani Empire, the Kingdom of Nri, and Aro Confederacy

Cameroon: Bamun and Mandara Kingdom

Gabon: Kingdom of Orungu

Republic of Congo: Kingdom of Loango and Kingdom of Tio

Angola: Kingdom of Kongo, Kingdom of Ndongo and Matamba

Asaolu also lists the 10 most prominent African ethnic groups represented in the enslaved population:

Gbe speakers of Togo, Ghana and Benin (Adja, Mina, Ewe, Fon)

The Akan of Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire 
The Mbundu of Angola (includes Ovimbundu)
The Bakongo of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola 
The Igbo of southeastern Nigeria 
The Yoruba of southwestern Nigeria 
The Mande of Upper Guinea
The Wolof of Senegal and The Gambia
The Chambia of Cameroon

The Makua of Mozambique

The journey continues........

Additional References

Salas, A., Richards, M., Lareu, M., Scozzari, R., Coppa, A., Torroni, A., et al. (2004). The African Diaspora: Mitochondrial DNA and the Atlantic Slave Trade. American Journal of Human Genetics, 74(3), 454-465.

23andme Ancestry Composition

Chromosome Painting: 23andme

Conservative Estimate

Speculative Mode: Dr. McDonald BGA Analysis was pretty much consistent with 23andme.

Standard Mode: High Level of Unassigned Here. 

Dr. McDonald Analysis

This is what I received from Dr. McDonald.

Most likely fit is 70.4% (+-  0.1%) Africa (all West African)

and  6.0% (+-  0.6%) S. Asia (various subcontinents)

and 23.5% (+-  0.6%) Europe (various subcontinents)

The following are possible population sets and their fractions,

most likely at the top

  Mandenka= 0.704      Uygur= 0.056    Romania= 0.240 or

  Mandenka= 0.704     Hazara= 0.067     French= 0.228 or

  Mandenka= 0.704     Hazara= 0.054    Romania= 0.242 or

  Mandenka= 0.705     Hazara= 0.058    Hungary= 0.237 or

  Mandenka= 0.705      Uygur= 0.060    Hungary= 0.235 or

  Mandenka= 0.703    S_India= 0.062     French= 0.236 or

  Mandenka= 0.705      Uygur= 0.069     French= 0.227 or

  Mandenka= 0.704    S_India= 0.053    Hungary= 0.244 or

  Mandenka= 0.703    N_India= 0.068     French= 0.229 or

  Mandenka= 0.704    N_India= 0.058    Hungary= 0.237

A custom fit gives a better idea:

       Irish 0.1929     Armenian 0.0933         Maya 0.0207       Yoruba 0.6931 err=   0.00123

     English 0.2030       Adygei 0.0827         Maya 0.0197       Yoruba 0.6946 err=   0.00186

       Irish 0.2011     Georgian 0.0843         Maya 0.0204       Yoruba 0.6941 err=   0.00207

     English 0.2117     Georgian 0.0713         Maya 0.0226       Yoruba 0.6944 err=   0.00215

      French 0.2106       Adygei 0.0749         Maya 0.0212       Yoruba 0.6933 err=   0.00233

     English 0.2067     Armenian 0.0768         Maya 0.0228       Yoruba 0.6937 err=   0.00249

       Irish 0.1955       Adygei 0.0926         Maya 0.0174       Yoruba 0.6946 err=   0.00324

       Irish 0.1749       Sicily 0.1106         Maya 0.0225       Yoruba 0.6919 err=   0.00338

      French 0.2252     Georgian 0.0575         Maya 0.0240       Yoruba 0.6933 err=   0.00354

      Tuscan 0.1796      Finland 0.1072         Maya 0.0196       Yoruba 0.6935 err=   0.00362

The Native American is more like 3.5%, and there is also 1% India or Pakistani.

The American is “generic” ... not necessarily real Maya, could be anywhere in

North or Central America.

The Caucasus may or may not be real, its very iffy (if not real, its European plus the

India).

Doug Mcdonald

Some Gedmatch Results

Admix Results (sorted):

#	Population	Percent
1	Sub_Saharian	56.23
2	Paleo_African	11.52
3	South_and_West_European	10.5
4	North_and_East_European	5.92
5	Caucaus_Parsia	5.23
6	Middle_East	4.31
7	Indian	2.77
8	Mesoamerican	1.61
9	Arctic_Amerind	0.96
10	Melanesian	0.96

This is perhaps the closet to the DNA Tribes SNP Analysis. My African heritage is mostly West African, but also includes Mbuti, Biaka, San, South, and East African origins. At least, according to this test. 

Admix Results (sorted):

#	Population	Percent
1	W_Africa	43.96
2	Europe	16.97
3	S_Africa	10.41
4	SW_Asia	8.71
5	Biaka	6.07
6	NW_Africa	5.95
7	E_Africa	5.15
8	Mbuti	1.56
9	San	1.22

 

#

Population

Percent

1

W_Africa

43.96

2

Europe

16.97

3

S_Africa

10.41

4

SW_Asia

8.71

5

Biaka

6.07

6

NW_Africa

5.95

7

E_Africa

5.15

8

Mbuti

1.56

9

San

1.22

#	Population	Percent
1	Neo_African	40.31
2	Palaeo_African	23.02
3	West_European	10.02
4	East_African	7.65
5	Mediterranean	5.71
6	South_Asian	2.87
7	Northwest_African	2.72
8	East_European	2.33
9	West_Asian	1.95
10	Northeast_Asian	1.9
11	Southeast_Asian	1.16
12	Southwest_Asian	0.35

I believe the Southern and West Asian is the equivalent to the DNA Tribes Sub-Saharan Arabian category.

	Admix Results (sorted): # Population Percent 1 African 70.95 2 Atlantic_Baltic 17.03 3 Southern 5.39 4 West_Asian 4.28 5 South_Asian 2.35
	Admix Results (sorted): # Population Percent 1 W-African 62.43 2 Mediterranean 8.84 3 NE-Euro 8.35 4 Caucasian 4.46 5 American 3.41 6 E-African 3.23 7 Pygmy 2.7 8 Baloch 2.25 9 San 1.39 10 S-Indian 1.24 11 SW-Asian 0.81 12 SE-Asian 0.41 13 Papuan 0.39 14 Siberian 0.07
	Admix Results (sorted): # Population Percent 1 Sub-Saharian 63.53 2 Atlantic_Mediterranean_Neolithic 8.08 3 North-East-European 6.91 4 Near_East 4.63 5 West-Asian 4.03 6 Pygmy 3.72 7 Indian 2.47 8 South-African 1.31 9 Austronesian 1.31 10 Indo-Iranian 1.08 11 South-America_Amerind 0.86 12 North-Amerind 0.85 13 Mesoamerican 0.65 14 Arctic-Amerind 0.42 15 North-European-Mesolithic 0.13
	Admix Results (sorted): # Population Percent 1 WEST_AFRICAN 54.78 2 EAST_AFRICAN 13.68 3 NORTH-CENTRAL_EURO 8.9 4 WEST_MED 4.6 5 ATLANTIC 3.45 6 MIDDLE_EASTERN 3.04 7 SOUTH_ASIAN 3.01 8 EAST_EURO 2.57 9 WEST_ASIAN 1.8 10 SIBERIAN 1.41 11 EAST_MED 1 12 EAST_ASIAN 0.9 13 SOUTH_BALTIC 0.87

DNA Tribes SNP Analysis

Why is the Saharan-Arabian so high? Or is it really Saharan-Arabian or Southern European?