DNA Testing, continued

Sequoyah, who created a written language for the
Cherokee people. He is definitely  NOT in my
ancestry. 

Last week we took a look at what DNA testing in my family failed to turn up. Namely, it did not show any of the Native American DNA that family lore tells we have. I haven't given up on the family lore yet. As more people get tested and they refine their methodology, something still could show up.








What was equally fascinating was some surprises in our DNA. My test came back 5% Scandinavian. This was surprising because going back 200+ years, we have no known Scandinavian ancestors. So what could it be??

VIKINGS!!

Promotional photo from the popular TV show Vikings, which I have to
admit, I have never watched.

We all know how the Vikings raided the British Isles and most of northern Europe. Surely, that accounts for the Scandinavian DNA!

Impact of the Viking Raids

NOT!

According to this article in a 18 March 2015 edition of The Guardian the Vikings did not leave a genetic impact on the populations they raided. Interesting, right?

It gets more interesting. 

My older brother's DNA test revealed 19% Scandinavian ancestry.

And my younger sister's DNA shows a whopping 39% Scandinavian!! That is over a third of her DNA!!

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?!?!

The truth is, I don't know what is going on here....yet.

But here are some possibilities:

1. Scandinavian families are hiding in our ancestry, just under westernized or Americanized names.
2. Our KINIKIN ancestors are actually Dutch, not German. The Dutch are considered Scandanavian. (Our great grandmother's maiden name was KINIKIN. We have traced them back to Delaware in the 1700's.)
3. The tests could be inaccurate.

Judy Russell, of The Legal Genealogist Blog, again had something to say about that last point in this post. 

And just because I know that someone out there is thinking it -- YES, we are full siblings! The DNA tests do confirm that. We share the exact amount of DNA that is expected of full siblings!