Have you ever wanted to know where you came from? Not like what state or region of the country, but like where on the planet? I have. I’m sure a lot of people have learned, one way or the other, where their roots originated from. Someone in the family, usually a grandparent or older relative, has reminisced about the old country or past memories. You probably have old recipes and traditions that stem from your ancestors. Your name even speaks to your heritage in some way. That’s cool, right? You have a sense of identity. You have a feeling of community with whatever that nationality is. Maybe.
I have that. Sort of. To some degree, I have that. My parents are Jamaican. If you know any Jamaican’s then you know they are fiercely proud people. No shame, no doubt… the proudest people on the planet. I, however, was born in the UK, also a very proud people, although much more subdued in their pride, it’s fierce nonetheless. I have always been told of my heritage too. I have been told that my ancestors were Scottish, Irish, Indian, English and most likely Chinese. But I had no proof. There are no pictures of said relatives. No documents. Just talk. But it goes without saying, that there is obviously African in my ancestry. Duh! But which country? Africa is a big continent. I don’t know too many black people whose ancestors obtained passports or who boarded ships and set sail for a vacation to the Americas. Again, some relative could have retold a fairly accurate story along the way but who knows really which country in Africa any of us originated?
In reviewing a history of Jamaica, I learned who the natives were who lived on the island long before is was “discovered”. The Spanish ruled it before the British. Chinese and Indian slaves were brought to the island after the African slaves were. This is about as through a history as I have been able to find, but it wasn’t specific to me.
I have always wanted more concrete evidence. Enter the recent barrage of TV ads and online ads for Ancestry.com or 23andMe.com and my interest was piqued yet again. I researched both sites. Asked a few friends who had already started the process and just eeny-meany-miney-moed it and went with 23andMe first.
It’s stupid simple. Place your online order. They ship you your DNA kit. You spit, mail it back and wait several weeks (approximately 6 weeks) although I got mine back much sooner. You can track your samples progress while you wait. You gain some insight into the DNA profile process. Totally cool. I’m an information junkie, so it was nice to feel as though I wasn’t just blindly sending off my sample with no way of knowing what was being done. Then, bam! I got my results.
Turns out after all that talk about the high possibility of my having Chinese ancestry, I have NONE! ZERO. ZILTCH. NADA! I’m not gonna lie. I was very surprised and a tad disappointed. Everything in my life made me feel as though my likes, loves, and interests were DNA related. Powered by my Asian roots.
Why do I love Chinese food so much? Why have I been obsessed with Asian art, particularly the buddha? Why am I drawn to anything symbolically Eastern? Hmmm, could it be that 9.3% South Asian DNA? Yeah, Indian. The one I kind of already knew was there. Could be that I just have amazing tastes in food, art, spiritual figures and it had nothing to do with certain members of my family calling me “Chink” as a kid. Not to mention that my dad looks like Ken Watanabe with an afro. Yeah, yeah, I know that Ken is Japanese, but still.
It was suggested by a friend that I do various DNA tests offered by the many companies that are offering the service since they all seem to give you something different. 23andMe.com also offers a health DNA report. I’m not all that interested in knowing my DNA health right now. I am interested in knowing more specific details about where I am from. So, I will continue my ancestry journey by using the Ancestry.com kit. Word on the street is Ancestry can help hook you up with relatives, should they also be in their database. Not sure if I care to do that, but it may be cool. I just want to know more about me first. Then I will worry about the rest of my clan.
Overall, it was a cool experience for me. The validation and newfound information was thought-provoking. My mother is still in denial about my lack of Chinese roots, but, hey, science, mom. Science!
Green Dragonflies & Wine 