Did you know that the Navajo and related tribes migrated from Northwest Canada and present-day Alaska to present-day Arizona and New Mexico, and ultimately southeastern Utah, roughly 600 years ago? Would it surprise you to learn that the indigenous people of Hawaii are closely related to indigenous people of the Pacific Islands, Polynesia, Australia, and New Zealand? Or that today’s indigenous Caribbean Island inhabitants came from Central and South America?
These “fun facts” are but a tiny attribute of author Roberta Estes’ definitive new guidebook, DNA for Native American Genealogy. Millions of people have family stories involving Native American heritage, and DNA testing now affords them the opportunity to prove it. Roberta begins with a history of Native Americans in the Americas that hits all the high points of the remarkable migrations from Asia to the Americas that occurred when the two continents were still connected by a land bridge. The meat of the book, of course, provides a step-by-step guide to establishing a possible indigenous connection with DNA testing. This includes a discussion of how DNA works and what you can expect to inherit, the features offered by various DNA testing companies, and a detailed explanation of the different haplogroups (DNA sequences) associated with specific tribes. DNA for Native American Genealogy also includes a roadmap or checklist you can follow, a detailed glossary of terms associated with DNA research, and a discussion of what you can expect when you identify an ancestor.
DNA for Native American Genealogy is so chockfull of information about its subject, we’ve attached Roberta Estes’ detailed table of contents to show you how comprehensive this groundbreaking book actually is. If you are even slightly interested in finding your Native American ancestor, this is one book you will want to add to your collection.
