Dear Tessa;
You have offered the list two points of great insight. The first is how
important it is to have a sense of roots and place for all people to acquire
a sense of belonging and the importance of a respect for the lives lived and
loved that were their ancestors. So many in this world are trying to seek
their legacy and heritage with nothing to work with. How lucky most of us on
the list have heritages that stretch back some 300 years or so but the
genetic linkages to tribes makes a great deal of sense from a cultural
viewpoint.
Now the second observation from you of great value is the revolution that
DNA is having in our science and our minds as we contemplate the world. I
have two illustrations of interest. One (I forgot the origin of) but it
involved a comntemprary individual in Wales who was able to trace his roots
back through DNA to a the remains of a body discoved in the very same
territory he was living in. He was proved as related to this ancestor who
was 7000 years old and they both lived in the same borough. The next
illustration comes from a florida bog where 5 plus generations were found in
the same burial pit. Through DNA testing they were proved as being related,
again through genetics. Many indian tribes were by definition inter related.
Now skin pigmatation is one part of the DNA puzzle and imagine my surprise
to hear that there was another Neil Sinclair walking around California that
is black. Makes one think how the world evolves in wonderous ways.
Now in the perspective of genetic science, remember we are all made up of a
great many parts genertically from our ancestors. We inherit our DNA from
our parents 100%. They in turn inherited theirs from in turn the
grandparents of which there are 4. Of course everybody on the list has 8
Great grandparents. And in turn 16 Great great grandparents.
SINCLAIR GENEALOGY QUIZZ:
Now the question for you is after tracing back say 14 generations how many
direct ancestors do you have by that point? (a) 2,400 (b) 12,056 (c) 16384
(d) a dinosaur.
Now someone can help here, if there are 3 generations in a century
approximately how many years are you tracing back starting from today if you
go back 14 generations very approximately (a) to 1800 (b) 1750 (c) 1140 (d)
1540.
Have fun with this and remember we walk around with the accumulated DNA that
makes us large noses (?) carrot tops (?) or (a) confused (b) bewildered (c)
bothered (d) lost
Excellent contribution Tessa, underneath we are all more alike than we would
ever suspect. It is those aspects that unite us, not divide us that are
most truly wonderous.
Neil Sinclair
Toronto PEI and Argyll with most of the Argillian blood mix inside
somewhere.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tessa St.Clair" <sttessa@hotmail.com>
To: <sinclair@mids.org>
Sent: 25 April, 2000 12:40 AM
Subject: Re: genetic genealogy
>
> Cousins,
> Today I heard (maybe on the CBS News?) that soon there will be offered
to
> African-Americans a DNA test, which will be compared to I think 12
> time/place appropriate tribes, so that for those that cannot trace their
> heritage further may at least know from which tribe they belong.
> I cannot believe that the demand for this would not soon extend to the
> European peoples, which is interesting news for others like myself who are
> not yet sure if their lineage is a part of the larger Sinclair clan yet.
> Tessa
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