Where is My Native American DNA?

By Deborah Morgantini

My maternal great-grandmother, Elsie Goble Lord circa 1910-1920

There was a story in my maternal family oral history that was told to my older family members by my maternal great -grandmother. Her tale was that her father and uncle each married Native American women when they migrated to Minnesota from Pennsylvania in the mid-1850s. She also said that was the reason that she and two of her sisters were so short, which was an odd statement. But she never mentioned that a Native American woman was her mother. Even as a child I questioned those stories.

My great-grandmother Elsie was still alive when I was 13 years old, but at that age I was not so inclined to search out the true story. And, even as a child I knew she was known to exaggerate the truth! I used to visit her home, and later, the apartment that my grandfather had built for her on the second story of

Great-Grandma Elsie and her sister, Viola. Why were they short?

his house. She always told me some very interesting stories!

The internet had not yet been invented and I really had no idea or interest at that time regarding how to go about researching those stories or how to construct a family tree. When I asked my mother more about those statements when I was older, she simply evaded the question. One day when I was in my 20s, my mother’s brother told me the same story about Elsie’s Native American heritage, but he seemed not to be very convinced of the story. It was as if no one in our family was permitted to ask her for more information about her family. My grandfather, her son, never spoke about such things.

When my great-grandmother Elsie died, and my grandfather, soon after, the old family photos, archives, and mementos were stored away in the attic of my grandparents’ home. The home then passed to my mother. It was then that I was able to do some searching!

As I became more interested in family history and understood more about genealogy, and after several trips to my maternal family’s ancestral cemetery, I began to delve deeper into my great-grandmother’s story. Soon I began in earnest to construct my maternal family tree.

Minnesota Map from late 19th century

As my research evolved, I was able to search internet records and local historical societies. I deduced that my

3X great-grandfather, Joseph Goble and his brother did indeed migrate to Minnesota around the year 1855. I discovered that his wife, Catherine, my 3X great-grandmother, and three of their seven younger children were all part of a chain migration of family, neighbors, and

acquaintances out of northeastern Pennsylvania and New York that led to a location in a newly platted town named Florence, with the post office name of Young America, in what later became Carver County in the US Territory of Minnesota on the promise of low-cost land. Minnesota became the 32nd U.S. state on May 11, 1858. My 2X great-grandfather, James Goble, Elsie's father, was born there in February of 1857. According to the US Federal Census of 1870, my ancestors had left Minnesota at some time in the past decade and returned to northeastern Pennsylvania. Soon I realized the story Great-Grandma Elsie had told was a fabrication, which I always thought was the case. In fact, I discerned Great-Grandma Elsie cared for her own mother. Margaret Huffman Goble, until 1926 when she died several years after my 2X great-grandfather, James.

Margaret Huffman Goble gravestone, Maple Hill Cemetery, Wilkes-Barre, PA

Margaret Huffman, my 2X great-grandmother, who was not of Native American blood, was born in West Nanticoke, Pennsylvania in 1859. The Huffman's originally emigrated from Germany in the 18th century and later relocated from upstate New York to Pennsylvania. This fact I learned through Ancestry.com, Familysearch.org, and Newspapers.com as I continued my family research into my maternal line.

Since the DNA results that I received through two testing companies, Ancestry.com and 23andme.com did not reveal any Native American ethnicity, I continued to look further. Later I realized that it was possible the DNA traced back to before my 3X great-grandparents may have been bred out of me, my brothers, and my first cousins through natural percentage reduction of DNA.

Throughout my genealogical family tree construction, I continued to look for that ethnicity. It was quite a few years later, as often happens in genealogy until I eventually had a lead through Ancestry.com about the probable Native American genealogy of which I may be a part. It was not a DNA lead. Hint: it was not my 2X or 3X maternal grandfather!

As I learned through my research there are several reasons why my Native American heritage did not to appear in my DNA results. I’ll do a summary of those reasons in the next few paragraphs. Then I will reveal the conclusion about my links to my own Native American ancestor.

DNA tests promise to reveal the geographic and ethnic origins of your ancestors with precision. However, it can be quite puzzling and even disappointing when your Native American heritage, which you have heard about through family stories or traditions, doesn’t show up on your DNA results.

Here’s what I found:

1. Maybe you don’t have any!

But then the question is why would so many people assert that they do have Native American ancestry?

It seems that the ability to assert Native American identity on official forms could have resulted in access to additional resources.

Then there are the more ephemeral appeals to claiming Native American ancestry – especially Cherokee identity.

Circe Sturm, an anthropologist at University of Texas, writes in her book Becoming Indian: The Struggle Over Cherokee Identity, “Whiteness is responsible for indigenous dispossession and the lack of societal connection that characterizes modernity.” In other words, claiming an indigenous identity relieves some of the discomfort of being a white settler.

2. Genetic Variability

Native American populations exhibit a wide range of genetic diversity due to their long history on the North American continent and interactions with other groups. This diversity can make it challenging to identify specific Native American markers, especially if your Native American ancestors were from a mixed heritage or if their DNA was significantly diluted over generations through intermarriage with people of other ethnic backgrounds.

The truth is that we all have approximately 120 direct DNA ancestors, the DNA having been bred out of us somewhere around our 3rd great-grandparents. As is often the case today we cannot trace our Native American ancestors because they may have been farther back in our ancestral genealogy.

Another one of the primary reasons your Native American heritage may not appear in your DNA results is the limited representation of Native American populations in the data bases of DNA testing companies. These databases are built using samples from around the world, but they lack comprehensive data for Native American groups, especially those with smaller populations or remote ancestral origins. If your Native American ancestors belonged to such groups; it may become more challenging for the test to identify their genetic markers accurately.

3. Ancestral Disconnection

It is important to acknowledge that the stories passed down through generations might not always be entirely accurate. Your family may have Native American heritage, but the connection could have been lost over time, either through adoption, marriage with non-Native American partners, or even a simple lack of records. Perhaps the Native American connection is much farther back in your ancestry. This would mean that the DNA you’ve inherited might not carry sufficient markers to indicate Native American ancestry.

4. Testing Methodology

Different DNA testing companies employ various methods and reference populations to estimate your genetic ancestry. Some may have more precise algorithms for identifying Native American markers, while others may not. The quality of your DNA sample, the size of the reference database, and the algorithms used can all influence whether your Native American heritage is detected in your results.

5. Statistical Noise

DNA testing results are not always 100% accurate. False negatives or positives can occur, and a small percentage of your DNA may not be correctly assigned to a specific population or region. Genetic tests are still evolving, and as a result, they might not always accurately reflect your true heritage.

6. Traditional beliefs

Although the criteria may differ between nations, no tribal nation considers Indigenous American DNA to be a legitimate claim to citizenship. In part, this stems from traditional beliefs that kinship networks, or family connections, ---not ethnicity or DNA --- determine who is Native American.

In conclusion, if your Native American heritage does not appear in your DNA results, it can be a perplexing experience. However, it is important to remember that the technology behind these tests is continually improving, and a lack of Native American markers in your results doesn’t necessarily mean your family’s stories are inaccurate. The absence of Native American heritage in DNA your results is often due to a combination of factors, including limited sample databases, genetic variability, ancestral disconnection, testing methodology, and statistical noise, and traditional beliefs.

While DNA testing can provide valuable insights into your ancestry, it is essential to approach the results with an open mind and understand they are not the definitive measure of your heritage. The best advice I can offer is that you should continue to pursue your family history through genealogical research and personal connections to gain a more comprehensive understanding of your Native American heritage.

And finally, here is what I discovered through tracing my family tree by using the exhaustive research steps defined in the Genealogical Proof Standard.

It seems that the story about my great-grandmother’s father was not true. So then, what was most probably the truth? As I continued to follow the leads through the years, and as more people added their added family trees to Ancestry.com, hints in my maternal family tree began to appear. What I found was that the ancestral connection was indeed through my maternal line, including Great-Grandmother Elsie. It was, however, my 7th great-grandfather who was the ancestral link, not Elsie’s father, my great-great-grandfather. Since I have never been able to link my DNA results through my genetic genealogy, I had to lean heavily on my family tree genealogy.

I will probably never know why my Great-Grandma Elsie told that misleading and untrue story, but here is what I learned about my maternal line Native American connection:

Daniel Nimham sculpture, Michael Keropian in Fishkill, NY

His name was Daniel Nimham, b.1724 - d. 1778. This given name was obviously his anglicized and Christian name. His mother is reported to have been a daughter of a Mohican woman and his father also a sachem of the Wappinger tribe. He was a member of the Wappinger tribe who lived in the Hudson Valley of New York and was born in the Fishkill Creek region near the town of Wiccopee.

Note: There are countless alternative phonetic spellings of the name Wappinger used by early European settlers well into the 19th century. It is suggested that Wappinger is an anglicized version of the Dutch word “wappendragers” meaning “weapon bearers” alluding to the warring relationship between the Dutch and the Wappinger people. As an interesting side note, in my research I found that Daniel’s son’s wife my 6th great-grandmother was of Dutch descent.

Having probably learned how to speak English from his continental neighbors and that he may have taken part in the French and Indian Wars. He was chosen as a sachem of the Wappinger people in the 1760s, following in the footsteps of the Nimham sachems before him. A sachem, according to Merriam Webster Dictionary, was a North American Indian chief, especially the chief of a confederation of the Algonquin tribes of the North Atlantic coast. The Wappinger were an Eastern Algonquin Munsee-speaking Native American people from what is now southern New York and western Connecticut.

Historic Marker about Daniel Nimham, New York State

At the time of first contact in the 17th century, they were primarily based in what is now Dutchess County, New York, but their territory included the east bank of the Hudson River, in what became both Putnam and Winchester counties, south to the western Bronx and northern Manhattan Island. Like the Lenape, the Wappinger were highly decentralized as a people and formed loosely associated

bands that had established geographical territories. The original settlements having been decimated by wars with the colonists, wars with other Indian tribes, questionable land sales, waves of diseases brought by Europeans, and absorption into other tribes. Their last sachem, Daniel Ninham, and a heavily dwindled people were residing in the “prayer town” sanctuary of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. “Praying towns” were settlements established by English colonial governments in New England from 1646 to 1675 in an effort to convert local Native Americans to Christianity. Stockbridge was in one of those areas.

Chief Daniel Nimham and Margaret Doxtatar, possibility a member of the Mohican tribe, were the parents of my 6th great-grandmother, Elizabeth Cromeline Van Keuren. I am still researching as to why his daughter had a surname of Dutch origin. Elizabeth/Cromeline married Jacob Montross, a white man. They were my 6th great-grandparents.

Chief Daniel Nimham was a stalwart spokesperson for Native American concerns and a valiant soldier. Daniel traveled to England in 1766 to argue for a return of tribal lands, having served in the both the French and Indian Wars (on behalf of the English) and the American Revolution (in support of the colonists). He died along with his son, Abraham, in the Stockbridge Massacre of the Stockbridge Militia at the Battle of Kingsbridge (now an area of the Bronx in New York City) on August 31, 1778.

Traditional Longhouse of Northern Native Americans

And so, I conclude this blog post with reasonable assurance that I have discovered through the Genealogical Standard, the progenitor of my Native American ancestry and proven that Great-Grandma Elsie did indeed tell a tall tale about her father and uncle. The hint of truth from her tale, in that there was some Native American ancestry, kept me working on that premise for years.

The take-away here is that there may be a grain of truth in your family’s folklore, you just need to continue working on it until you have exhausted all leads.