My family oral genealogy history squashed by DNA results

[Joshua]

And I couldn't be happier to break this history, truth be told. Seems like every Caucasian Appalachian I know claims some ambiguous Cherokee (or other Indigenous North American) lineage, my father included. Much of our oral history of lineage has been smashed by multiple DNA results which has lead me back to the drawing board for my father's family tree. And honestly it's a fun thing to find out where your people came from. My son will have a very interesting journey if he cares to take it, as his mother is 2nd generation Italian and her results are amazingly complex compared to mine (there are only 6 ethnic groups in my results with two taking a huge majority (Scottish 43% NW European 40%), and around 15 in my wife's).

And, despite now knowing by DNA on multiple tests that I am overwhelmingly Scottish (by genealogy at least) I still answer the question the same:

Them: "Are you Scottish?"
Me: "No, I'm American"
Them: "So what's with the kilt?"
Me: "I hate pants"

Much of my response about not being Scottish is because my parents and grandparents, by and large, were unaware of their genealogy past handed-down oral history which is almost always wrong for everyone in America. I am glad to bring it back, for the sake of my son if he ever goes through an identity crisis such as the one I went through about 10 years ago.

[dcommini]

My family also had stories about how we are descendants of Cherokees, specifically Pocahontas and John Smith.

My Ancestry DNA doesn't show a lick of Native American, however, uploading my results to GEDMatch shows a very low percentage. Around 0.1% - which isn't enough for Ancestry to show.

What I find amazingly interesting is that, despite my paternal grandfather being "full blooded" Italian, my results show more Irish and Scottish DNA than it does Italian. I do have Irish and Scottish from both sides, my paternal grandmother has some in her family, even though her family claimed Dutch and German ancestry. It's interesting to see how much different ethnicities make up our DNA despite what our families tell us.

As far as wearing the kilt goes... I've had plenty of people ask me why I wear one if I'm Italian (I'm American, but OK). My answer is similar to yours. I hate pants, and kilts are terribly comfortable. I know some people are purists claiming you can't wear the kilt unless you have some Scottish in you, but those people are wrong.

[KennethSime]

I haven't had my DNA done yet, but my mother had her's done recently. It mostly matched up to Family folklore, with a touch more English and Scandinavian, and less German than I would have expected. The real surprise though was nearly 2% DNA from a coastal region in South Asia. Best guess is that 6 or so generations ago, somewhere between 1750-1800 we had someone from Balochistan join the family - a happy, if curious surprise.

We are lucky enough to have some genealogical records from that time, but none yet that identify the source of the South Asian DNA.

On the subject of the kilt, I do tell people that my family's Scottish, if they ask, but usually tell folks that I wear the kilt because it's comfortable, or because I like to enjoy life. :-)

[GrymJack]

It became very popular in the sixties to discover you had some American Indian ancestry. Most of those claims were pretty specious and the claimant was often pursuing an agenda. That said, the many Indian groups did have a habit of kidnapping and enslaving folks, often women and children, regardless of race. These captives were often assimulated into the tribes by marriage or adoption as full fledged members. So it entirely possible that an individual of European or African DNA could be considered a fully acceppted member of an Indian family, tribe. There is also the forcing of the Civilized tribes in Oklahoma into accepting into the tribe all slaves they held. If this is a subject you are interested in pursuing I reccomend the 'Historical Sketch of the Cherokee' written by James Mooney of the Native American Library.

Jack

[KMCMICHAEL]

The YDNA research will soon tell us everything.
My father, rather dark skin claimed Indian ancestry. None showed up on DNA. I found one that was born in 1676.
DNA indicates mine weren’t from the highlands but Dumfries. Appearing in Virginia around 1650. Likely sold by Cromwell to a plantation. It did point me in a direction and unearthed some Revolutionary military records from South Carolina.

[Ninehostages]

My YDNA put me into a "High Kings of Ireland" cohort. You do know that the Roman "Scoti" referred to the inhabitants of Ireland, not of Caledonia?
Truth is that the Irish and Scottish are pretty much the same people (waaay too much Viking in both! ... but not in I.)