Darrell ‘Dusty’ Crawford of Heart Butte on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation was surprised to learn that his DNA placed his ancestors in the Americas about 17,000 years ago. He’d had his DNA tested through a company that aims to provide customers with a ‘biogeographical ancestry’.
The company, CRI Genetics, traced his line back 55 generations with a 99% accuracy rate. It was a rare finding, according to the company. They had never been able to trace anyone’s ancestry in the Americas as far back as that, they told him. Adding, it was so unlikely, it was like finding Bigfoot.
Crawford’s DNA suggests that his Blackfeet ancestors came from the Pacific, traveled to the coast of South America and moved north. His haplogroup is part of MtDNA B2, which originated in Arizona about 17,000 years ago. That group is one of four major Native American groups that spread across the continent. The DNA test focused on mitochondrial DNA and traced back Crawford’s line of ancestors to four females: Ai, Ina, Chie and Sachi. Crawford’s DNA shows he’s a descendant of Ina.
The DNA group’s closest relatives outside the Americas are in Southeast Asia.
“Its path from the Americas is somewhat of a mystery as there are no frequencies of the haplogroup in either Alaska or Canada. Today this Native American line is found only in the Americas, with a strong frequency peak on the eastern coast of North America”, according to the DNA testing company.
Read: The History of DNA Testing
Crawford also had an unusually high percentage (83%) of Native American ancestry in his results. Some of that was a mix of Native threads, but, unusually, 73% was from the same heritage. In addition to his Native heritage, Crawford’s DNA was 9.8% European, 5.3% East Asian, 2% South Asian and 0.2% African.
When Crawford had composed a family tree for a college project, he could only trace his ancestry back five generations. His Blackfeet name is Lone Bull and his mother’s great-great grandfather was Two Elk. The family name of Crawford came from a Scotch–Irish cattleman who drove a herd into what became Montana and married a Blackfeet woman.
Crawford encouraged other Native Americans to have genetic testing. The results could reshape how anthropologists understand Native history.
Last year, Senator Elizabeth Warren shared the DNA test results into her genetic background, which found ‘strong evidence’ of Native American ancestry going back 6–10 generations. The conclusion was that while a vast majority of Warren’s background is European, the results strongly support the existence of an unadmixed Native American ancestor. For information on AlphaBiolabs’ range of DNA testing services, call us now on 727-325-2902 or email info@alphabiolabsusa.com.
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Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blackfeet_Nation_-_Skulpturen_bei_East_Glacier.JPG
FAQs
Darrell 'Dusty' Crawford of Heart Butte on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation was surprised to learn that his DNA placed his ancestors in the Americas about 17,000 years ago.
What is the oldest human DNA in the Americas? ›
A Blackfoot man from Montana was found to have the earliest proof of ancestors in the Americas, which came from Arizona around 17,000 years ago. His tests prove (99% accuracy) his ancestors came from the Pacific to South America, before migrating to South-west North America around 15,000 B.C.E.
What were the results of Darrell Dusty Crawford's DNA? ›
Eighty-three percent of Crawford's genome was identifiable as Native American, with 73 percent from a single line. Crawford's DNA also contained a mixture of other ethnicities; including European, East Asian, South Asian and African.
How old is the Blackfoot tribe? ›
The Blackfoot were an incredibly powerful and prominent tribal group for many centuries in the Great Plains region, with their presence in the area dating as far back as 10,000 years. The term "Blackfoot" is thought to have derived from the tribe's black-dyed moccasins.
Can a DNA test tell if you are Native American? ›
Could A Blood or DNA Test Prove AI/AN Ancestry? Blood tests and DNA tests will not help an individual document his or her descent from a specific Federally recognized tribe or tribal community.
What is the oldest surviving ethnicity? ›
Aboriginal Australians have a wide variety of cultural practices and beliefs that make up the oldest continuous cultures in the world. At the time of European colonisation of Australia, they consisted of complex cultural societies with more than 250 languages and varying degrees of technology and settlements.
Who has the oldest DNA on Earth? ›
In 2022, two-million year old genetic material was found in Greenland, and is currently considered the oldest DNA discovered so far.
What blood type are the Blackfoot Indians? ›
Although various tribes of American Indians have consistently been reported as belonging primarily to group O, the Blackfeet and Blood tribes appear to be an exception, showing as high a percentage of group A as other tribes show of group 0.
Where did Blackfoot Indians come from? ›
Early scholars in particular believed, on the basis of linguistic evidence, that the Blackfoot migrated from the Great Lakes region to the Great Plains sometime after the 17th century.
What ethnicity is Blackfoot? ›
The Niitsitapi, also known as the Blackfoot or Blackfeet Indians, reside in the Great Plains of Montana and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Originally, only one of the Niitsitapi tribes was called Blackfoot or Siksika.
It's possible to have Native American ancestors, but not have the Indigenous Americas region in your ethnicity estimate. This is because there's a difference between lineage and DNA. A child receives 50% of each parent's DNA, but they typically do not receive 50% of each parent's ethnicity.
What percentage do you have to be to be considered Native American? ›
The Bureau of Indian Affairs uses a blood quantum definition—generally one-fourth Native American blood—and/or tribal membership to recognize an individual as Native American. However, each tribe has its own set of requirements—generally including a blood quantum—for membership (enrollment) of individuals.
Are Mexicans considered natives? ›
Most Mexicans who identify as Mestizo have very large amounts of Indigenous ancestry. Despite this they are culturally assimilated into mestizaje and therefore do not identify culturally or politically as Indigenous peoples of Mexico.
What is the first inhabitants of the Americas DNA related to? ›
The First Amerindian Natives are postulated to have come from Asia through the Bering land bridge between 30,000–12,000 years before the present (BP). These conclusions have been based on cultural, morphological and genetic similarities between American and Asian populations.
What ethnic group has the most Neanderthal DNA? ›
" According to some researchers, the greater proportion of Neanderthal ancestry in East Asians than in Europeans or West Asians is due to purifying selection is less effective at removing the so-called 'weakly-deleterious' Neanderthal alleles from East Asian populations.
When did humans first appear in America? ›
If a land route to the Americas was open at least 20,000 years ago (if not earlier), when exactly did the first Americans cross it? That's one of the liveliest debates among archeologists. For decades, says Meltzer, the consensus was that the first Americans arrived around 13,000 years ago.
When did humans first appear in USA? ›
Archaeological and genetic evidence suggests the first humans arrived in North America between approximately 25,000 and 16,000 years ago.
