Special note: Talking about personal genetics is difficult: what you say not only reveals so much about you, but also your parents, your siblings, and your children. I’ll be talking about genetics here, but from a broad sense, more about origins than any underlying disease or pre-disposition.
The setup
My brother received a gift from his family for a genetic test. I had an idea what to expect, though not the percentages. I also knew that whatever he found out would be the same for me, though he wanted to see what I would find out if I did the same test. I told him, being brothers, I would be the same, except for percentages varying slightly due to variability in the tests and when the test are taken.
He eventually did share the data with me – one part told me more than I already knew, and one part hit me much later.
Roughly speaking, based on my brother’s test, I am mostly (leaving out some minor percentages):
- German 25%
- Portuguese 21%
- Jewish 21%
- Native Amazonian 10%
- West African 5%
The breakdown
The quarter German is from our paternal grandmother, who was from Hartmannsdorf, in southeastern Germany, just outside of Chemnitz (ex-Karl-Marx-Stadt).
The quarter Portuguese is mostly from my maternal grandmother. She was born in northern Brasil, first-gen, but genetically fully Portuguese (or so I suspect, see below).
The quarter Jewish is Jewish from Central Europe and is from my paternal grandfather. He was an ethnic German from Leitmeritz (Litoměřice to the Czechs – though when he was born it was Austro-Hungary). I wasn’t sure if he was Jewish as he never really practiced anything and his wife was Lutheran (German, right?). But in the past few years, I’ve started realizing he was most likely Jewish (as evidenced by name and geography). Then two years ago, a (third?) cousin (with a shared great-great-grandparent with my father through his paternal grandmother’s side) found us and helped me make the full connection. At the same time I discovered a ton of photos and references to folks in my cousin’s genealogy. Yeah, my grandfather was 100% Jewish – had to be for me to be 25%.
What’s missing
Now, if you’ve been keeping score, you see that I’ve still a quarter unaccounted for, and I have yet to mention my maternal grandfather.
My maternal grandfather was Northern Brasilian. And, as many long-time Northern Brasilians, he would have a bit of Portuguese, a bit of Native Brasilian, and a bit of West African (where Brasilian slaves came from).
One thing that hit me was why I don’t have more Portuguese from him. This could be because one or both of my maternal grandmother’s parents were not 100% Portuguese, but had a mix of other European ancestors.
Nonetheless, I wasn’t surprised that I’ve received from him a bit of West African and Native Amazonian. Though for me, this is more than just genetic. Brasilian culture is heavily influenced by West Africa – samba, capoeira, feijoada, Iemanjá on New Years, macumba, manioc flour. And up in Northern Brasil we have been influenced by Native Amazonian culture, as well, such as the foods we eat and the words we use. Parts of these cultures make up MY culture. Indeed, when I lived in Finland, I had to go the African food store to get my usual comfort foods. And sometimes I don’t realize I am not clear to other Brasilians when talking about foods or using words that are from Native Amazonians, because it’s always been part of my life.
Adding up the surprises
For a long time I was fine with the bits of heritage I carried. And I kept saying that, of course my maternal grandfather would have this mix, indeed, such mixes can be stable if everyone has a mix of some sort.
But then, recently, it hit me: my father was 100% European, my mother’s mother was 100% European. That means that the non-European part of me doubles with my mom and doubles with her father. That means he was (based on my numbers) 20% West African and 40% Native Amazonian. If we roughly round to a genetic multiple he could be 25% West African (a grand-parent?) and 50% Native Amazonian (a parent?).
That suggests that he was much closer to West African and Native Amazonian that I thought. And if we say he was about 25-40% Portuguese, this would translate to about a 6-10% to me.
Cool. And something to further explore.
Latin American mutt
The most exciting thing for me about this walk through my genetics is the matching of culture and genetics. I grew up in such a mix of German, Portuguese, West African, Native Amazonian, Brasilian, and North American food, culture, language. While I look like a European (due to dilutions by my maternal grandmother and my father), I’m still a krazy mix and belong to and live with way more than a single culture.
And I am proud of this.*
*I will admit, due to where I’ve lived, I might push the Latino package more than the others. Also, I am well aware that my upbringing (and looks) have shielded me from a life that folks who are more West African or more Native Amazonian than me have had to suffer. Lastly, I’m not so aware about North Americans and how mixed they are, but I do know that Latin Americans can be as mixed as me. I know of someone from the Caribbean who also has done one of these genetic tests, which revealed West African heritage, but also Native Caribbean heritage. And these are also expressed in her words and cooking.
Image – no, I don’t know who these folks are, this is just a stock image with a mix of folks that I liked
