You Who? Me Velda

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When I was small my mother used to tuck me in at night and say, "Never forget that you are a Highlander."

And because both of my paternal grandparents were also born in Scotland I grew up thinking that I had heather instead of blood in my veins. I didn't know then that my last name was Irish and I probably had more potatoes in my veins than heather.

My mother was so enamoured with her Scottish ancestors that she neglected to tell me about the other half of her family until I was much older. Her father's family was mostly German UEL with a little Iroquois thrown in.

The point is that you might think you know a lot about your family tree but a little research can uncover some big surprises.

I blogged about Y Chromosome Adam and Mitochondrial Eve awhile ago. National Geographic is researching the patterns of human migration. It is called the Genographic Project.

I was so excited about their project that I ordered the kit.*

I received the results yesterday.

I found out that I am descended from a line of women in the 'Velda Clan', or to put it less romantically, I am part of Haplogroup V.

My grandmothers left Africa through the Sinai Peninsula.

Though we are small in number compared to some of the other groups, we do have our own face book page!

Haplogroup V people are found mostly in northern Scandinavia herding reindeer and the Iberian Peninsula drinking wine.

Oh, and one blogs in North Pelham.

No mention of Scotland.

Sorry, Mom.



*Note: If you order the kit, watch the DVD first. I found out that there is a reason they ask for two samples. Teachers are notorious for not following directions and true to my kind I ruined the first sample.