Post 9gw2LmCI0UTJIfy3Hc by Canageek@cybre.space
(DIR) More posts by Canageek@cybre.space
(DIR) Post #9gw2LlaiGCPjQ8O2iG by mpjgregoire@mastodon.club
2019-03-19T16:25:20Z
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I don't understand the interest in those DNA tests that show your ancestry. Don't people have some idea who their great-grandparents were, and where their family comes from?#ancestry
(DIR) Post #9gw2Llvyz7QaU6L1rk by mpjgregoire@mastodon.club
2019-03-19T16:50:42Z
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There's also the #insurance issue: "Why yes, Mr. Allstate representative, I am aware that I have an elevated risk of developing an expensive and unpreventable disorder."(Of course sometimes knowledge about hereditary health risks is useful: if diabetes runs in your family, you ought to be careful about diet and exercise.)
(DIR) Post #9gw2LmCI0UTJIfy3Hc by Canageek@cybre.space
2019-03-19T16:59:54Z
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@mpjgregoire Lots of us don't. A lot of my relatives came from unhappy situations in Europe and didn't exactly boast about their past. We know vaugly where by great grandfather was from, somewhere in the Austria-Romania area, but nothing more then that except he spoke German
(DIR) Post #9gw2VtSbrD4wirQRGq by Canageek@cybre.space
2019-03-19T17:02:09Z
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@mpjgregoire Plus as families spread out we have less and less contract with our relatives so stories aren't getting past on. Or they are and we want to see if family legends are true, like the one that the Scottish part of my family had some scandalous Irish blood
(DIR) Post #9gw6kepEx40ZUeJ2no by ink_slinger@mastodon.club
2019-03-19T17:15:12Z
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@Canageek @mpjgregoire I also immediately thought of people whose descendants were enslaved. They would often have little or no idea of their lineage past two or three generations.
(DIR) Post #9gw6kfElQAQOloFQaO by Canageek@cybre.space
2019-03-19T17:49:31Z
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@ink_slinger @mpjgregoire yeah. I've been tempted to try it with a fake name and address. I am Sven Bjork and my address is General Delivery at post office ;)
(DIR) Post #9gwO58tuXYzhmaqQym by ink_slinger@mastodon.club
2019-03-19T20:26:34Z
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@Canageek @mpjgregoire Also, to add to the "unhappy situations" note, there is a rumour on one side of my family that some of our ancestors were horse thieves and, as a result, not really talked about (this has also lead to some members of my extended family thinking we might have First Nations heritage, but I think that's pretty suspect and kinda moot because DNA is typically not the way First Nations determine relationship/membership in a nation, from what I understand).
(DIR) Post #9gwO597NjTlmSN9Bya by Canageek@cybre.space
2019-03-19T21:03:46Z
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@ink_slinger @mpjgregoire True but useful for knowing your family history.
(DIR) Post #9gwRSLvUZsOshgLLlo by ink_slinger@mastodon.club
2019-03-19T21:29:32Z
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@Canageek @mpjgregoire Definitely. And since no one seems to know for sure, it's another reason why one of those ancestry kits might be of interest (though not necessarily the DNA kind, tbh; there are often other ways of finding this info).
(DIR) Post #9gwRSM9JkTSXOYoOJs by Canageek@cybre.space
2019-03-19T21:41:36Z
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@ink_slinger @mpjgregoire You also have stuff like the Bernardo Boys https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/ourcityourworld/uk/the-barnardo-boys-149343895.html
(DIR) Post #9gy6EXC9kHtFXHsJXs by Kymberly@rcsocial.net
2019-03-19T17:41:53Z
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@mpjgregoire Admittedly, this is not as much of a concern in the Northeast, which tends to be even now fairly ethnically segregated, as in the South, West, and Midwest, where it is not.
(DIR) Post #9gy6EXc2C4aepXyysi by mpjgregoire@mastodon.club
2019-03-20T16:13:09Z
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Thanks to everyone for their responses, particularly @Kymberly, @Canageek and @SelfsameSynonym ; it seems that not knowing about your great-grandparents is more common than I thought (though I still suspect most people are aware). I should have been more clear in my original post as well: there are certainly exceptions, such as adoptees.#ancestry
(DIR) Post #9gy6EXyMr2SFwoQogy by Canageek@cybre.space
2019-03-20T16:52:58Z
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@mpjgregoire @SelfsameSynonym @Kymberly I don't know about most people,