In a message dated 1/24/2007 11:44:05 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

Do a  Google- I had mine done at Oxford Ancestors, on recommendation  
of a  friend who had hers done there, too. 


Hello Everyone,
 
The choice of the firm that does your testing, especially male  Y-DNA, is 
EXTREMELY important because Oxford and it's U.S. competitor (and  much more 
widely used), FTDNA, do not use the same markers.  They both do  more similar 
haplogroup testing, but that is for much broader concerns than  determining your 
individual ancestor on a micro-level.
 
Why is this important?  Because if you have your DNA tested by Oxford,  and 
your surname is the subject of a FTDNA-based surname project, you will not  be 
able to compare your results and gain the benefits of determining if you have  
matches or not.   The exception to this is IF you know that Oxford is  doing 
most of the testing on your particular surname, such as it has done for  the 
CLOUGH surname where matches with English Cloughs were a main point of  
interest.
 
I recommend that before you choose a DNA tester after you have thoroughly  
examined what kind of test groups there are for your surname...or in the case of 
 Native Americans, larger cultural considerations   There are many  rootsweb 
lists devoted to Native Americans, see:
_http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Ethnic-Native/_ 
(http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Ethnic-Native/) 
 
I have a keen interest in at least 12 DNA surname projects at FTDNA.   To see 
if there is one for your surname and/or any surnames of interest, and  find 
that specific surname website go to the following FTDNA link, and use  the 
upper right hand search link to find out.
_http://www.familytreedna.com/_ (http://www.familytreedna.com/) 
 
I also want to second Brent's suggestion that you join the Va-Roots list,  
where these DNA issues, and such questions as the meaning of "next friend"  are 
our meat and potatoes.
 
Again, that link is here:
_http://www.lva.lib.va.us/siteindex/index.htm#V_ 
(http://www.lva.lib.va.us/siteindex/index.htm#V)  
 
Best Regards, Janet (Baugh) Hunter


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