Dusty:

This question of DNA testing for Native American ancestry is too complex a
subject to discuss in depth on the VA-ROOTS list. It is better to be 
addressing it on the RootsWeb Autosomal DNA list and reading the list
archives:
<http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/other/DNA/AUTOSOMAL-DNA.html>

For video animations that visually explain the differences among the
various kinds of DNA testing, see
<http://www.smgf.org/pages/animations.jspx>.

You will get a lot of valuable information by reading the DNA bloggers
whom I have mentioned previously, especially Roberta Estes's _DNA
eXplained_, past and present blogs: <http://dna-explained.com>. She is an
expert on Native American DNA.

If your mother and any of her and your father's siblings are still living,
you may need to test some or all of them for autosomal (multi-line), in
addition to yourself.

You may need to test yourself and other family members with more than one
company to resolve the ethnicity questions and to determine the routes the
potential Native American heritage takes in your ancestry through mixed
male and female lines.

If you do autosomal testing with companies such as 23andMe.com and
AncestryDNA.com, you need to consider transferring that information to
FamilyTreeDNA.com (for a fee) and to GEDmatch.com (free) for additional
tools and matches, as we discussed previously.

You have identified an 87-year-old cousin who is descended in the direct
male line from a common male ancestor in your late father's direct male
line. It is important to test his yDNA through FamilyTreeDNA.com (FTDNA)
at least at the 37 marker level for genealogically relevant information.
Anything less than 37 markers is anthropological information only. This
test could potentially include Native American ancestry, but in the direct
male line only. He can remain anonymous while you manage his account and
handle correspondence from his matches. It is important for you to be
named a _beneficiary_ of his information with FTDNA. FTDNA keeps the cheek
scraping specimen for 25 years, which is important for future upgrades of
the yDNA test and possibly an autosomal test. We don't know what new tests
will be available in the future.

--Ida Skarson McCormick, [log in to unmask], Seattle
Member of the Seattle Genealogical Society's DNA Interest Group
---------------
Dusty Smith Erickson wrote 7-9-13 to Cynthia McDaniel via VA-ROOTS: <snip>
I have found a male descendent and now struggle with who to use to get his
DNA checked for ETHNIC background.  My genelogical Smith
connections could come later - as we have been
struggling to prove American Indian Ancestry for about 50 yrs.  My "Indian"
heritage has been searched and searched but we really only have family
record and verbal accounts. . . .
<snip>

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