This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: RogAlexander Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.alexander/4194.10.1.2.1.2.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Cindy, I am not knowledgeable of mtDNA (mothers' dna) so I asked a trusted friend. She wrote: yDNA can only be done on males. yDNA testing identifies the ancestry of the father for generation upon generation. If the direct male ancestry is Indian, then the results will have a Haplogroup designation consistent with Indians (Haplogroup Q as an example). If the person believes that they have Indian ancestors, but those Indian ancestors were female, then one has to test a direct female descendant of the female Indian ancestor. Here is a link to a chart showing how mtDNA is inherited. This chart can be used in any mtDNA testing strategy, but in this case, pretend that the maternal grandmother illustrated was an Indian and you should be able to see who should be tested in order to 'try' to determine if she was an Indian. http://www.kerchner.com/y&mtdnachart.htm NOTE: The maternal grandmother would have to have had female Indian ancestors forever back in time for Indian mtDNA to be detected. Quite frankly, I don't expect mtDNA to be very helpful for anyone pursuing traditional 'genealogy' information. It does not change as rapidly as yDNA does so it's usefulness is considerably less than yDNA testing for making 'genealogy' connections. I am less familiar with mtDNA testing for discovering female Indian ancestors, but my overall sense from reading postings is that people are somewhat disappointed. A lot has to do with being able to find a direct female descendant of their 'presumed' female Indian ancestor. Having said all of that, I have had my brother's mtDNA tested. Since we had the same mother, our mtDNA is the same. The only difference is that my brother doesn't pass our mother's mtDNA on to his own children -- they get 'their' mtDNA from 'their' mother. Cindy, I hope this helps. Respectfully, Roger Alexander Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.