In a message dated 12/19/2006 11:43:33 A.M. Central Standard Time, BJWebbb@aol.com writes: I was told by a PhD microbiologist (he teaches at a nearby university) who I work with that DNA testing will NOT prove Native American blood, or show race or nationality of any sort. I'd asked because our family submitted DNA to the WEBB-DNA project, and thought I might be able to prove my own Native American roots that way. He said (and I quote), "DNA enables you to find people who are both near and distant relatives, but in no way can it show racial identity. Perhaps some day, but at this point, the science isn't there." There are two exceptions to this. If the direct line of Y-DNA or mtDNA is one of the few specific haplogroups which are known to be Native American, or if a collateral line's direct line of Y-DNA or mtDNA is. Unfortunately for most people with whom I am acquainted, the NA heritage is almost never along the direct line. It's the mother's father's mother's mother or something else which cannot be directly tested. And usually they cannot find a suitable person to test. At this point, testing as many cousins along your various lines is still the best way to pick up any small percentage of ethnic group inheritance. The biogeographical test, which is what it sounds as if you took, are NOT sufficiently refined to detect NA heritage which is older than a few generations back, or which is a tiny percent of your heritage. At this point, what they do is confirm one's majority ethnic percentage -- what one wag has called "the mirror test." That is, if you look in the mirror and see European features, you are probably mostly European. If you look in the mirror and see African American features, you are probably mostly African American. And so on. There are a few people who get surprises -- like a black fellow who tested out as I1a, or a fellow who tested out with an "african" haplogroup. However, this science is developing, and one day it might be possible. I am working on my "DNA Pedigree." This shows all the lineages I have tested -- both parents, all 4 grandparents, 5 of my 8 great-grandparents, 7 of my 16 great-great grandparents, and 8 of my 32 greatgreatgreatgrandparents. What it has told me is interesting, but so far, it all matches the mirror test. ::smile:: Anne