Exploring Maternal Haplogroups

In honor of International Women's day and because I was itching to write about a certain haplogroup, I decided that this was the opportune time for me to write!

So far with 23andme, I have been able to test 7 people in my family including myself and have been able to discover 4 different maternal haplogroups. What's interesting about our haplogroups is that they aren't from just one area- with the migration to Puerto Rico coming from many different areas and for many different reasons, our maternal heritage (just like our paternal heritage) tells many different stories. But the one I want to focus on mainly today is my great grandfather's European haplogroup U5b1b1b. First I'll talk quickly about the others.

My own personal maternal haplogroup came as a nice surprise to me when I first tested in 2009. When I got my results I was able to see that my maternal haplogroup was the indigenous C1b4. This group as you can see below is present in both Asia and the Americas. My guess is that somewhere along my maternal ancestress' line I descend from a Taíno/Arawak woman.

Similarly, another group found on the maternal side of the family that is also connected to Native Americans is called A2. A2 has a higher concentration up in North America near the Bering Strait. However, you can also see that it is evenly common and widespread throughout Central and Southern America. Again, this haplogroup was most likely introduced to my family through a Taíno/Arawak ancestress.

Found on my paternal side of the family is the only African Haplogroup I've discovered so far called L2a1. This haplogroup is found amongst African Americans seeing as how it is commonly found in Sub-Sahara Africa amongst the Bantu-speakers. Since it is so widespread it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where in Africa my ancestress would have originated from. Some speculate that its origin lies somewhere in Central Africa. Due to the Atlantic Slave Trade, many L2a1 carrying women entered areas such as the Caribbean, South America and North America which is why it is so commonly found there. I have not been able to figure out who my original L2a1 African born ancestress was, but hopefully one day I'll be able to know more about this line and haplogroup.

Lastly, my great grandfather is the only one in my family tested so far to carry a European haplogroup yet with an interesting history. His maternal haplogroup is known as U5b1b1b and can be found amongst the Basque and even amongst the Saami population in Northern Scandinavia.

U5b1b1b is part of the branch U5 which "arose among early colonizers of Europe around 40,000 years ago". But what's more interesting about this group is that is seems to have made its way back into Africa via Northern Africa where it can be found amongst people in Morocco and even as far south as Senegal. The big question for me is: Where did my U5b1b1b ancestress come from herself? Did she live in southern Spain before heading off to Puerto Rico? Was she a Moroccan woman who's family found their way to Spain and settled in Al-Andalus? Or was she just a European woman who's husband decided to head to the Caribbean and she agreed to the journey?

So far any of these stories and many others are possible. What's interesting is that my great grandfather does carry, according to Ancestry Composition, North African genes. Pictured below is his Chromosome 4 on "Standard Estimate" and the dark blue on the top is the North African he carries. There is a smaller chunk of it as well on Chromosome 7. Who he receives these genes from is still a mystery to me! Also in Ancestry Finder he receives a match with all 4 grandparents born in Morocco.

Chromosome 4- North African Genes

Chromosome 7- North African Genes

Chromosome 2- Moroccan Match

Hopefully one day I'll be able to name who these women were and talk about the lives they would have lived!

The Magic of Genes

Joining 23&me at the age of 18 opened my mind to A LOT, not just about genealogy, ancestry, genes and everything in between but it allowed me to take part and become a member of a community with genealogy buffs like myself. Logging on and seeing how some people have reached ancestors born in the 16th century pushed me to want to get to that level! I chatted with one very friendly and well informed cousin on the website who taught me some of the ropes of what all this meant and more. I was able to find out things like my Maternal and Paternal Haplogroups, my 'ancestry painting' and 'connect' to, at this most currently over 550, relatives. This relative introduced me to FamilySearch, a website which actually contains records before 1910 for Puerto Rico. How ecstatic and ready I was to start searching for records! Though at first I was a bit hesitant because it required me to search documents one by one (luckily some have indexes), I bit the bullet and started searching for ancestors and boy have I found a ton!!

Going back to my 23andme results, I got back some interesting information. My paternal haplogroup, which is passed down through the Y chromosome along the males in the family (son, father, grandfather, etc.) came back as I2a1*. Haplogroup I is surprisingly most common amongst Southern Europeans such as Balkans and Sardinians with 40% of Sardinian men belonging to this group. Yet my specific branch/subgroup (I2a1*) is "believed it originate high in the Pyrenees, the string of mountains that separates Spain from France. About 12,000 years ago, as temperatures warmed and glaciers retreated, men bearing I2a1 expanded into Spain, France, and nearby Mediterranean Islands." (23andme website). So this would mean that centuries ago, one of my paternal ancestors came from around that area of Europe. Pictured below is the screen shot for members of the I2a1* haplogroup and its concentration around Europe.

I2a1* Paternal Haplogroup passed down only to men

My maternal haplogroup, which is passed down from mothers to both sons and daughters, was very interesting. It came back as C1b4, which arrived from Asia into the Americas and is most common amongst Native Americans. Wanting to learn more I began to research this haplogroup and found that it was one of the common Haplogroups among the Taíno people of Puerto Rico!! This would mean that centuries ago a woman along my maternal line was most likely a native from either Puerto Rico or a nearby island. Due to the fact that many Spaniards arrived without woman on their conquest for new lands, they reproduced with the natives and/or slaves giving people such as myself these Haplogroups. Pictured below is the screen shot for members of the C1b4 haplogroup and its concentration around Asia as well as the Americas.

C1b4, Maternal Haplogroup passed down by mothers

All this information was fascinating, something I had seen on a TV show actually was real and capable for the average person to buy, use and understand! My ancestry painting, which has changed a bit from when I first tested, shows that I am (approximating of course): 75% European, 15% African, and 9% Asian. (As you saw from my results, Asian doesn't necessarily mean one my grandparents was Chinese, Indian, etc but can also be natives who carry those genes from their ancestors from the Asian continent and moved into the Americas.

My genealogical search was taking a new technological turn and with FamilySearch records in my hand, my branches on my tree were going to stretch a bit farther into the past!