Native American ancestry facts for kids
In human population genetics, Native American ancestry refers to the theory that genetic ancestry can trace a relationship back to one or more individuals that were Indigenous to the Americas. However, there is no DNA test that can prove someone is Native American and cannot pinpoint specific Native American tribes.
Genetically, Native Americans are most closely related to East Asians. Native American genomes contain genetic signals from Western Eurasia due in part to their descent from a common Siberian population during the Upper Paleolithic period.
In the United States, levels of what commercial DNA companies mark as Indigenous American ancestry (distinct from Native American identity, which is based on kinship, citizenship, and cultural ties) among non-Natives differ, but in general are extremely low. The genomes of self-reported African Americans averaged to 0.8% Native American ancestry, those of European Americans averaged 0.18%, and those of Latinos averaged 18.0%.
Geneticist Kim TallBear (Dakota), author of Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science, has written about individuals discovering what they believe to be Native American ancestry through DNA testing, who then self-identify as Native American in general, or as members or descendants of a specific tribe. She notes, however, that not only is there no DNA test that can indicate a tribe, but "There is no DNA-test to prove you're Native American". and that this group mostly continues to identify as white. She also stresses that Indigenous identity is not about one distant (and possibly nonexistent) ancestor, but rather political citizenship, culture, kinship, and daily, lived experience as part of an Indigenous community.
Hispanic families in Latin America may be of Native American, European, African, or Asian ancestry; many Latin Americans descend from two or more of these ancestral populations.
