Worldwide DNA Census of the the Suebi of Germanic origin and the Alans from the area of Persia (modern Iran). Then the Moors took over Portuguese People from North Africa, and all the while we had the ancient by Doug da Rocha Holmes – [email protected] Jews. So by the time Portugal was a kingdom, where did Every ten years, the United States government does a all these various ethnic groups go? They didn’t go new census of the population. As genealogists, we use anywhere. To some degree, the Moors were pushed out these to find out more details about our families and of the Iberian Peninsula, but they were there for over 700 sometimes we find information that the relatives living years, so were as much a part of the landscape as today have forgotten about our ancestors who are now anyone. They left their mark as a percentage of the new long gone. Try to imagine the government worker whose Portuguese population. job it was to go to each home of our Portuguese So we can be proud Portuguese, but what does it ancestors, asking things like their name, place of birth, mean? It can mean that the people of this country, all of age, names of children, year of immigration, occupation. them, no matter what their ancient origins, have come And now imagine some government worker today together and united as one new ethnic group, formed coming to your door and every door around the world from many diverse and more ancient ethnic groups, but th for the purpose of studying the people of the entire now in the 12 century were one people. It is no planet through DNA, connecting all families going back different than what it means to be a proud American – a thousands of years, creating an amazing web of family group of very diverse people of all ethnic groups. ties between every country and everyone living on Earth. If we can dissect this, we will still find traces of all Well, to some degree this is actually happening. these ancient groups that lived in the Iberian Peninsula People interested in their origins and scientists studying and how we dissect the current Portuguese population is mankind are getting DNA testing more and more. It has by DNA testing. become an integral part of genealogy and the study of The science behind DNA testing is still in the early family connections. But it certainly is nothing mandatory years, but already the population of Earth has been and not even close to a world-wide effort. divided into various categories and assigned the letters So why not make it one? Why not learn about our of the alphabet. For instance, letter R is a group that is history of the people on Earth and how each of us is found in the majority of men in modern Europe. Many linked to the others? It’s an awesome concept when you times the people of certain ethnic groups can largely be stop to think about it. I dare to say it would actually said to belong to certain lettered groups, such as the make the world a better place and people would be a Berbers of North Africa who were part of the Moors little more tolerant of their differences in customs and occupying for 700 years mostly belong to the group physical looks. called E. So I am proposing we as a community of Portuguese Testing for DNA has reached the point where males, take it upon ourselves to create a DNA census of the who all have a Y-chromosome handed down by their Portuguese people anywhere and everywhere in the fathers and will pass down only to their sons of the world they might live now. future, can find which group of mankind (which letter) So what does this really mean? I will try to explain they belong to from ancient times and far beyond the some details and take what is often too scientific with year Portugal became a country. So no matter who you terms and abbreviations and present in plain and simple are, what you look like, where you live now, a Y-DNA English. test on any male can place you into one of these groups Let’s go back to the 12th century when Portugal of mankind. became a kingdom under Afonso Henriques. Before it In Portugal, the most common group is letter R. We was a kingdom, the people were living in the county of have people with letter R now living all over Europe, Portugal since the year 868 AD and in the 12th century every country. And in a general way, we can say this were now fully Portuguese, rather than vassals of the group is of Celtic origin. So most in Portugal are King of León. So we can look at who were these original descendants of these ancient Celts who were in the Portuguese from about 800 years ago. To do that we Iberian Peninsula for maybe 6000 years. They spread all must look even further back in time. over Europe and in the modern United Kingdom, there is We had Celts and Romans, followed by Visigoths, almost nothing else. Scientists have been developing ways to further every person living in the Azores, or for that matter in refine the branches that somewhat resemble a family continental Portugal, and compare it to a census taken tree, where you can view the branches and see exactly now, I estimate perhaps 75% of the male and female which one your own family comes from. It is very exact, lines have died off today. With every generation we have precise, and simply an amazing discovery. We can see more lines that die off – forever. We can never again how two families follow the same path through the have the benefit of knowing more about these lines. centuries and then see when they separated and went They can only be in our memories. their own way. Two brothers living in the year 1000 who This is very easy to see in many families. Just look to each raised their own families, including at least one see if you have all males or all females in your own son, passed down the DNA they got from their father family. If all males, it marks the end of your maternal and grandfather and all future generations to this very line after these males are gone. If all females, the day can be linked back together. It’s simply mind- paternal line will be gone once the father and any uncles boggling to think this is possible, but it really is. are gone. As genealogists who want to build a family tree and So back in 1600, some of the males didn’t have any learn the most about all branches, those of us with children. Some had only boys, some only had girls. Then Azores roots can often learn about ancestors born in the the ones who had at least one boy might have died out late 1600s and many times back into the 1500s. And this because that boy had no children or only girls, thus doesn’t include just the “important” families with wealth ending that paternal line. After four centuries, we have and property who kept records or were knighted by one had a dramatic loss of male and female lines. of the kings of Portugal. These are the common folk - I have done extensive research on my Portuguese the laborers, workers, craftsmen, including the ruling ancestry. I have hundreds of ancestors going back to the families, merchants, doctors and landowners. 1500s in many cases, 1600s in many more and in only a We of Azorean descent have a very interesting few cases have not been able to go back beyond the mixture of ethnic groups who left their DNA in each of 1700s. And I can say that it can be quite frustrating to us. We know from history books about the original discover just how difficult it is to find a person, male or settlers to the Azores were mostly from continental female, who represents the direct paternal or maternal Portugal. We also have knowledge of people from line of all my ancestors. I represent my own paternal Flanders settling, especially in the central group of line, of course. But if there were no males in my family, islands. And these settlers brought along their servants, only girls and if their father and uncles were all slaves, and people of all backgrounds willing to join in deceased, then such a person would be unable to test making something out of nothing in the islands. There their own paternal line. It can only be a male with the Y- are also the Jews who were forced to convert or be chromosome. expelled from Portugal, or even killed, who arrived in For example, I have done a tremendous amount of the early 1500s in the Azores. research on the surname Simas. I know it comes from Unfortunately, we don’t have records of all the Spain in the middle 1500s to the island of São Miguel people who settled the Azores in the 1400s and 1500s. and from there moved over to Pico and other islands. In Mostly it is the most important historical figures we modern times, Simas is very common on Pico, but not so know about, but for every known family, there must much on São Miguel. I looked for someone who was a have been 50 other families that were not considered living representative of the direct male line of the first important enough to record. We have lost our chance to Simas. Over and over again I followed the path down link our families to these other settlers. We are often through each family and it kept up ending with either no lucky to link up to a known family that history books children or only females. The male line died off. But I have treated with due respect. So we get a mixed bag of finally did locate one single line that exists today and are known, but mostly unknown branches in our family tree possibly the last people on earth who have the ability to by the time we reach the 1600s and earlier. do a DNA test and discover more about this first man This brings me back to DNA testing for the people named Simas from Spain. living today who can identify the people who settled For someone like Guilherme da Silveira, who there about 500 years ago. changed to this name after he moved from Flanders in If we could take a census in the year 1600 of each and the 1400s, I have not discovered a single person who is a male line descendant of this very famous first settler. line. If we have 10 million today, maybe there are Even though Silveira is extremely common, in every 10,000 different paternal lines and the same for maternal case, Silveira ultimately came from a maternal branch. I lines. But compare it to the 12th century and we might still have hopes I will discover someone. Maybe have had 500,000 different paternal and maternal lines. someone from Brazil or mainland Portugal can be It’s very hard to say for many reasons. We can’t know located. But we must face the possibility it might be lost until people test and see how many people match each forever. other. I did the same search for the famous Brum name, also So this brings me to the tests we can do. The two from Flanders and so far have come up empty. I believe most important tests are those that test the paternal line all the people named Brum have it from their maternal (the Y-chromosome) and the maternal line side, though many people today have Brum going way (mitochondrial DNA). We can put the Y-DNA results to back and only when you reach the 1600s it is discovered use the best, but we should not neglect the mtDNA even to have come from a mother or grandmother – the father when it is far less useful in connecting families. having some other name. Right now, the Azoreans are very under-tested if we How about other family names like Bulcão, compare it to what is happening in the U.K. Because Sarmento, Barcelos, Terra, da Rosa, Bettencourt, Americans are the most enthusiastic group for DNA Águeda, Monteiro, Cabral, Medeiros, Raposo, Brandão, testing and the majority have roots in the U.K., I Pereira, Cunha, Sodré, Espínola, Baleeiro, Valadão, estimate that for every person with Azores ancestors, Homem, Bruges, Borges, Ornelas, Lima, Rodovalho, there are 50 who have done a DNA test that leads to the Mendonça, Carneiro, Madruga, etc., etc.? Are there any U.K. And mainland Portugal is far worse than the males living today who have this on their direct paternal Azores. But this can’t continue because we have a line all the way back to the first who brought the name to relatively short history, only 500 years, compared to the islands? Have they all died off? Have the maternal mainland Portugal and the Iberian Peninsula as a whole. lines also died off? Once we discover all we can about the people who In most cases, the answer is probably “yes.” The settled the islands, we must learn how we link back to names are still used by modern families, but it comes the mainland and further back to ancient Iberia to get the from a maternal or paternal branch to keep the name most complete picture of our ancestors that we can. alive. But in our favor, thanks to the naming traditions Who should test? This is an important factor to for all of Portugal, we usually don’t know what the consider. At least one male per family. This will be a Y- surname of the oldest ancestor on the direct paternal or DNA test for the paternal line. And for the maternal line, maternal line was until you trace the line back through it can be any male or female in the family, but only one the records. My name Holmes came from Homem and person. There is no reason for two siblings who have the before that was Rocha, but I can’t do a DNA test to same mother to get the mtDNA test. And likewise, there discover my line to the first Homem or first Rocha, is usually no great benefit to have two brothers test the because before Rocha it was João and before that Brás Y-DNA line because results will usually be identical – and before that was my ancestor named Miguel Gil, born not always, but probably the majority of the time. So if in the 1500s in São Bartolomeu dos Regatos, Terceira. there are some girls and some boys, plus a mother and a Was his father also Gil? Chances are no, it was father in the family who can test, get the father and the something else – anything else. mother tested first. That will cover the paternal line and Given these factors, the best we can do today, right maternal line of all their children. But for the father, he now, is have at least one male in each family get their has a different maternal line. If he has no living siblings, DNA tested. We can’t let any more paternal or maternal he should also get the maternal line test (mtDNA). But if lines die off without first getting them tested. It is a piece he has a sibling, male or female, any of them can do that of our Portuguese history and heritage locked inside of same test. Just make sure only one person does it for the us. And science has now allowed us to put it to good use same maternal line. If a grandmother is alive, there is no and learn more about ourselves. need to test the daughter or any of the daughter’s The reason all Portuguese must participate is that we children. The grandmother can do the maternal line test don’t know until we test whether any one person is the to represent all her maternal line descendants. last one on Earth to represent their paternal or maternal If you can’t find an uncle to test your mother’s paternal line, look to your uncle’s son and test them. He say you are mailing “cotton swabs.” You don’t want to will represent the same paternal line as your own mother say it is a DNA test because it could cause problems in who can’t do a Y-chromosome test, anyway. If your customs. mother had only sisters, it becomes harder. You have to It takes about a week for the lab to receive it from look for brothers of your maternal grandfather. If he had USA addresses and can be a 3-4 weeks from other a brother and that brother had a son, test the son. If that countries. Once received by the lab, if you are going to son is deceased, but had a son of his own, he would be allow me to help you monitor the progress, every your second cousin and you can test him for your Wednesday all the test kits are assigned to a batch for mother’s paternal line. As you look for people who can processing. And it can be about 3-8 weeks to get the test the four paternal lines of your four grandparents, you results. The maternal line test is often taking the longest. will see sometimes how difficult it is to find someone Once your results come back, I will be quite happy to living now who can do it. You are witnessing the sad interpret them for anyone. You might match other fact that another family line has died off. people indicating you have a family connection that can Testing is done at a company in Houston, Texas be close or very remote – even thousands of years ago. called Family Tree DNA. Their website is And you could have no matches to anyone else yet. At www.familytreedna.com this stage, we have many people who don’t match The Y-DNA test is called Y-12 or Y-111 with several anyone else. It’s a question of severe under-testing. It’s a levels in between. Y-12 is the most basic test possible. numbers game. Chances go up and up as more get tested. Y-111 is the most in-depth. The goal is to get everyone For a Y-DNA test, you might find a very close match to tested to at least Y-67, with Y-111 being the best. But if another male within just 200 years, or more remote from money is tight, start with Y-37 at least. Upgrading to Y- 400 years ago. And it could be a match to someone 67 and Y-111 can be done later. But before you order, before the Azores were even settled. You might not please contact me because I can answer questions and match anyone else who is Portuguese, but match advise to make sure you have picked the right people someone who now lives in Peru or Mexico and your and are not wasting money by duplicating tests (it can be common ancestor might have been born 1,000-2,000 confusing at first), plus save you some money with years ago. Hopefully you will get matches at all these discounts that come with joining a project first. levels – near and far. It is helpful to have some of each For the maternal line, the best and most useful test is and I will teach you why once your results come back. called Full Mitochondrial Sequence (FMS), but if money I am hoping to eventually get thousands of people is tight, there is a less expensive choice that can be from the Azores tested so we have at least one person upgraded in the future. representing as many as possible of the original settler I want to make it clear that I receive no financial families. And then the question becomes where in the benefit from this testing company. I am doing this purely mainland of Portugal these settler families came from. for the genealogical information we can obtain and my And at the same time we will surely be able to link enthusiasm for connecting the families of the Azores and between the islands. We know from history books that Portugal. Santa Maria was the first to be settled, then São Miguel, The test itself is sent through the mail to any address later the rest. So will we be able to see this by DNA in the world. For an address in the USA, it takes only testing? Let's say we have a Camacho which is found on about 10 days to receive it. For other countries, it can Pico and matches someone from Madeira where take a month, but sometimes is faster and sometimes Camacho is also found in large numbers. Maybe that can slower. Inside the package are two small vials and two be interpreted to mean the Camacho family on Pico tiny brushes that look like a mini-toothbrush. You will originated in Madeira. And maybe we find a match to scrub the inside of each cheek with these brushes and put someone on the mainland and can further interpret them them into the vials. Try to scrub hard enough for the to have come from the Porto area, then to Madeira, then brush to turn a little pink which indicates you got more finally to Pico. This is just speculation, but DNA testing DNA from blood. But don’t worry that much about it. provides this as a possibility to discover. Just scrub and you are done. For the USA, postage is More people are joining and getting their DNA tested already paid back to the lab. For other countries, you all the time. In California we have a very well-known must pay the postage and for the customs form, you can educator in Tulare named Diniz Borges with Terceira roots. Joe da Rosa, a well-known businessman in San Diego, and his entire family has done it. Igor Espínola de França of São Miguel who is an avid Pico Island genealogist has a test in progress. Larry Valim and his wife in Sacramento have done DNA tests. The father of Angela Simões with PALCUS, and Anthony Barcelos, the Azorean author, have both tested. Historian Ermelindo Ávila and his son Rui Pedro Ávila, both famous on Pico, have ordered a test kit. There is another famous person who has declined to be named, but who saw the value of DNA testing. And many others will soon follow. If you can remember sitting on your grandfather’s knee as he recalled his adventures as a young man, or hearing stories from your mother, but now regret you didn’t pay better attention to them, and now have a family of your own and want to make sure you pass on the story of your family as best you remember it, now is your chance to make sure a very important part of you is not lost. The story of your own family line for the past many thousands of years is in your DNA. Every family line is important. Some might not care about it themselves, but might do it as a favor to someone they trust and as a favor to their future descendants. So talk to your relatives, call and discuss it with your cousins. Be a part of this amazing discovery of our roots and preserve for all our future descendants a piece of our history. The history of our people is being re-written with every new person tested. Each person is a story of their ancient heritage. Don’t allow your story to become lost. My test helps you and your test helps me. We all need each other and we all win. We need a complete DNA census of our people.