Am I 100% from an African ethnic background?

My parents

According to the Oxford dictionary, ethnicity is ‘the fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition’.

Step by step process when you buy the subscription and kit

I was speaking to a good friend of mine, who told me of her encounter with DNA ancestry, she explained how she did a DNA test and found out all her ancestral roots. This was in April of 2019, the idea stuck with me so for Christmas 2019 I put this down on my list as gift ideas. Garvin bought me the subscription from ' My heritage ' which was on sale for around 200AED (approximately $400TT) the DNA kit came from New Jersey, USA. It took about two weeks to ship to Dubai. I was so excited so as soon as I received it, I took the swab DNA test in the post office and returned it to the post man on the same day to be delivered. It took two weeks to arrive to the USA and the results were produced within another two weeks. 

SOME BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE:

Trinidad in relation to other Caribbean countries

I was born in Trinidad and Tobago a very multicultural population. It is the southern most country in the Caribbean. For most people I encounter Trinidad and Tobago its just the same as Jamaica and by this time I have to go into an explanation it isn't or sometimes I pull up a map so they can understand we are a dual country close to Venezuela with our own distinct traditions, cultures and cuisines. If you have heard of Trinidad and Tobago, you most likely have heard about the greatest show on earth; Carnival, steel-pans, gorgeous beaches, soca, lush mountains, numerous bird species, the 8th wonder of the world; our pitch lake, white coral sand shores, ancient architecture, the oldest and largest monastery in the Caribbean and our very tropical greenery, hiking trails and rivers. 

Beautiful Trinidad and Tobago

Before the 1300's Trinidad and Tobago was populated by two tribes known as Caribs and Arawaks, these tribes were physically displaced with the "re-discovery" of Trinidad by Christopher Columbus in 1498. Until 1796 Trinidad was apart of the Spanish Empire, under their rule they invited foreign settlers and their slaves to Trinidad and Tobago with promise of free land and entry into the profitable sugarcane and cocoa industries. By 1802 the British crown took over the nation of Trinidad.

Nations involved in the Trans-Atlantic Trade in Africa

Whilst this was happening, there was the Trans Atlantic slave trade, which existed in the 15th and 19th century. According to historians the slave trade was run between Europe, Africa and the "New World" (Americas), this caused over fifteen million slaves to be removed from their homes and sold to the "New World". African people were chained, forced to march to the coasts and was sent on a horrendous trip called the Middle passage, where they suffered brutality and ill treatment.  In 1807 the British made the slave trade illegal and in 1838 Emancipation came for the African People.

In 1813 the first registration of slaves happened in Trinidad and in 1819 the first registration of slaves happened in Tobago, this happened to combat the illegal trade of slaves. From the registration it showed that the population at that time compromised of 25,696 African slaves. Through the registration it also showed that most of the ethnicity of the slaves were from Senegambia, Upper Guinea, Windward Coast, Gold Coast, Bight of Benin, Bight of Biafra and West Central Africa. In my research this was great insight and information for me in pin pointing exactly where I am from. 

Uttar Pradesh, state in India where a lot of East Indian laborers were taken from

To avoid the crumbling of the sugar and cocoa industries, Chinese, Portuguese, African-Americans and East Indians were brought to Trinidad and Tobago. East Indians proved to be the more resilient workers of the bunch and were recruited in larger numbers than any other ethnicity. In 1891 it is said that there were 45,800 East Indian migrants with more coming yearly as indentured laborers, this happened until 1917 where the abolishment of indenture-ship occurred. Most of the East Indian indenture-ship laborers came from the the state of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. 

From left: my grandfather, my great grandfather and my great uncles

On the 31st August 1962, Trinidad and Tobago gained independence and we are described as a very multi-ethnic nation with the two major ethnicities being Afro and Indo- Trinidadian.

Trinidad and Tobago 

WHAT DO I KNOW:

Alleged- Great-Great-Great-Great paternal Grandmother

PATERNALLY- So according to information I was able to gather, my father's side has a mixture of East Indian, African and Meso-American. My dad's half siblings also took a DNA ethnicity test and it is alleged my great x 4 grandmother came from India (attached is the picture above). In addition, my East Indian great grandfather married my Afro-Trinidadian great grandmother and made my grandfather, who in turn married my Meso-american and Afro-Trinidadian grandmother and out came my dad.

My paternal great-grandfather

MATERNALLY- My maternal grandmother's side of the family has lived most of their lives in a place called Moruga in Trinidad. According to Historic articles, a lot of African slaves migrated to that part of the island to start over their lives becoming fishermen, carpenters etc. My maternal grandfather side of the family came from Carriacou a small island belonging to Grenada. My great grandfather was an offspring of a white plantation owner and an African slave at that time. So my maternal side of the family has a mixture of African and European.

The jerseys for my mother's last family reunion

MY RESULTS: 

AFRICA

Nigerian - 42.7%
Sierra Leonean - 18.1%

West African 4.2%

North African- 4.7%
Kenyan- 3.2%
According to articles, the two of the many ethnic groups African slaves belonged to were Bight of Biafra and Bight of Benin, which is now known as the southern region of Nigeria and West of Nigeria respectively which can explain the 42.7 % Nigerian. There was a need for a colonial army as part of the British army so in 1812- 1815 the British government took volunteers from Sierra Leon which can explain the 18.1%. West African, North African and Kenyan can also be allotted to be apart of the Atlantic slave trade which can explain the remaining percentage. 

ASIA

South Asian 14.5%
According to my father's knowledge of his ancestors this can explain the 15% South Asian, the results however does not state exactly where in India my DNA relates to. Only the information I gathered which suggests that most indentured laborers were from the two regions of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. 

My paternal grandfather

EUROPE
Finnish- 3.4 %
Iberian 3.4%
The 3.4 % Finnish relates to the country of Finland and the 3.4 % relates to Spain and Portugal. Based on the history of my maternal grandfather it should explain the 6.8% European ancestral line.

Country of Finland

AMERICA
Meso-american and Andean 5.0%
The 5.0% relates to regions we know as Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina. Historically they include the ancient central America civilizations such as the Mayans and Aztecs. Briefly from my fathers description my paternal grandmother's ancestral line comes from there which can explain the 5.0%

My paternal grandmother's parents.

OCEANIA
Papuan 0.8%
According to historical data East Indians/ South Asians were also displaced from areas such as Malaysia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, which can explain the 0.3%.

Oceania population mostly came from Papua New Guinea

The entire process from buying the subscription to receiving the results has been nothing but a smooth process. The instructions were very clear and as the results were being formulated there was an explanation about what was taking place. I really do recommend the 'my heritage' service, it was extremely helpful, however exactly pinpointing where in the regions my ancestors came from would have been particularly ideal. According to the information on 'my heritage' the top five ethnicities of Trinbagonians who had completed the DNA test came from Nigeria, Sierra Leon, South Asia, West African and Scandinavian. 

Ethnicities of most Trinbagonians who took the DNA test

Although the results given mostly proved the information I was given by my parents I’d surely like to know more where there are question marks. I’ve suggested to both my parents to do the test which can help better identify certain ethnicities but that will be another post. I thoroughly enjoyed doing the research for this post and going down the rabbit hole of my family's history with both my parents. Currently there is a sale being carried out for Valentine’s Day running for the same 200AED (400TT) if anyone is interested in finding out their ethnicity estimate.

Step by Step Process of the results being formulated

Resources:

1. National Library and Information System Authority of Trinidad and Tobago
2. National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago
3. Milwaukee Public Museum

By Keiztothecity