Correct Way to Identify Ancestry

[Grace O'Malley]

Both, father and mother But I won't pass it to my children neither haha.



As I've heard that mitochondrial DNA is pointless to track ancestry and to define ethnicity I didn't even mention it but you're right. Didn't know all of that, good point

I've found my mtdna really interesting. On the Full Mitochondrial Sequence I have a full match to someone whose last known ancestor was in Wexford. I have a 1 step match to 2 Norwegians and a 1 step match to another in the Russian Federation.

[Bezprym]

However, Slavs have told me that it is actually your paternal line that determines your ethnicity.

Looks like you met a Slavic vampire born in the Middle Ages. 99% of us are modern.

Both lines are equally important in general. It is obvious, however, that the most influencial is environment in which person grows up and which forges the character features of the individual.

[Profileid]

lol @ learning anything from Slavs.

Anyways, it's bullshit. I'm more culturally similar to my mother's side than father's.

[Ylla]

I identify more with mother's family (culturally) than with my father's, you can identify how you like, there should be no rules such as this.

[cosmoo]

In 95% of traditional societies you identify with your paternal line as long as your mother is of ethnicity at least somewhat related to your father's.
For example, any man with mother from some other European country would be counted as what he is by his father's line here. Things would sharply change if his mother's origin was from different continent, though. This also represents my view on this matter.
I identify more with my father's lineage, as I can track my ancestry way better that way, and it also determines your sub-clan ("bratstvo") and clan.

[Kriptc06]

If i am what my fathers father father father is, than I am a swarty spaniard XD.

Rethel approves!

[Pennywise]

"You are what your father is" mentality is the classical patriarchal mindset to determine one's idendity in case of having parents from different ethnic/religious backgounds. But it doesn't matter as long as your parents are from the same ethnicity. But in this case, you identify with your father's hometown and his family's traditions.

[Sacrificed Ram]

IMPOSSIBLE!

What you inherit in your genetic is randomic. You can have a french grandfather and a russian great-grandmother, but your autossomal genetic shows 25% russian and 12,5 french.

But if you is talking about ethnical identity, it does have nothing with genetic. Possible you ethnical identity is related with enviroment you rised (from your family to your co-workers).

[cosmoo]

IMPOSSIBLE!

What you inherit in your genetic is randomic. You can have a french grandfather and a russian great-grandmother, but your autossomal genetic shows 25% russian and 12,5 french.

But if you is talking about ethnical identity, it does have nothing with genetic. Possible you ethnical identity is related with enviroment you rised (from your family to your co-workers).

Those autosomal analyses only show you degree of "matching" certain populations, not your real ancestry. You can match some population extremely well while having exactly 0% of ancestors hailing from that country. That's why those analyses are, for most of the time, pointless.

[Sikeliot]

Historically it was definitely true. In ancient Sicily the child of a Greek father and an Elymian, Sicanian, Phoenician, Siculi, etc. mother was considered to be Greek, which is why you ended up with a whole island of "Greeks" after they colonized and took the native people as wives.

Same in Crete, in the Middle East, etc.