Who are any of us, really? As DNA testing has become widely available, it’s easier than ever to now know. – Virginian-Pilot

No doubt youve seen commercials in which someone is certain she was of this or that heritage, but finds out her line dates back to ice-loving aliens who settled in Antarctica. Or something like that.

This curiosity is why I submitted to DNA testing: to get a clearer sense of the ancestral population groups from which I derive. Having previously traced some maternal lineage to Chickasaw County, Miss., Ive suspected I have Chickasaw Indian ties.

Now National DNA Day, April 25, was coming up, and several providers of such testing offered specials. Why not take advantage?

I went with Family Tree DNA. The procedure is simple enough. You receive a sterile kit to swab the inside of your cheeks, and you send it back and wait six to eight weeks for the results. Virginian-Pilot reporter Denise Watson and I set up the reveal to be like the time TV personality Geraldo Rivera went inside Al Capones vault on live TV in 1986. We had a camera ready to capture my reaction as I opened the results.

Would I have enough Indian ancestry in my bloodline to set up a sovereign nation in my backyard?

DNA testing has driven home the point that theres no use keeping secrets. I recall a time in 1989 or 90 when Id driven to my fathers house. There was a young man mowing the yard. I got out, explained that I was the homeowners daughter, and told him that he didnt have to worry about the task and that I could take it from there.

The young man one-upped me. He said he didnt mind doing it because he was a grandson, visiting from out of town. He then warmly pointed out his toddler son who was outside playing. I went to the kitchen door for my father. He was unaware of the conversation that had just taken place. I asked if I should know these people, including the others who were inside. He shook his head no.

I said nothing more and left.

And here we are, 22 years after my fathers death. A person has to do little digging or none at all to discover connections. Within a couple of hours of my test results being shared, a cousin with DNA from the Miller line of Yazoo County, Miss., where my father is from, reached out to explain how she is connected to others whose names show up in our Family Tree DNA matches. Some of these people have the highest autosomal DNA matches with me. I wasnt even sniffing for anyone in that bloodline. I was looking for ethnic background.

And to boot, it turns out I have DNA connections to people white and black right here under my nose as close as Hertford, Smithfield and Rocky Mount, N.C.

So again I ask, do I need to know any of them? Maybe, maybe not. But it sure wouldnt hurt to untangle the ties.

So this is what came back:

93 percent African, which is a higher percentage of African than most African Americans, Family Tree DNA founder Bennett Greenspan explained in a phone interview. Most fall within the 70 percent to 80 percent range, rounded out with Caucasian and American Indian percentages, he said. The takeaway for me is that no one much wanted to mess with my folks, so Im good with that. Of that 93 percent, 89 percent is from West African population groups, and 4 percent is from East Central Africa.

In the trace lineage, roughly 2 percent is from South Central Africa. That lineage is something Id suspected. Ive always felt some Zulu warrior in me. You better get back!

And there is indeed a percentage of North and Central American ancestral lineage, about 1 percent. The test is not sophisticated enough to pinpoint particular tribes. And, of course, at such a low percentage, I dont have enough recent ancestry in my bloodline to operate a tax-free casino, which is good. But at least I can sleep easy knowing my folks didnt totally make up the origin of the high cheekbones.

Rounding out the trace percentages are Finland (less than 2 percent), Northeast Asia (less than 1 percent) Scandinavia (less than 1 percent), Southeast Europe (less than 1 percent) and Asia Minor (less than 2 percent).

I am intrigued by the map that lets you click on the percentages and see density shadings of the population cluster related to the findings. The stronger the color, the stronger the link to the region.

Its too bad footage of the reveal was destroyed along with all the other files on the videographers hard drive. Id wanted to archive it in my digital family tree. Because now that I am hooked, I will take one of Family Tree DNAs more advanced tests, the mtDNA, which can more finely trace the maternal line. I also plan to test through Ancestry DNA, where more possible connections are registered.

The world is smaller than we think. Swab and discover.

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Who are any of us, really? As DNA testing has become widely available, it's easier than ever to now know. - Virginian-Pilot