Newfoundland and Labrador Family Finder Project- Background

Background

This project is for people who have ancestry from Newfoundland and Labrador and who have taken (or plan to take) Family Tree DNA's Family Finder test.

The primary benefit of the Family Finder test is that it looks for blocks of DNA that people share. As the number and size of these shared blocks increase, the more likely it is that the two people are closely related. When you take the Family Finder test, you are provided with a list of the people that share DNA segments with you, along with information on how much DNA you have in common and an estimate of what degree of relationship might exist between you.

For more information about the Family Finder test, you can either click here to view documentation from the ISOGG Wiki, or you can go to the website for Family Tree DNA.

Some things to note about the Family Finder test are:

• The Family Finder test can be done by both men and women
• It can detect DNA segments from any of your ancestral lines (not just the direct male and direct female lines)
• It works best at detecting shared DNA segments between people whose relationship is that of third cousin or closer
  (more distant relationships can also sometimes be detected, but with lower probability)
• Different family members might have inherited different DNA segments and so it can be helpful to test several family members
  (testing the most elderly generation is a good idea).

Project members can find out which other project members they share DNA segments with by contacting David at dapike@mun.ca

An extra feature of the Family Finder test is its Population Finder component. What it does is look for similar DNA patterns between your test results and those of several reference populations from around the world. Based on which of these populations your DNA is most similar to, an estimate of your genetic origins is provided. For example, below is an assessment for a member of the Newfoundland and Labrador Family Finder Project, showing a mixture of about 97% European DNA and 3% Native American DNA:

How to join the Newfoundland and Labrador Family Finder Project:

If you have not yet had your DNA tested, then you can order a Family Finder DNA test from the website for Family Tree DNA. Once you have been assigned a kit number and password, you can join this project using the instructions in the following paragraph:

If you are already a customer of FamilyTreeDNA, then to join this project you can go to this webpage and enter your FamilyTreeDNA kit number and password. Alternatively, you can login to your personal webpage at www.familytreedna.com, click on the "Join Projects" link in the left-side menu, do a search for "Newfoundland" and then select this project from the list of search results.

If you have already had your DNA tested by the National Geographic Society's Genographic Project, then go to your personal webpage with the Genographic Project, click on the "Learn More" link near the bottom of your personal page so that you can transfer your DNA results into the FamilyTreeDNA database, and then follow the instructions in the previous paragraph.

DNA Analysis Tools

• David Pike's utilities for analysing autosomal DNA

Links:

• Newfoundland and Labrador mtDNA Project
• International Society of Genetic Genealogy
• Family History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Newfoundland and Labrador GenWeb
• Newfoundland's Grand Banks Genealogy Site
• NFLD-ROOTS mailing list
• Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador

Project Stats