New Mexico's Deep History

Some genealogies have deep paper trails; others encounter roadblocks or gaps. DNA can provide additional context for understanding these gaps in ancestral lines and, in many cases, help break through long‑standing adobe walls in the documentary record.

New Mexico's ancestral, cultural, and historical story begins long before Spanish settlement.

Waves of settlement, including the 1598 Oñate entrada, the Reconquest, the Mexican period, and the Territorial era, brought additional families whose descendants remain here today.

The ancestral homelands of the Pueblo people, the Apache bands, and the Diné form the foundation of this region's history, alongside the Jumano, Kiowa, Pawnee, Ute, and other Nations whose histories are woven into New Mexico's past. Many New Mexicans today carry genetic links to these first Native People, and our project welcomes members who wish to explore those connections with care and respect.

It cannot be emphasized enough: while DNA can help illuminate historical patterns, it cannot determine tribal identity, cultural belonging, or political citizenship. Those forms of identity are defined by sovereign Tribal Nations and lived community relationships.

Project Administrators

Daria C. Landress, Project Chair, Group Project Administrator

Henrietta M. Christmas, Group Project Administrator

Miguel A. Tórrez, Group Project Administrator

email: dna@nmgs.org