New Ancestry.com Beta Feature

I'm usually on Ancestry.com daily and I haven't really noticed much of a change since the introduction of the DNA Circles. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I notice a difference of in the Ancestry interface that I'm used to.


At the top of the site there's a very vibrant blue banner with a partial picture of the world map. Scrolling a little further down on the left side of the screen is a section listed "Genetic Communities". When I clicked on it this popped up:

I wasn't exactly sure what it meant, but was really amazed by the fact that I matched really high with "African Americans in Virginia & the Deep South". Now, the deep south part was really accurate, but the mention of Virgnia and North Carolina were a bit confusing as I've not traced any of my ancestors to these places yet.


Upon a little more digging I found another feature that told a story of how my ancestors may have possibly been connected to these regions of the US and how they arrived. The feature lists family members from my family tree who lived in those regions (deep south) as a part of the story to give a better feel of how the genetic communities are directly tied to my ancestry. It's also filled with very interesting facts about each era in those regions.


I can honestly say that this particular feature is proving to be much more useful than the DNA circles. I look forward to more. In the meantime this has given me even more to investigate and I'd hope would help to break down a few more brick walls.

Why?

Why?


It's a question I'm asked almost always whenever I talk in depth about my desire to find my ancestors.


It initially started with my interest in the history of the African diaspora. I remember as a little kid watching docuseries such as "Eyes On The Prize" and "Roots." I would empathize and take my research further by checking out books from the library surrounding our history as black people.


The interest in my own family came about when I went to visit my paternal great grandmother who we'd affectionately call Nana. She was still alive at the time, but under the care of my great aunt because she was in the later stages of dementia. Despite her memory leaving her I could always see the spark of familiarity in her eyes when I came around. She would always point out my dimples. She may not have been able to remember me as her great granddaughter, but she knew me. She was even drawn to my last born (and at the time, infant) daughter. They were born on the same day, April 4th. Funny enough my immediate family would call her "NaNa".


Anyway....


During that visit I let my family know that my oldest daughter was due to perform in a small production hosted by a community program. She was cast as a Native American.
This sparked the conversation about who my McIntosh family descends from.
My grandmother and great aunt in unison told me, "Your great great great grandfather was an Indian chief named 'Chief McIntosh'." They insisted, "Look it up! It's there!"
My reaction was disbelief. Not because I was amazed. I simply didn't believe it. Although, if it were indeed true then it would be very cool to dress my daughter the way our alleged ancestors dressed.


Thus began my journey.


I began a free trial subscription to Ancestry figuring, "If it's truly that easy to look up my 3rd great grandfather then there should be a wealth of infomation here!"


Man was I wrong!


I couldn't find anything connecting us to a Chief McIntosh. With this being the sole reason why I decided to get on Ancestry in the first place frustration ended up setting in and I completely abandoned the site.


It wasn't until I received my credit card statement and realized Ancestry charged my card for a year's membership.


Crap! I forgot to cancel my free trial! lol!


Just as I was getting ready to see if I could cancel the year long membership, I began thinking.... "I don't even know my McIntosh family. I've never met my grandfather. I've never been to Oklahoma where it all started." A huge contrast to what I'm accustomed to on my mother's side of the family. At the very least I'm acqauinted with my extended family. Yearly travels to Alabama. Bi-annual family reunions. But on my dad's side? Nothing.


I realized that I'm missing a part of me. A part of me that I have no clue about. Obviously I couldn't rely on my dad to teach me. Especially if I went this long without being told. I had to take it upon myself to do the work on my own. In fact I no longer had the desire to prove/disprove whether my family descended from any tribe of Indians. I just wanted to get to know about my family.


And... well... The rest is history. Both figuratively and literally.


To describe the experience it's been an emotional rollercoaster! Filled with excitement, frustration, happiness, anger, sadness.... Pretty much any emotion that you can think of. It is and always be fulfilling. At this point I can feel that my are ancestors calling for me to find them.


I truly feel as though this is my calling.


This is why.