So DNA results change and mind has changed again. 23 and me finally added in the Iberian (Spanish/Portuguese) and also added a little north African. Cool af. So I have pinned down to my dad’s side, those things, the bit of Native American and probably some Welsh/Irish that’s in that big pool that my aunt doesn’t have as much as. What this made me think after reading some history of what “hispanic” means, why some people from Spain are darker than others, etc, is that my dad was probably 1/2 South American/Mexican, something like that.

I already knew most of this but it clicked when the north African came up. Spain was occupied at one time or another by people from both Africa and the Middle East, hundreds of years ago, giving some people in some regions darker hair and skin than Spaniards who lived farther inland. So some people in spain are as white as French or German people and some are not. These traits were taken to “the new world” by assholes and as they didn’t take women they hooked up with south americans, which were indigenous and hence the ‘native american’. Upon more Spanish immigrants moving to South America and Mexico you get people who are even more Spanish than indigenous and the mixing and diluting continues. It is surprising to some people to learn that there are many ‘white’ Mexicans and South Americans, Argentina is a huge example of that – to the point where it’s a race based caste system in Buenos Aires practically. Very white. Anyway, because of the native american, I’m now assuming one of his parents was from Mexico or South America (or their parents were or whatever). It helps very little directly but on the My Heritage site, because my sister by the same dad is on there I can find our shared relatives and then track down people with the spanish side (although she shows Italian nor Spanish and that website doesn’t have any data for native American or north African which might really pin down this grandparent). I wish she was on 23 and me for this to work right.

I may be way off and his relative came straight from spain and the native american is the teeny bit on my mom’s side but AGH so frustrating not knowing your dad people. Seriously.