I'm pale white but ancestry test says 40% indigenous, isn't that a lot?

[Anonymous]

I know my family is full of mixtures but isn't 40% Native American (indigenous) a lot for a pale, white woman? I really thought I was Caucasian due to my pale skin and natural red hair.

My maternal great-grandma's picture was just discovered. It isn't just my family members but friends are saying I look like the exact white version of her, her facial features and my straight hair. She was Native American.

I was taken by surprise to be honest. 40% is a lot.

[purplepoppy]

50% of your genes are from each parent. So your carrying 25% from each grandparent and 12.5% from each great grandparents and so on. To have 40% indigenous means several generations of your family tree must have interbred with the local tribe or with others whose ancestors also interbred. Or you might actually be more native who's genes have been diluted down by white people.

[RxR0954]

Honestly girl i look Chinese 90% but im sure my ancestry test will show at least 50% Vietnamese. The way we look might be nothing like how our ethnicity “supposed to look like”

[BriamG22]

Do you mean that you're 50% Kinh? What's the make up of the other 50%?

[RxR0954]

It’s complicated but yes Kinh and other ethnicities

[RxR0954]

Girl i dont exactly know. My point is what you look like could be different to your ancestry test.

[BriamG22]

That's really interesting, white skin and red hair are both recessive traits. It's a wonder how being 40% Native American that none of the dominant genes in darker hair and skin tone were inherited.

Thanks for sharing!

[Asker]

I know right, genetics are no random and weird. Even with those two recessive genes, I've noticed my hair is straight, thick like great-grandma and my whole facial and body structure does looks like a NA, just like her. So basically I would be a white NA. It's funny how some of us aren't really Caucasians after all but a mix.

[BriamG22]

Haha yeah I just wonder what are the chances of you turning out looking like an Irish woman as opposed to NA 🤣🤣🤣. But it's awesome that you were able to find out, did you have any inclination of your genetic ancestry prior to this?

I think its time for you to pick up some indigenous languages, make great grandma proud 🤣🤣

[Saddlebread]

Race is polygenetic trait. This means that one might inherit genes that make them appear to not be mixed.