How do I find out my heritage/country of origin of my ancestors?

Question

You know, like that PBS tv show African American Lives?? My parents/grandparents aren't really sure where we came from, and I find genealogical websites confusing and I don't want to spend the money. Do I need to do DNA tests or something? I would really like to know where my family came from and my heritage.

Answer 1

For African Americans, it's very hard to trace back to your ancestral roots.  When they brought slaves over to the Americas, they could not practive their religions, speak their languages, nor do any other things that have to do with their cultures.  Most African Americans have ancestral roots from Western Africa.  A DNA test is probably the best way to find out.

Answer 2

Your query is short of clues: where (in the world) are you? What info do you have?

At any rate, hereinbelow are websites and other suggestions for tracing your ancestry.  They focus mainly on the U.S. and Western Europe, but have other nations/continents.

You should start by asking all your living relatives about family history.  Then, armed with that information, you can go to your public library and check to see if it has a genealogy department.  Most do nowadays; also, don't forget to check at community colleges, universities, etc.  Our public library has both www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com free for anyone to use (no library card required).

Another place to check out is any of the Mormon's Family History Centers.  They allow people to search for their family history (and, NO, they don't try to convert you).

A third option is one of the following websites:

http://www.searchforancestors.com/...

http://www.censusrecords.net/?o_xid=2739...

http://www.usgenweb.com/

http://www.census.gov/

http://www.rootsweb.com/

http://www.ukgenweb.com/

http://www.archives.gov/

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/...

http://www.cyndislist.com/

http://www.geni.com/

Cyndi's has the most links to genealogy websites, whether ship's passenger lists, ancestors from Africa, ancestors from the Philippines, where ever and whatever.

Of course, you may be successful by googling: "john doe, born 1620, plimouth, massachusetts" as an example.

Good luck and have fun!

Check out this article on five great free genealogy websites:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...

Then there is the DNA test; if you decide you want to REALLY know where your ancestors came from opt for the DNA test. Besides all the mistakes that officials commonly make, from 10% to 20% of birth certificates list the father wrong; that is, mama was doing the hanky-panky and someone else was the REAL father. That won't show up on the internet or in books; it WILL show up in DNA.

I used www.familytreedna.com which works with the National Geographics Genotype Program.

See also: http://www.nbc10.com/health/15924631/det... and www.africanancestry.com