Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Esther "Gantanaga" Black and Nathan "Dutch" Thompson
I had always been told that some of my ancestors were Cherokee. One of the possible sources of that story is Esther "Gantanaga" Black, my sixth great grandmother. A number of online sources quote family stories to the effect that she was Cherokee, that she lied about her heritage to avoid being relocating during the "trail of tears," and that she was refused burial in a Christian cemetery on the grounds of her "heathen" ancestry. The multitude of such stories leads me to believe that there is something to it, but I haven't seen any original sources myself. Examples of stories along these lines can be found in the following thread: http://www.saponitown.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-3588.html
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Hi Robert,
ReplyDeleteI am also a descendent of Esther's. She is my 6 GG on my father's side. I also heard the stories of having Native American Ancestry but didn't think much of it until I had a DNA test done. My percentage of DNA aligns with the timeline of Esther so I would say that the so called stories are probably true. Native American ancestry usually starts out as an oral history and it was quite common for Native Americans to claim Black Dutch/Black Irish to avoid relocation.Same situation on my mother's line as well. I hope you were able to make some connections in your search!
Hi Robert,
ReplyDeleteI am also a descendent of Esther's. She is my 6 GG on my father's side. I also heard the stories of having Native American Ancestry but didn't think much of it until I had a DNA test done. My percentage of DNA aligns with the timeline of Esther so I would say that the so called stories are probably true. Native American ancestry usually starts out as an oral history and it was quite common for Native Americans to claim Black Dutch/Black Irish to avoid relocation.Same situation on my mother's line as well. I hope you were able to make some connections in your search!
Stace, Thanks for posting! I appreciate having that much more confirmation.
ReplyDeleteHi Robert, Esther is my 5th great grandmother. I just had my DNA test and i have no native American at all in me it says.1 percent is from Africa maybe
ReplyDeleteShe was black.
Hi Robert, Esther is my 5th great grandmother. I just had my DNA test and i have no native American at all in me it says.1 percent is from Africa maybe
ReplyDeleteShe was black.
Hey thanks for writing! Nice to have some more data. That does raise another question. If your fifth great grandmother has African ancestry I'd expect .78% instead of .1% of your DNA to trace to Africa. Maybe Esther had very little African DNA herself? I haven't done a DNA test yet, I'll have to get that done and see if it tells the same story. Thanks again, I really appreciate having any additional data I get.
DeleteI also am a 6th generation grandchild. I had my DNA tested and it came up O Native American. I have heard the story my whole life as well, so I believe. They say the DNA gets very weak after a few generations so I am hoping that is all it is!
DeleteI also am a 6th generation grandchild. I had my DNA tested and it came up O Native American. I have heard the story my whole life as well, so I believe. They say the DNA gets very weak after a few generations so I am hoping that is all it is!
DeleteI am also a 6th generation grandchild of Hester Gantanga. That being said, our family has also been told of Indian history, and heritage. To my knowledge none of us show any native american heritage, but what does pop up is some Asian connection in very miniscule amounts. I also find it preculiar that our blood type is fairly rare to the tune of 8% in America, but it's mostly found in the himilayas. Is it possible she was Eastern Indian? That would make a lot more sense. Also, the name is very popular in Japan, and India. Hester translated means hidden star, and there's a deep connection in India to the nagas and jiin. Is it possible her name tells the story, but we missed the clues?🤞🤞
ReplyDelete