As an adoptee, Dena M. Chasten often felt disconnected from her family. That feeling听correlated to her experience of听being an African American in the United States. She always wondered where she came from and where she belonged.
鈥淭he difference is when you are adopted, for the most part, you are wanted. I was very fortunate that a nice family raised me,鈥澨齭aid听the Philadelphia native. 鈥淚 even looked like them, but I was keenly aware that we were not genetically connected. I still felt lost.鈥�
That experience emboldened Ms. Chasten not only to find her biological parents but also to explore her ancestry. She embarked on a genetic and genealogical search that yielded more questions than answers.
Throughout the mid-Atlantic region, Ms. Chasten has shared her journey at libraries, historical societies and even the听听in Washington, DC.
Now that she has found her birth parents, she听works as a genealogist assisting听other African Americans in mending the broken branches of their family trees.
Paper trails
鈥淭he system of听slavery broke families apart, but DNA brings those families back together,鈥澨齭aid听听听听听听Nicka Sewell-Smith, a senior story producer for听Ancestry.com.
People should not rely solely on DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), she said. 鈥淭hose of us who are really into genealogy want to find the paper trail to make those connections.鈥� 听 听听
On the docuseries听Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr., viewers follow many African Americans as they trace their lineage back to their enslaved ancestors.
鈥淎frican Americans听faced a unique genealogical brick wall in those first 10 to 20 years coming out of slavery and the Civil War,鈥� said Nick Sheedy, lead genealogist for the听show.听听听听听鈥淭he 1870 Census is the first federal census that enumerated everyone by name,鈥澨齅r. Sheedy told听Africa Renewal, adding that those names could change based on ownership, personal choices and other reasons beyond explanation.
Tracing the roots of enslaved Africans, who were considered property, usually required checking estate sales, probate records, tax documents and deeds, Mr. Sheedy explained.听During the Civil War, he added, troops torched county courthouses which housed most of the slave-era records.
鈥淭here is no centralized list of enslaved Africans,鈥澨齭aid听Ms. Sewell-Smith.
While most records are not online, she听noted听that the 3.5 million documents from the听Freedmen鈥檚 Bureau听鈥� now available on Ancestry.com 鈥� is a good place to start.
One of Mr. Sheedy鈥檚 paper-trail breakthroughs related to Ahmir 鈥淨uestlove鈥� Thompson, the drummer from the hip-hop band The Roots.听
鈥淲e found that his ancestors came over on the Clotilda,鈥� Mr.听Sheedy said.听鈥淚t was听the last known slave ship to arrive in the United States.鈥� 听
DNA matches
When Ms. Sewell-Smith reveals her own ancestry,听she does not trace her origin to one African country;听she claims the entire continent. 鈥淵ou have to factor in how many generations there were since the 1808 ban on the importation of enslaved people from Africa,鈥� she said.
Counting back six generations would involve tracing the roots of 64 great-grandparents听from different parts of Africa.
Ms. Sewell-Smith cautions that people miss the point if they focus on a country or on percentages. 鈥淔or African Americans, all of our sub-Saharan ancestry comes from a multitude of places,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 know the 鈥榳here鈥�. I want to know the 鈥榳ho鈥�.鈥�
In Ms. Sewell-Smith鈥檚 family, the听鈥渨ho鈥澨齣ncludes her 99-year-old grandmother, whose grandparents were enslaved.听
鈥淢y grandmother shares 30 centimorgans of DNA with a Nigerian woman who is the first generation in her family to be born in America,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a fourth cousin!鈥�
People are making these discoveries every day, she said.
Even Mr. Sheedy could trace his roots back to the continent. 鈥淢y grandmother, Betty was lily white with blond hair and blue eyes. All of her grandparents were California pioneers, and she carried around three per cent of sub-Saharan African DNA,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e are all related.鈥�
Genealogists can solve more mysteries if more people take a DNA test, said听听听听听听Ms. Sewell-Smith.
鈥淭he power is in the DNA matching,鈥� she added.鈥澨齌hat鈥檚 what is going to tell the stories, give us the clues, send us into the archives and connect us with folks who we never would have known were relatives.鈥�
Distant cousins
Awaiting the results of several DNA tests, Ms. Chasten听said听she was expecting to identify a place where she could represent. 鈥淚 was going to find my country and have my connection.鈥�
Instead, her听mitochondrial test听revealed that her oldest maternal ancestor was a European woman, and her听autosomal test听indicated percentages of DNA from regions in all four cardinal directions of the continent.
Flabbergasted and confused, Ms. Chasten said she had more questions than ever. This time, however, she knew where to look. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 depend just on the DNA,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou have to do the research so that it all makes sense.鈥�
Ms. Chasten found a solid DNA match in Ghana, the country that carried her highest percentage. She contacted this distant cousin and heard a story that still gives her chills.
鈥淭here was a legend that听her [Ghanaian cousin鈥檚]听grandmother would always go to bed praying for forgiveness because she knew of her ancestor鈥檚 role in the slave trade,鈥� Ms. Chasten said. 鈥淚t was something she needed to atone for.鈥�
The story evoked conflicting emotions for Ms. Chasten: she could not condone her ancestor鈥檚 actions听as she consoled听her cousin.
鈥淚 told her, 鈥楧on鈥檛 worry about it. We are coming back. I can鈥檛 explain what happened then, but now we are making it right.鈥� So many of us are coming home.鈥�
Ms. Chasten听made her first trip to the continent late last year.听听听听听听
Ms. Beard is a writer and educator based in New York.
