They’re relatively popular with people trying to figure out what the shit their shelter mix is. As that can have some bearing on the dog’s health.
They are unfortunately 110% more bullshit than the human ones. Most of the companies apparently don’t even test the DNA, just look at a photo of the dog and pocket the difference.
The concept’s DNA was flawed.
Seems to be a running trend today.
For my mother the Ancestry.com test was a useful tool for finding and confirming the identity of her birth mother and several half-siblings. So, while I didn’t find much utility in results from the test kit I got as a Christmas “gift” from her (It mostly just confirmed what I already knew.) I appreciate that there’s actual use to be had from these things and can’t wholly look down on them.
i think that’s a theme among americans of a certain age. ( re: elizabeth warren )
my mother’s family said the same thing. i know nothing about our actual genealogy or ancestry, and i’d comfortably bet my left arm we’ve got zero native ancestors.
similarly, my mom would be deeply disappointed.
edit:
some sort of public-private key perhaps. you could find out that you have matches, but not who they are without their permission
I swear to God I think every family who have been in the US long enough have a family story that involves an “Indian Princess” at some point.
Sometimes it’s “true”. In the Canadian Encyclopedia, I think it was, my great, great, great grandmother Sarah is referred to as an “Indian Princess”. The phrase gets used because of Europeans trying to make an analogy between chiefs and royalty, but I think there’s more to it, but haven’t figured out what.
It’s vague, but some sources say my great, great, great, great grandfather was a chief. (There’s no debate that he was Syilx, just whether he was a chief).
But nobody talked about her when I was growing up. I don’t like the phrase, but my ancestry is real,not made up or garbled.
The only reason I’m tempted by a DNA test is if they couid check for a match to The Ancient One, since his DNA was comoared to people on the Colville Reservation, and that’s where the distant cousins are.
There is the book " #NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women" for why the phrase is troubling to tge cousins.
My grandfather recalled his mother or grandmother saying she was one-fourth Native American (he was specific about the tribe, although now I don’t remember it). He did not look very WASP-y, but with hindsight I realize that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. A family friend suggested “Melungeon,” while other family members really didn’t want to hear anything about that. Eventually someone took a DNA test and, no, we really are that WASP-y.
Your book recommendation looks great - I plan to check it out. The purging of individuals and groups from tribal rolls in the U.S. makes it difficult for them and their descendants to maintain a sense of connection. Maybe DNA testing can help with that. 
I wanted to see tge book so bought a cooy. But my plan was to give it to the local library, but tyen I saw they already had a copy.
The distant cousins aren’t very interested in DNA testing, but I’m not sure if it’s a dislike of records (which have been negative in the past) or something else. I gather it took some effort to talk a few people into offering DNA samples to check for a match with the Ancient One.
But, ancestry doesn’t count for status. I’m not sure if that’s along traditional lines (I realize DNA testing is a recent thing but there may have been a more fluid concept of a relation traditionally), or a reaction to colonization. People live a life, complete with discrimination, so why would they welcome people who suddenly uncover distant relatives who think it’s neat? But I don’t know the particulars.
I know a distant cousin identifying as white did a lot of genealogy work, and definitely found one relative on the Colville reservation. He even visited her, and wrote about it. He said she was glad to meet him, but he didn’t show up expecting status. On the other hand, people can become close simply by reading enough, not simply about “ceremony” but what’s happening today. That won’t give them status either, but it will be appreciated. Learn a few key words of a language.
So true. I have a hard time with people who want to claim a connection for bragging rights or financial gain. What saddens me is seeing tribal leaders adjusting membership for political and/or financial gain. In those cases, people who were once welcomed can find themselves rejected:
Wow, what a lot of misconceptions here, starting with Mr. D’s. Let’s start with what the DNA tests do well: determine what DNA pairs a person has at several hundred thousand locations out of the billions in that person’s chromosomes. Genetic matches with relatives out to third cousin or so are usually quite accurate.
What the tests do so-so is describe traits like redheadedness or the ability to sense bitter tastes. For health information, mostly speculative, you have to pay extra. The “ethnicity” results are decent if the area covered is very wide, and aren’t reliable when narrowing down to small areas.
So the tests serve two purposes: matching actual cousins, as well as outing some family secrets; and bringing in a fresh crop of genealogy “tourists.”
The relation between DNA testing companies and the police, Big Insurance and Big Pharma is mixed. They’re far from perfect, but Cory Doctorow tars them with too broad a brush. Also, remember that by law, American insurance companies cannot refuse a customer on the basis of his or her genetic makeup.
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