I am trying to make sense of my DNA results, but I'd appreciate any help you all are able to give regarding some of the oddities. Known heritage: Norwegian, Danish, Irish, Scottish, Native American, Indian, Jewish, German, and English are the main types of ethnicities for the relatives that I can track.
1) <1% Native American
Notes: Entirely expected; I have at least two, somewhat distant, full-blooded Cherokee ancestors that cannot be tracked down on any documents (or perhaps I just don't know enough to do it). The reason, I suspect, is that it was not considered advantageous to be Cherokee during their time and where they lived. The two branches of my family that have a Cherokee member are highly secretive. Both branches who have living members refuse to say much about family history, saying the past is the past.
2) 16% Asia South
2% Asia East
Notes:
No surprise here. My great great grandfather was from India. I would anticipate some admixture that accounts for the 2% Asia East.
3) 41% Great Britain
Notes: I was a little shocked by this one until I read the description. I have English relatives, but I also have a considerable number of Irish, Scottish, German, and Danish relatives which could account for this I guess?
4) 35% Scandinavian
Notes: Zero surprise here. My maternal grandmother is half Danish/half Norwegian. My paternal grandmother is also Norwegian.
5) 2% Italy/Greece
Notes: I am not clear on where this would have come from. As far as I know, I have absolutely no relatives for many generations (back to the 1600s at least for almost all of my relatives) from these regions, so I am not sure how I got this result.
6) 1% Iberian Peninsula
Notes: Also a strange thing, for the same reasons as referenced for the Italy/Greece results.
7) 2% Melanesia
Notes: This is the one that I had no earthly clue as to how I would have even trace amounts of this in my genes. Really, out of all of my results, this is the one that I have the most questions regarding. I don't think it is a mistake as a lot of people on my DNA results page seem to have this same, common percentage of Melanesian. The only problem being we can't figure out how we are related, for the ones that share it!
Any help? Comments? Resources?