Watched a show on PBS tonight about a group of 8 well-known black people (Oprah, Whoopi Goldberg, Quincy Jones, etc.) and the effort to trace their geneology. Tonight's show was about DNA testing; there is, in fact, a database of worldwide DNA in which you can pinpoint with some accuracy which area of the world your matrilineal side came from (and for men, their patrilineal as well).

This show was aimed at African-Americans who can now trace their roots back to actual countries and even tribes of people in Africa. And I reflected to Doug that it must be like being adopted - there are stories, or pieces of paper, or educated guesses you can make about your lineage, but in general without a blood family it is hard to guess what your background is. And a lot of blacks must feel that way, "cut off" so to speak.

Roman, in that sense, is lucky. We know enough about the people who lived in his region to know that they have Mongolian way back in their blood. We also know some info about his birthfather and that there's Middle-Eastern mixed with his Russian. But me...

I have always been amused by the fact that I can pick and choose my heritage. My family is German/Swiss & English/Scottish, with a strong unproven suspicion of Jewish-ness in that German-ness. However, my actual blood ethnicity is much different. There's a piece of paper given to my parents by the adoption agency that says, according to my birthparents, I am German, Irish, and Choctaw Indian. Irish I will definitely believe, I have the coloring for it. And the Native American intrigues me; it has always seemed to me that if an actual tribe was known and named, the Native blood was pretty recent as far as generations. But, I will never know. Unless I make an effort when I'm old and gray. And sometimes that really bothers me.