With all of the problems at 23andme, we wanted to do a more thorough search of our Haitian parent's African matches as soon as possible. Thus, the table able represents our attempt to tally the number of matches she has based on a search from two days ago. We suspect more matches ("DNA Relatives") will disappear since they are deleting their data from the site. However, we were able to find 16 African matches. Fortunately, some even included basic data about the birthplace of their grandparents, which helped us to clarify their possible ethnic origins. Unsurprisingly, they are overwhelmingly West Africans, with obvious Nigerians more than half of the total.
Immediately, one is struck by the number of matches to southeastern Nigerian groups (Igbo and possibly Ibibio) and the paucity of Yoruba. Unlike her Ancestry DNA matches, our Haitian parent only has 1 unambiguous Yoruba match here (someone whose name might indicate an Islamic background, too). Despite sharing more DNA with the lone Yoruba than most of the others, it is quite interesting to see so few of this ethnic group on 23andme among her matches. We are not sure if that is due to the lack of a Benin & Togo category in which Yoruba groups overlap more frequently with Haitians through shared ancestry in the Bight of Benin? Either way, 23andme is picking up on closer genetic ties to the Igbo and groups in southeastern Nigeria, including what appears to be Ibibio or Efik (our parent's largest matches, at 0.54% shared DNA). This ancestral tie to southeastern Nigeria is also suggested by her 7 matches to Igbos on Ancestry as well as her shared 29 cM of DNA with an Igbo on that site. Indeed, the only ethnolinguistic group specified in her 23andme Ancestry Composition report was also the Igbo. Seeing a closer match to the Ibibio or Efik, however, suggests ties to other groups in southeastern Nigeria, too.
Besides the obvious Igbo and southeastern Nigeria-related ancestry implied here, one can also see Central African represented by two individuals with roots in Congo. According to my limited understanding of Congolese surnames, these two individuals may be of Luba or Lunda origins. So far, we have yet to uncover any particularly close matches to Central Africans. The more obvious suspects for Congolese and Central African ancestry in Haiti would be groups from or near the Kikongo-speaking peoples, but they are likely not represented well among customers of 23andme and Ancestry. A quick perusal of the varieties of Central African captives imported into colonial Saint Domingue, however, would likely include groups from inner regions of Central Africa, too.
Moving on to Ghana, one finds here yet another Ga match! Our parent had 2 Ga DNA matches on Ancestry, although both of those had elevated levels of "Benin & Togo" estimates. Here, the Ga match is someone with all 4 grandparents from the Accra. Their "Nigeria" score was only 17.4%, but that may be the algorithm's attempts to capture the ancestry of people from eastern Ghana to Benin. The Ga-Adangbe were likely represented among the captives in Saint Domingue, too. Perhaps they were under the label of "Mina" ("Mine" in some of the colonial Haitian documentation) or mixed with other groups from the Bight of Benin and Gold Coast. One of our few shared DNA matches was actually with another Ga person on Ancestry, making us think that a meaningful link with this area is possible.
As for her two Fulani matches, these are almost certainly due to shared, non-Fulani ancestry in Upper Guinea .The two Fulanis, who both possess typical Fulani surnames, also have elevated Senegambian & Guinean ancestry (as well as minor North African) that clearly establish their origin. We suspect they are from Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone or, in one case, possibly from Nigeria (an assumption based on their 7.6% Nigerian estimate). Since our parent had one DNA match with a Mandinka from Sierra Leone on Ancestry, we would not be surprised if the matches with the two Fulanis might stem from a Mandinka-related shared ancestry (or, perhaps, Senegambian or Malian, which could be inferred from the high numbers of "Bambara" and "Mandingues" in colonial Haiti). Of course we are merely speculating here, but we suspect that shared ancestry with the Fulani via actual Fulani ancestry would have led to more matches from this group. After all, they seem to be more heavily represented among West Africans using DNA testing services like Ancestry or 23andme.
Last, but certainly not least, the two Liberian matches. One, based on surnames, is at least partly Vai in origin with some grandparents from the Cape Mesurado area. Our parent shares the most DNA with this Liberian (besides Igbo or southeastern Nigerians) who appears to be of Vai ancestry. In Saint Domingue, groups from parts of Liberia were known as Miserables, Canga and other terms. We would love to find more matches from Liberia and Sierra Leone to fully explore the possible ancestral ties to this area.
Overall, the 23andme matches are consistent with the largely Lower Guinea ancestry of our parent. Unfortunately, the ancestral ties to the Bight of Benin are not so easily seen here in her matches, but a link to the slave trade from the Bight of Biafra is very clear. As to be expected, the lower numbers of African customers from Benin, Central Africa, and Upper Guinea limits the data and analysis, but it is largely consistent with her 23andme Ancestry Composition. It also, by and large, is in accord with the general pattern of her Ancestry matches.
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