DNA for Native American Genealogy - Roberta Estes

 This book is a much needed volume addressing the use of DNA analysis along with genealogical research to identify and verify native american heritage.  It's divided into 6 parts:

Part 1: Seeking Native Ancestors

Part 2: Ethnicity and Population Genetics - a good explanation of how this is done

Part 3: DNA Testing

Part 4: MtDNA

Part 5: Y-DNA ancient and modern

Part 6: Roadmap and checklist

There are many tables accompanying each topic, making it an excellent reference when pursuing DNA for Native American research.  Highly recommended.

Published: 2021  Read: April 2022 Genre: Genealogy

me and white supremacy - Layla F Saad

 I read this book for a reading club seeking to understand our biases and beliefs around race.  It's written as a series of thoughtful, progressive essays followed by questions to be answered in writing where you reflect on the reading and your experiences with the topic.  The author's state that "the primary force that drives my work is a passionate desire to become a good ancestor" - by which she means to "seed new possibilities for those who will come after I am gone."

The author shares the definition of white supremacy as "a racist ideology that is based upon the belief that white people are superior in many ways to people of other races and that therefore, white people should be dominant over other races".  It explores not only the belief but its impact on organizations, societies and institutions in a culture.  The book looks at how this is manifested and experienced at a personal and individual level.

I admit this was a difficult book to work through and I'm glad I had the support of a study group.

Quotes:

"...when we don't agree with the answers we have demanded, we all too often feel qualified to dismiss them."

p. 212 - the Circle Way by Christina Baldwin and Ann Linnea

p. 178 - White feminism is an extension of white supremacy.  It is only concerned with white women gaining parity with white men.

Published: 2020  Read: April 2022  Genre: Sociology, Non-Fiction

Tiny Habits - B J Fogg

Sub-title: The Small Changes that Change Everything

I succumb too frequently to self-help books which if I practiced what I read instead of just reading might have an effect.  I didn't finish this one, it was too simplistic and repetitive.

Published: 2020  Read: April 2022

The Heir Hunter - Chris Larsgaard

 My friend, Alice, recommended this one to me and she was actually the inspiration for one of the characters, Alex (Alexandria), who is one of the private investigators seeking out heirs for unclaimed inheritances.  It was a quick and entertaining read and I didn't figure out the mystery in advance which is a good thing!  I enjoyed re-visiting the ways people were located and family histories were built only 20 years ago...we've come such a long way from the days of digging through city directories in libraries (now online on multiple sites) and going to courthouses to retrieve birth, marriage and death records.  I was nostalgic for the first-hand evidence they collected by travelling to the source.

Alex and her boss, Nick are looking for heirs to a multi-million dollar inheritance and instead find a suspicious trail of coverup and intrigue.  They work together to sleuth out the puzzle pieces of who the deceased may be related to and where those people can be found.  To complicate matters, others are also looking for the heirs, and not for good reasons.  A fun and quick read.

Published: 2000  Read: April 2022  Genre: Mystery