Status of NMGS DNA Project
Genetic Genealogy Community,
The NMGS DNA Project would like to take this opportunity to announce a major change to the membership of the project and remind you of the goals and requirements of the project.
There are two new and exciting announcements, both beginning June 1, 2019:
First, the NMGS DNA Project will close to non-NMGS members. The reason behind this change is to prioritize and focus on NMGS members. This may or may not be a permanent change to
the project, and we will have a better understanding of the impact of this change by the end of 2019.
Anyone who is already in the project will be grandfathered in as long as requirements are met. Anyone missing documents will be contacted and allowed a two-week window to complete before being removed.
People who are not NMGS members may be allowed to join at the discretion of the project admin. Non-NMGS members may be considered for admission based upon the participant’s
ability to contribute a DNA that is crucial to the project’s further understanding of a given line. In such cases, it’s hoped that the individual would also become an NMGS member.
Second, we will begin surveying those who have Y-DNA tests. Many individuals with Y-DNA also have mtDNA, which increases the workload per Y-DNA participant. In January 2019, we
surveyed those with mtDNA tests, and so many of you already saw what we were looking for with regards to required documents to remain in the project. We contacted all participants
requesting the required forms, and removed those who did not submit the requirements. Those who completed the forms have their lineage forms in the queue. This same process will start for those with Y-DNA tests.
Also in January 2019, we contacted people who only had a Family Finder test and gave them the opportunity to add either an mtDNA or Y-DNA test to remain in the project. Those who did
not add one or both were removed.
Joining the NMGS DNA Project?
When joining, everyone receives an automatic message from the FTDNA system and always a second message from me reminding the participant about the required forms. You will receive a join request form which must be completed, along with a format for submitting your genealogy.
Participants have also received a message about setting access levels which allows me to update last known ancestors after the validation process is complete. This is a crucial step in our process since the goal of the project is to validate Y-DNA and mtDNA lines as far back as possible. After doing so, the last known ancestor section of a participant’s profile is updated,
which is then reflected on our public page, and displays validated New Mexico ancestors name, DNA Haplogroup and STR profile.
Often the genealogy forms are submitted with little information. Our scope of work isn’t to complete genealogies from scratch. I communicate with participants in an attempt to have the forms completed before sending them over to our validation team members. When the form is submitted it is researched as best as possible so we can establish the last known ancestor. In some cases, it is only a few generations back. In others it goes back several generations. When we are fortunate, we can take it all the way back to a founding New Mexico ancestor. Once the
form is received by me, I log into the participant’s last known ancestor section of their profile and update the name with an asterisk (*). The asterisk indicates that our project has validated
to a given ancestor. By updating this sections of a profile, the ancestor viewable allows a participant as well as others the ability to look at lineages and ancestors that may be in their
tree; one they can’t test, and see what they are resulting.
If you aren’t a member and wish to take advantage of our benefits visit: https://www.nmgs.org/membership-information
For specifics on our project, forms, journal related material, and FAQs, visit our DNA project page: https://www.nmgs.org/nmgs-dna-project
To see what lines have been validated, visit our results tab at our FTDNA page: https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/nmgs-genetic-dna/about/background.
Sincerely,
Miguel A. Tórrez
NMGS DNA Project Admin