Christopher Columbus? His day has gone bust, in part because Native Americans rightly say they were on the American Continent (North and South) well before he arrived. This film embraces the fact that there were possibly many excursions, by those sailing all sorts of ships from massive junks to simple canoes, that brought DNA into the America's which is the best evidence yet that people from Polynesia, China, Ireland, Norway, as well as, possibly, Hebrews, coming in to explore and some of them very likely had sex with individuals from previous populations.
As you probably know, the practice of genealogy relies on documents, but some people are having their DNA analyzed because of the matching services that usually come with having your hair, blood, bone marrow, or other body part analyzed. Sometimes you can pick up the trail that you lost if you are matched with a "cousin" who knows more that you. For many of us, the trail is lost after about three or four generations, but it is exciting to find out that in the deep past your people may have traveled the world, maybe by boat.
This film is exciting too because it brings the testimony of some experts who have made it their life's work to focus on micro-specialization, an assortment of archeologist, experts on how the ocean tides move ships, linguistics experts, people who can read ancient languages off rocks.
So here are some teasers!
Mysterious stones that are probably anchors from Chinese Junks have been found off the coast of Palos Verdes (Los Angeles) and in the 19th century the Chinese actually were fishing out there. Maybe these are older from 1000 years ago?
It's believed the Welsh made it. Could these be the blond haired "moon eyed" people who Cherokees interbred with the Mandan people. President Thomas Jefferson heard there were Welsh speaking Indians.
Are carbon-dated Chicken Bones evidence that the Polynesians made it thousands of miles in 60 foot canoes about 1000 AD?
And the Chumash Natives (who lived from about where Santa Barbara is now and north) have fish hooks and boat building, and linguistic links to Polynesians as well!
The Vikings, The Irish (Saint Brendan the Navigator) and the Hebrews can all make claims, and evidence would include particular forms of building under the earth or with stone.
IT'S THE CHEROKEE, Chief Joe Sitting Owl, of the CENTRAL band, who got DNA testing. Though only 1% of the Cherokee, Family Tree DNA did the work, and found no evidence of Hebrew or Jewish DNA. Most Hebrew/Jewish DNA is in the G, J, T, or E haplogroups. but he says don't let this sway you away from the truth.
My opinion: Maybe the Latter Day Saints can provide the funds for more Native American DNA testing, since their religious beliefs are that a Lost Tribe of Israel did make it to American. Paleo Hebrew inscriptions in stones may appear in New Mexico, but perhaps most convincing is that a carbon dated rock with Hebrew inscriptions has been found in a Cherokee burial ground.
