My Heritage

Updated January 3, 2023

Since I will be talking about Indigenous cultures, I thought I should share a little about my own. It's been a rollercoaster ride since I started this blog in 2019. I had been researching the paternal side of my line since 2013 and started this blog to share my findings with my family. So when I decided to share my heritage, I had a good story about some of my Norwegian relatives. Then I got some DNA test results back, which led to a lot of intense genealogical and geographical research. This blog is intended to give the reader a general rundown of my heritage and to share a high-level theory of how a few branches of Celtic peoples developed. I started in 2012 already knowing that my paternal grandfather was Norwegian, and my maternal great-grandfather was born in Lithuania but moved to Saxony (Sachsen) with his family before coming to Canada. All I knew about my grandmothers were that they were English, Irish, Scottish and feisty!

CRI Genetics has two analysis reports, one that covers the last five generations and an advanced report which goes back much further. Here's what the advanced breakdown report told me:

They also have an extensive repository of DNA data so matches can be made that share my chromosomes to a set % of accuracy.

The oldest ancestor that I was matched with was from approx. 900 AD from somewhere in N.W. Europe. Wow, I had some work cut out for me if I was going to find this connection. I ordered another DNA test from MyHeritage, thinking it would help, but it could only tell me my ancestry five generations back and didn't seem to be customer orientated. This DNA test has me at 100% European (61% Scandinavian; 13.3% Irish, Scottish, and Welsh: 13.2% East European; 8.8% Balkan; and 2.9% English), generally the same but the research put behind the CRI test seems much more intelligent. The amount of information they provided was impressive and complimented my previous research.

Just a quick biology refresher before we carry on. Males have a Y and an X chromosome, while females have XX chromosomes. Simplified, females only have mtDNA (tracing back through the mother's line -XX-all the way back to the original mother of that line). This is called a haplogroup.

My haplogroup or mtDNA is H1b1 and my father's mtDNA is H1c. So both of my grandmothers have the same origins - one stopping in Spain/the Iberian Peninsula (my mother's mother).

My True Ancestry - The CeltIberians

From both maternal and paternal lines - My True Ancestry has me connected to the Lombards (Longobards) as well.

The Celts - from my father's maternal line - left Spain to settle in Eastern Europe.

My father's Y-DNA (tracing back through his father's line XY) is from haplogroup R1. The story at the end of this blog is of his R1 (father's) descendants from Granvin, Hordaland, Norway.

After six months of determined research, I started to connect to several royal houses through my father's maternal line (mtDNA). But it was through my own MtDNA that I had an ancestor from 900CE, so I kept looking. This is when I figured out that both of my MtDNA lines traced back directly to Rollo, the large Viking turned Duke of Normandy. Can't say I was excited until I learned that his character was not properly portrayed in Vikings the TV series! I also found out that he was a very large man who had to walk rather than ride a horse. Maybe there are some elements of truth that he descended from giants.

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Further research into the origin of the Celtic peoples, came up with a handful of viable theories but all research points to the ancient Greeks, Phonecians/Canaanites, Israelites and the ancient Persians, an Indo-Iranian people who migrated to the Iranian plateau. This empire was established in 550bce by king Cyrus after the conquest of Lydia and Media. Cyrus would also conquer Babylonia in 539bce, and release the Judeans and Benjaminites to go build a house for their God. I use the real name of people groups by what they call themselves. I think it inhumane to force cultures to assimilate into another culture for obvious reasons. I am not trying to offend anyone. The Scriptures clearly differentiate Israel/Israelites/Israelis and Judea/Judeans/Jews in Hosea. 1:8-11 for one clear example. The Persian empire practiced Zoroastrianism, one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. The origin of the Israeli diaspora in Persia is connected to the deportation of Israelites in 727bce from Samaria to Media and Persia. The evidence seems to uphold the theory that the Persians were originally pastoral people who roamed the steppes with their livestock. They were ethnically related to the Bactrians, the

Medes and Parthians. They divided into several different tribes, the most powerful of which was the Pasargadae, of whom the Achaemenid clan was a part of.

Cyrus II, "the Great was my 85th (paternal-paternal) great-grandfather who is recorded as defeating his great uncle (his grandmother's brother) Croesus, King of Lydia, who I believe was from a line of exiled Israelites of the successful -722bce Assyrian conquest. Cyrus is mentioned many times in the scriptures, and it was more than likely the prophet Daniel who was the one who showed him the 150-year-old scroll containing his name along with Els (God's) words about him. Many Jews returned under the 539bce Edict of Cyrus to build (not rebuild, we have to read precisely) a house for the God of Israel. Nehemiah returned in -444bce to rebuild the city walls.

Gyges, first king of Lydia was born in Lydia/Turkey in -701bce, which is only 21 years after the Israelites arrived in the Medea area. Cyrus IIs grandmother was of Medea. Further research is needed.

The first known currency was created by King Alyattes in Lydia, in -600bce

This area is also known as Asia Minor, Anatolia and modern-day Turkey. Revelation 2-3 speaks to the famous seven assemblies of this area along with the exiled location of the author on Patmos.

Those familiar with the scriptures know that in 2 Kings 17:6-23, Shalmaneser took the Northern Kingdom of Israel before dying in -722bce. God allowed this due to Israel's consistent rebelliousness against Him. King Shalmaneser's son, Sargon II (my 92nd great-grandfather), led the Israelites into exile to the towns around Medea in -720bce. Sargon II became a part of the family through Artaxerxes's mother Amestris while Cyrus II came in through Artaxerxes's father, Xerxes.

Also found in the scriptures and around this area is Galacia, one of Saul of Tarsus's (Paul's) favourite places to visit. What I found out about the Galatians does seem to fit the Celtic models of their culture in my research (screenshots) below.

and in Spain...

There are two or three good theories but my research (screenshots) below captures a few for visual reference

Further info on my MtDNA

(see screenshots below for additional research).

My True Ancestry has unique reports

and answered questions that CRI Genetics and other companies could not. However, CRI still answers more questions overall.

Looks like there is more research to be done within my admixture results from CRI but due to some very exciting recent findings I know I'm on the right path. At least I know I'm not the only one with this theory!

Admixtures that need to be worked out:

My True Ancestry helps with is comparing modern populations to ancient ones

0-5% = the same people group, 5-10% = could fit into.

South American populations:

The Anzick peoples - Amerindian @ 1.336%, Mayan @ 1.336%, Incan @ 3.049, Aztec @ 3.597% and, and Pima @ 2.909% - The naturally mummified remains of a young teenage girl, who was sacrificed along with two other children, was found in 1999. -Warning: surreal picture - she's the same age as many of our daughters. To understand why anyone would want to see her on display (murdered preteen, to appease mother earth) is beyond my comprehension. What's unique here is a potential people group link. Same practices, different location. Out of curiosity, I did a few searches in Geni to see what Aztec royalty ended up in Portugal. More research is needed.

African - Ethiopian roots are tied to Tigray and Amhara @ 2.964 & Ancient Banto @ 4.733 and I'm just getting started here. I found a good National Geographic article covering the Berbers in my haplogroup. I'm going to need a webpage to lay everything out soon.

Check out the percentage of H1 (mtDNA, not Y) among the Tuareg of the Fezzan region in Libya

Middle Eastern right now playing around with the following: Algerian Israeli-Jewish roots (Italian Israeli-Jewish @ 3.93%), Abhkasian (Georgian @ 4.747%) Afgan (Tadjik - Uzbeki @2.635) and Armenian (Georgian Jewish @ 4.834%) & Iranian Israeli-Jewish (Kurdish Israeli-Jewish @ 3.671%) & Samaritan (Samaritan @3.790%) (Samaritan-Levi Tribe @4.681%) (Samarite-Menashe Tribe @2.36%) (Lebanese Christian) & Jordanian @ 4.535%

European roots: Lithuanian (Baltic and Klevan Rus @ 2.855) (Baltic + Scythian @ 3.96%) mixed with (Vikings @4.821%) & Danish (Celt @ 3.027% and various Viking variations with Danes, Anglo Saxon, Dutch and Icelandic @ 2.480%-3.134%) & East German (Scythian & Ostrogoth @2.98%) (Viking Franks, Viking Ostrogoth's @ 3.702%) & finally, East Sicilian (Central Greek @2.993%) (South Italian @ 4.290%) (Hellenic Rome & Roman & 3.972%) and ancient West Sicilian @ 0.0%). West Sicilian and Algerian Jewish seem to have some connection.

Indian roots: Punjabi (Ancient Brahmin @ 3.654%) (Ghaznavid @ 3.654%) (Karkota + Ghaznavid@4.79%) & The warrior clan of Kshatriya (Gujarati @3.011%) (Ancient Karkota & Brahmin @2.59%)

This is a work in progress but when you group information together, it's easier to form unconventional connections. It's also interesting to find pictures and art from each culture and find similarities.

Then I gathered the information I got from CRI to form a timeline in regional groups.

Several months into my research, I heard of a little Merovingian noble boy that was found at an archeology site that dated to about (605 AD). Using MyTrue Ancestry.ca, I found a Merovingian DNA match and combined this to find my 34th great-grandfather (paternal - maternal), Lothair II, king of Lotharingia of the Carolingian Empire - Charlemagne's great-grandson (king of Neustria in 584 and king of all Franks 613-629).

After doing this research, I acknowledge that Eastern Europe formed a people group that still holds a lot of conspiracy theory attention and what I found didn't prove any of the far-fetched theories (because they were real head shakers), but I did follow the research back to ancient Israelite origins; what tribe is still debatable but points to the line of David and/or the tribe of Benjamin. This is the area that Paul, the most prolific writer of the first-century Scriptures was born, grew up in and where he spent most of his time writing thirteen letters (what we call books of the Bible now) over an 18-year span. Paul was an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3:4-8, and Romans 11:1) but was assimilated into the greater of the two tribes the Judeans/Jews and grew up in the Judean ways and customs.

I had already done a lot of research on this geographical region in the last year, got a few charts from Useful Charts to see the secession of these HREs and ended up learning much more about the Spanish Inquisition-UTube channel. The puzzle pieces are starting to fit together.

Another direct descendant of Charlemagne's who was freely given the "right to rule" was a Knight named Godefroy IV de Bouillon, (my 28th great uncle). Here's some of my past research from a different project that I started three years ago for fun. I had no clue about the connections at the time.

Timeline recap since it's handy!

This type of free access to the throne would only point to some type of connection to the House of David, the tribe of Judah. More research needs to be done.

Clovis of the Merovingians was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by pope Clemens III, invoking translatio imerii (transfer of power) and restoring the Western Roman Empire. The pope accepted this people group as being from the line of David while different authors say it's the line of Lucifer or the seed of Satan. Some say it's both so therefore the line of the antichrist which is mentioned a few times in modern Biblical translations referencing a kind of person, not a person. For the record, I am -0% in opposition to Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah. I have a very faithful relationship with him and want only what he wants. So this disproves a few things.

Now I'm understanding why Upper Italy (Lombards) always seemed to remain strong while the surrounding countries did not. They were probably related! Many ancient artifacts related to the early celts were found in the Leponti/Milan upper region of Italy. Also quite interesting is my 37th great-grandfather, Charles Martel, Mayor of the Palace (676-741 CE), ability to defeat the impending takeover of the mighty Muslim army from the Iberian Peninsula. It's like they anticipated their actions and had a counteraction already planned. These Mayor's of the Palace were formed out of the Merovingians and birthed the Carolingian Dynasty, with Pepin of Herstal (635-714) being the first and Charles Martel shortly after. He knew how to fight the ar-Rahman of the Al-Andalus (Battle of Tours 732) and was used by the Catholic popes. More on this important relationship at a later time.

Snapshots of some of my research:

Sharing these results with my son, he introduced me to the term 'weird flex,' and I'm sure this blog falls into that category somewhat, but I'm not sharing this info to boast; I'm sharing because I have a unique capability to map out historical connections now, connections that others may not be able to make without spending hours upon hours on targeted research with many dead ends. So please know that I'm not meaning to 'weird flex' these findings! I truly believe in fate because I already have a lot of relevant research behind me in this area. I look forward to having some time to write about some historical people, their choices and the events that followed, sometime in the future. But more importantly,

I intend to use this gift for reconciliation wherever possible. Some of my ancestors:

Direct Ancestors as per Geni.com (Worlds largest family tree)

Paternal - Maternal

Rollo - 29th great grandfather (gf)

Henry II (1133-1189) & Eleanor d'Aquitaine (1122-1204), king and queen of England 24th great grandparents (gg)

Robert de Roos - Magna Charta Surety (1172-1226) - 24th gf

Robert FitzWalter of Woodham, Baron of Little Dunmow, Surety of the Magna Carta - 23 gf

Edward, the Black Prince, Knight (1330-1376) - 20th gu

Sancha Sánchez de Navarra (900-952), queen consorte de León - 32nd great grandmother (gm)

Simon L'Ainé de Montfort (1025-1087) - 26th gf

Garsende de Sabran (1181-1257), comtesse de Forcalquier - 24th gm

Charlemagne (747-814) - 34th gf

Ramon Berenguer III (1082-1131) count of Barcelona - 26th gf

William "the Conqueror" (1024-1087) &

Matilda of Flanders (1031-1083), king and queen of England - 26th great grandparents (gg)

Alfonso VI (1040-1109) & Constance de Bourgogne (1046-1093), king and queen of Leon and Castile - 27th gg & Alfonso's 7th wife, Dª. Zaida (Isabel) (1071-1107)

Count of Galicia & Urraca I (1080-1126), queen of Castilla y León - 26th gg

Brian Boru , high king of Ireland - 30th gf

John de Brienne, king of Jerusalem & Emperor (1/2) of Constantinople (1170-1237) - 24 gf

Godefroy IV de Bouillon - Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre (1060-1100) - 28th great uncle (gu)

Charles Martel (676-741) - 37th gf

Judith of Brittany (982-1017) - 28th gm

Kenneth I Mac Alpine, king of the Picts (810-859) - 36th gf

Alfred the Great, king of The Anglo-Saxons - 32nd gf

Edward the Confessor, king of the English - 30th gu

John Hyrcanus I Hasmonean, Ethnarch & High Priest - 75th gf

Paternal - Paternal

Rurik (830-879) - 30th gf

Malahulc (855-920) - 30th gf

King of Norway Håkon V Magnusson (1270-1319) - 20th gf

Oneca ن فورتون -t755 - 36th gm

Prince of Kiev Volodymyr Svyatoslavich Рюрикович (958-1015) - 27th gf

Adela of France, countess of Flanders (1009-1079) - 28th gf

Artaxerxes I, King of Persia (-500 to -424bce) - 82nd gf

Elizabeth of Jerusalem, Queen Alexandra II (-63 to -28) - 72nd great grandmother

Alyattes, king of Lydia (-631 to -562bce) - 88th gf

John Hyrcanus I Hasmonean, Ethnarch & High Priest - son of Simon Maccabaeus (-164 to -104) of Judea - 75th gf

Yohannan HaCohen, High Priest of Israel (-257 to -197bce)- 78th gf

Joarib HaCohen יהויריב הכהן -222 (Tribe of Levi) - 83rd gf

Gor Thorrasson, Sea King (365-418) of Finland - 33rd gu

Motun (Batur Tengriqut, Mete, Mode) (-234 to -174) - 69th gf

Maternal - Maternal

Rollo - 36th gf

William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1225-1296) - 24th gf

Henry 5th Earl of Hereford de Bohn, Surety of the Magna Carta (1175-1220) - 28th gf

Oneca ن فورتون -t40th gm

Godefroy IV de Bouillon - Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre (1060-1100)- 31st gu

Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor (1017-1056) - 39th gu

Liudolf I "the Great", Duke of Saxony (Sachsen) (782-866) - 35th great grandfather

Gilbert FitzGilbert "Strongbow" de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke(1100-1148) - 28th great grandfather

Notable Distant Blood Relatives

Paternal - Paternal

Leif Erikson (968-1020) third cousin 26 times removed

Queen Elizabeth II - 15th cousin

Queen Victoria & Empress of India - 19th cousin four times removed

Louis David Riel - 20th cousin twice removed

Catherine Parr (1512-1548) 7th cousin 12 times removed

Paternal - Maternal

Sir Ralph de Sudeley - 2nd cousin 25 times removed

Sir Walter Raleigh - fifth cousin 13 times removed

Marie de'Medici (1575-1642) 6th cousin 12 times removed (wife of King Henry IV of France)

Bianca Maria Visconti - 8th cousin 15 times removed

James VI King of Scots, James I King of England & Ireland - 10th cousin 10 times removed (King James Bible)

Sir Francis Bacon, 1st and last Viscount St Alban's (1561-1626) - 12th cousin 8 times removed

Leif Erickson (968-1020) - fourth cousin 33 times removed

Henri de Saint-Clair (1070-1096) - third cousin 25 times removed

Jeanne ler Goyon du Matignon - third cousin

Henry Sinclair, 1st Earl of Orkney (1345-1400) - 6th cousin 18 times removed

Maternal

Anne Boleyn (1501-1536) - third cousin 17 times removed

Notable In-Law Relatives

Paternal

Sir Hugues de Payens (1070-1136) of Champagne-Ardenne, France - In-law relation through the Sinclairs

To Canada, previously known as Kanata

Researching my maternal grandfather's line has been challenging to say the least. Many records were destroyed in Germany, and all I could find were in German. I had a friend help translate some of them. All I know about his heritage is what he told me. His father was born in Lithuania in 1900, right before the 1905 Revolution. Their family along with their close friends and neighbours, the Kruschat's, left their farms in Lithuania and travelled to Sachsen (Saxony), Seutschland/Deutschland right before Duke Williams became King Mindaugus II of Lithuania. 21 days before Mindaugus IIs death, at the age of 27, my maternal great-grandfather left Bremen (March 3, 1928) for a ten-day voyage on the S.S. York to Halifax and then onto the land of the Niitsitapi/Blackfoot, Métis, and Ochethi Sakowin/Sioux peoples, to a well established German community in a little town named Killaly, Saskatchewan.

On April 30, 1929, my then 22-year-old great grandmother, along with her 1-1/2-year-old son, left Bremen on the S.S. York on the ten-day voyage to Halifax. After arriving, she boarded a train for another four days to get to Saskatchewan. Shortly after settling in Killaly, Saskatchewan, my grandfather was born. Within the year of his birth, the Nazis received 6,371,000 votes and grew from 12-107 seats in the German Reichstag, the second-largest political party in Germany. One could speculate that they had inside knowledge from Saxony of what was about to happen or it was fate. The timing of their departure was too perfect. Life was not easy around this time for new settlers. The oldest four kids survived.

I read a cool fact about Pier 21 (Halifax, Nova Scotia), a major new world immigration port. It was an ocean liner terminal and immigration shed from 1928-1971..over one million immigrants landed in Canada through this Pier and is the last surviving seaport immigration facility in Canada. My great grandfather would have been one of the first year's immigrants in 1928 to arrive at that port. I wonder how that must have felt. I also find myself wondering what was on his mind when he set sail and when he arrived. This is unfortunately all that I am left with for my maternal grandfather's side.

My maternal great-grandmother was not too far away from Killaly. This side of my family had first immigrated and settled on the territory of the Odawa speaking Anishinabewaki peoples. The settlers re-named the area Manvers, Durham, Ontario. My 4th great grandparents, Richard Staples and Jane Eyres brought Jane's mother to Canada before 1857 and traveled with some of their adult children. Jane's mother, Sarah Bryan, originated in Todenham, Gloucestershire England, was sent to Kells, Kilkenny, Ireland without her parents (probably to marry) and had a large amount of land in Kells but found herself in Gorey, Wexford, Ireland with a family. She then traveled all the way to Ontario, Canada after her husband, Robert Eyres died. She found her final resting place in Millbrook, Peterborough in 1857. The family moved onto Rocanville, Saskatchewan soon after her death. What a remarkable woman.

The Colliness/Little side met and had their family roots in Kincaid, Sk before moving to Regina where my parents met.

The Norwegian Story Behind Haplogroup R1a

(work in progress)

Dated to 4,000 BC, the earliest agricultural settlements appeared in Norway around the Oslofjord. Gradually, between 1500 BC and 500 BC, these agricultural settlements spread into the southern areas of Norway. The Viking Age (793-1066 AD) helped to unify the country, and by 1349 the population expanded quickly (Oslo: 3,000; Bergen: 7,000; Trondheim: 4,000) but was halved by the Black Death or bubonic plague (1347 - 1352) and other plagues.

"Norway entered the Kalmar Union with Denmark and Sweden in 1397" and when "Sweden left the union in 1523, Norway became the junior partner in Denmark-Norway. The reformation was introduced in 1537 and absolute monarchy imposed in 1661" (Wikipedia). This is where my Kollanes story begins, courtesy of Ansestry.ca and Google Maps.

Seim -- to --Kvalvik -- to -- Kinsarvik -- to -- Granvin (all in the County of Hordaland) Norway via Google Maps

Story in procress....