Many people don’t know about the Azores DNA Project. It is one of the groups developed via FTDNA.com’s website. Azoreans who have their DNA tests done can then join the group.
The purpose of the group is to help Azorean genealogists (whether you are Azorean or one line of your tree is Azorean) connect with other genealogists, work to overcome brick walls, and help overcome the surname practices of the Azoreans. Those who hit a pai incognito (father’s name not given), have one of those families where the parents and the children do not have the same surnames, or are stumbling over female ancestors who are only reported by their religious name can benefit from adding their DNA results to the project. As more and more Azoreans test, patterns will be seen and it may be possible to overcome these obstacles.
The group is comprised of volunteers who I’m sure many of you know and have run into in online groups. They spend a great deal of time educating the rest of us on how this whole DNA thing works. Their patience seems tireless as we all try to understand how each test works. You can see some of the work they compiled at the top of the project page. Just click on Y-DNA or mtDNA in the menu bar to check it out.
The Azores DNA Project lives on donations. Their goals is to get as many people with Azorean roots (that includes us Portuguese Hawaiians too!) as possible to test. The more that test, the best matching can be done. Thus, they donate some DNA tests each year to those who cannot afford the cost. That money comes from the general fund which is entirely made up of donations.
Donations keep this project alive. If you would like to help out, you can find more information at the Azores DNA Project page. The link to donate is at the bottom of the page or you may click on it here. Be sure to select Azores Island, Port so the money is allocated to the correct geographic project.
If you’d like to see some of the things the project is working on, once on the project page, click on the Y-DNA Results tab or the mt-DNA Results tab. You will see some of the ways they are using DNA results to bridge the gap to genealogy research.
If you are thinking about having your DNA tested, you should order through the Azores DNA Project which automatically adds you to the project. The Family Finder test, aka Autosomal test, is the one that most family historians will benefit the most from (It’s the test I took!) And, if you have had your DNAtested through FTDNA, consider joining the group. The more individual results in the group the more it will aid genealogists.
