Researcher: Chamorros have Native American "Mexican" ancestors
The lead scientist of a study examining the genetics of Chamorros said it was “a huge surprise” when researchers discovered a connection between Mexican Native Americans and the indigenous people of Guam and nearby Pacific islands.
Miguel Vilar, a molecular anthropologist and science writer, presented his findings in a lecture Tuesday at the University of Guam.
Vilar is the science manager for National Geographic’s Genographic Project, an initiative that seeks to use DNA from participants to discover human genetic roots.
No seat was left vacant in the crowded University lecture hall during his speech. Remaining audience members had to stand elbow-to-elbow along the sides of the room.
“At first I couldn’t figure out what it was,” Vilar said, describing the discovery of Native American ancestry in Chamorro DNA. “I was thinking they were actually Native Americans that migrated over here.”
But history books pointed to a more likely answer, he added. Long ago, people from the Mexico region came to Guam, and depending on when they came, they could’ve already been part of a mixed European-Native American gene pool, he said.
“Those were the people coming over and that would explain the Native American (genes),” he said. “But it was unexpected.”
The study examined DNA from 200 participants that were collected in two separate time periods — the first being in the ’90s and ’00s. In that timeframe, DNA was collected from 122 individuals. Eighty-five were from Guam, 31 were from Saipan and six were from Rota.
The participants from the sample were Chamorro, Carolinian and a combination of the two.
In 2013, about 85 new participants from Guam submitted DNA samples. About 69 of the new samples were Chamorros.
Results from the study confirmed linguistic and archaeological evidence that Chamorros originated somewhere in Eastern Indonesia, Vilar said.
And, additionally, Vilar said the data showed Native American ancestry in Chamorro DNA.
That finding was “a huge surprise,” he said.
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In just about all of the strains of Chamorro DNA, Vilar said findings showed 3 to 4 percent of Native American ancestry.
“Some were as high as 7, some, 0 to 1 percent,” he said. “Three to 4 percent was common.”
Vilar said results of his research found Mexicans had about 50 to 70 percent Native American ancestry.
“Spanish people were bringing people over from Mexico by the 17th century, mixing with the Native American population in Mexico,” he said.
