Jewish Influences in the Jalisco Highlands

Corrine,

Many of my family members have done dna testing. The Mexican is a mixed lot. Many of my Villarreal cousins have tested and the testing indicates and traditions suggest a jewish heritage. Then there is my mother's maternal grandfther who's gene's were tested cpurtesy of my mother's maternal cousin revealed that my great grandfather's line was celtic. Then there are my Arriola cousin's tests that reaveal them to be Trevino Velasco and that is my maternal grandfather's line that show's them to be semitic but I not sure if they were jews. Then there is my father's line the Arredondos, care of my brother. His test also revealed a semetic heritage which I believe might be Greek. My brother also did a mitochrondial test to reveal an indian heritage.

So you see, we are not just one of anything.

Esther
--
Esther A. Herold

-------------- Original message from Juan Marquez : --------------

>
> Corrine there is no doubt there is heavy anecdotal evidence to the existence of
> Sephardic Jews throughout Mexico (most notably in Nuevo Leon of course).
>
> But even in the Jalisco Highlands we can see the physical traits common in the
> Middle East among many people.... including some of my relatives (unibrow, lots
> of body hair, long thin noses, pale skin etc.,)... however, this archetype is
> not unknown among the Celtiberian & Basque populations of Pre-Islam Spain so its
> not definitive in any way. I have also heard many personal stories (including
> one involving a maternal great grandmother) of strange traditions such as:
>
> > A different style of veil
> > The preparation of unusual flat breads
> > Speaking a foreign language
> > Practicing unusual mystic traditions
>
> Of course that isn't definitive either because we also know that Jalisco is home
> to a significant number of people of Lebanese, Syrian, Iraqi & Armenian Catholic
> / Orthodox ancestry who began imigrating in the late 19th Century to escape
> violence in the Ottoman empire.
>
> More crudely, my relatives & friends from the joke about Male endowment and
> joking accuse the other of being afflicted by the "Jewish Curse"
>
> But more seriously, I would suggest participating in the National Geographic's
> Genome study to determine if you have uniquely Jewish mitochondrial DNA etc.,
>
>