My MtDNA Results

I just got my MtDNA results from FamilyTreeDNA.

I am haplogroup C, which supposedly "is found in eastern Eurasia and throughout the Americas. This haplogroup was present in the populations that initially colonized the pre-Columbian Americas, and dates to at least 40,000 years ago. Future work will resolve the issue of how many distinct colonization events there were in the original peopling of the Americas, and the role of individuals bearing haplogroup C." (Description used without written permission).

Eastern Eurasia. No wonder people from there mistake me for Filipino or Thai. This happens frequently. I do have an Asian cast to my eyes.

They also sent a map showing the migration of haplogroup C from eastern Africa across Asia, over the Bering Straight, down Alaska and Canada, and then to North, Central and South America.

Maybe when I go to Arizona, and they ask for my papers, I can show them this to prove I didn't hop the fence yesterday, and ask them to show me theirs. Forty thousand years! I guess I am as "American" as anybody can get. I knew I was Native American--all I have to do is look in the mirror---and my mother's people-- the Piro-Manso-Tewa- have been in some pueblos in New Mexico that have been continually occupied for over a thousand years, but they have really been there 40,000 years? How do they figure that? Wow!

They also sent a graph of "HVR1 Differences from rCRS" (mutations?): 1609C, 16176T, 1628T, 1629C, 16325C, 16327T, and 16519C. I also clicked on "Show All Positions" and I got a very long string of the same thing, but the letters included were A, T, C, and G. Are those haplogroups? What are they?

I am not a total dummy, but this DNA stuff has me in a tizzy. What are mutations? What are the differences? Should I care? I tried looking at their tutorials, but I ended up feeling like an imbecile, not understanding a thing. Their website also is very difficult to maneuver. I couldn't find my results until I clicked on dozens of titles.

They also sent a list of "matches". Some have Anglo surnames, but their "most distant known female ancestor" are all from New Mexico. The surnames of these ancestors are not in my lines, but they are all common to New Mexico. I guess that just means that no one with my particular surnames submitted their MtDNA.

Thank you in advance for any help in understanding this,

Emilie
Port Orchard, WA