Our Family History
DNA testing to determine family lineage has emerged since the beginning of the millennium. There are now scientific databases containing samples of DNA from all areas of the world. DNA is found in every cell of our body, they are considered the building blocks for everything we are; it contains traits for hair color, eye color and height.So the task was undertaken to determine the Lindsey lineage. As a family we have been able to trace back to the last slaves, Jonas & Rosa Lindsey; so we had decided to use the new available technology to go back even further and explore the Lindsey blood line at its origin.
To explore the Lindsey lineage we utilized the African-Ancestry.com company for tracing Mitochondrial-DNA. We selected the Patri-Clan test so a Grandson of Henry Lindsey was needed for the sample. Benjamin Lindsey of Brooklyn, NY was tested. The PatriClan Test traces paternal ancestry by analyzing the Y-chromosome men inherit exclusively from their fathers. So Benjamin’s results would be the DNA of his father Henry Jr., the same as Henry Sr., and so on. So the results would be the applicable to all the children, grand-children, and great-grand children and so forth of Jonas Lindsey.
So, the sample was taken, sent off and returned with a 100% match of identical genetic markers to the Balanta People of Guinea-Bissau. Balanta literally translates to “Those who resist”.The Republic of Guinea-Bissau in which our ancestors are from is located on the western coast of Africa it is bordered by Senegal to the north. It’s about the size of the state of Maryland. It became the colony of Portuguese Guinea in the 19th century. Guinea-Bissau obtained its independence in 1973 and was officially recognized in 1974. It is presently a relatively poor country marked by political unrest. The Balanta however have remained outside the colonial and postcolonial state because of their social organization.The Balanta are located mostly in the southern coastal region part of the country, representing more than one-quarter of the population in Guinea-Bissau. Significantly, Balanta do not typically refer to themselves as 'Balanta' but as B'urassa, or Urassa in the singular.
Early Balanta society was decentralized where elders ruled (no monarchy, no royalty but system of extended family with matriarchs and patriarchs). Male elders held power, but regionally and in the broader Balanta society this power was not concentrated in a single household or ruling class.The earliest European observers indicated that Balanta governed themselves through institutions controlled at a very local level. That is, they made clear that these coastal farmers were not organized in states. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, Fernandes a European settler said that he observed no ruling class, individual or governing body in Balanta society.
Everyone worked in the fields, no families managing to exclude themselves from daily labor.In the nineteenth century, European observers said that Balanta territories were the most densely populated in Guinea-Bissau yet these territories fell victim to the 'slaving frontier' facilitated by one of West Africa's most powerful states, Kaabu who closely assisted in the slave trade with European countries.At the end of the sixteenth and start of the seventeenth century, the patterns of life in coastal Guinea-Bissau changed dramatically as violence associated with an expanding Atlantic slave trade proliferated.
As Kaabu (African state) produced and traded captives over the course of the century that followed, Balanta retreated to isolated and riverine areas near mangrove swamps in Guinea Bissau. There they established defensive villages to defend against slave raiding. As a result of the relocation to defend against the slave trade the Balanta began a long process of refashioning their social structures and agricultural practices to meet the challenges of a new era. Oral tradition amongst the Balanta has it that they migrated westward from the area that is now Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to escape drought and wars. Today, the Balanta are mostly found in the south and central regions of Guinea-Bissau and are also thought to be part of the old, vast Mali Empire.Language Spoken: BalantaAs for religion the Balanta are largely a spiritual people. As for the country of Guinea Bissau, Catholicism has been partially accepted; Islam is strong and practiced along with spirit worship.That’s just some basic information, there is so much more to learn about the Balanta and Guinea Bissau. But this is just a portion of our lineage; because of course we are made of so many elements. But we, the descendants of Jonas Lindsey are of the Balanta people of Guinea Bissau.