Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6398, USA.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2011 Nov;146(3):392-405. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.21588. Epub 2011 Aug 24.
Discovered in the early 16th century by European colonists, Bermuda is an isolated set of islands located in the mid-Atlantic. Shortly after its discovery, Bermuda became the first English colony to forcibly import its labor by trafficking in enslaved Africans, white ethnic minorities, and indigenous Americans. Oral traditions circulating today among contemporary tribes from the northeastern United States recount these same events, while, in Bermuda, St. David's Islanders consider their histories to be linked to a complex Native American, European, and African past. To investigate the influence of historical events on biological ancestry and native cultural identity, we analyzed genetic variation in 111 members of Bermuda's self-proclaimed St. David's Island Native Community. Our results reveal that the majority of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome haplotypes are of African and West Eurasian origin. However, unlike other English-speaking New World colonies, most African mtDNA haplotypes appear to derive from central and southeast Africa, reflecting the extent of maritime activities in the region. In light of genealogical and oral historical data from the St. David's community, the low frequency of Native American mtDNA and NRY lineages may reflect the influence of genetic drift, the demographic impact of European colonization, and historical admixture with persons of non-native backgrounds, which began with the settlement of the islands. By comparing the genetic data with genealogical and historical information, we are able to reconstruct the complex history of this Bermudian community, which is unique among New World populations.
百慕大群岛于 16 世纪初被欧洲殖民者发现，是位于大西洋中部的一组孤立岛屿。在发现后不久，百慕大就成为第一个通过贩卖非洲奴隶、白人少数民族和美洲原住民来强制输入劳动力的英国殖民地。今天，在来自美国东北部的当代部落中流传着口头传统，讲述着同样的事件，而在百慕大，圣大卫岛的岛民则认为他们的历史与复杂的美洲原住民、欧洲和非洲的过去有关。为了研究历史事件对生物祖先和本土文化认同的影响，我们分析了百慕大自称的圣大卫岛原住民社区的 111 名成员的遗传变异。我们的研究结果表明，大多数线粒体 DNA（mtDNA）和 Y 染色体单倍型来自非洲和西欧亚地区。然而，与其他讲英语的新世界殖民地不同，大多数非洲 mtDNA 单倍型似乎源自中非和东南非，反映了该地区海上活动的程度。鉴于圣大卫社区的家谱和口述历史数据，美洲原住民 mtDNA 和 NRY 谱系的低频可能反映了遗传漂变、欧洲殖民化的人口影响以及与非本地背景的人的历史混合的影响，这始于这些岛屿的定居。通过将遗传数据与家谱和历史信息进行比较，我们能够重建这个百慕大社区的复杂历史，这在新世界人口中是独一无二的。
