Geneticist Traces Mysterious Origins of Native Americans to Middle East, Ancient Greece

The idea that Native Americans are descended from ancient Jews, Egyptians, or Greeks has been a controversial one for hundreds of years. Here’s a look at accounts from the 18th century through to today that suggest this may be the case.
Geneticist Traces Mysterious Origins of Native Americans to Middle East, Ancient Greece
A Cherokee boy and girl stand in costume on a North Carolina reservation in 1939. Wikimedia Commons, background image of DNA via Thinkstock
Tara MacIsaac
Updated:

The idea that Native Americans are descended from ancient Jews, Egyptians, or Greeks has been a controversial one for hundreds of years. James Adair, an 18th century settler who traded with Native Americans for 40 years, wrote that their language, customs, and social structures were similar to those of the Israelites.

He wrote in his book “The History of the American Indians”: “It is a very difficult thing to divest ourselves, not to say, other persons, of prejudices and favourite opinions, and I expect to be censured by some for opposing commonly received sentiments, or for meddling with a dispute agitated among the learned ever since the first discovery of America.”