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Next Steps

Immediate Next Steps

A great deal of new work is required on many fronts.

Native Testing. We need to continue to identify living descendents of the Mi’kmaq tribe who we can test to prove/disprove a connection to Jarl Henry and his crew.

Software Upgrades. A goal of mine over the next 2 years is to build a better way into the results section to quickly click between our members and how they stack up using current marker groups, SNP delineations, S21, CCR5-(delta)32, etc. This software should scale to future SNPs and even to as yet un-invented new testing labs. I am not a software engineer, but experience tells me that this software should be either Java-based or PHP-based. We’re currently running a PHP solution because it has an elegantly simple “lasso” system (their term, not mine) and can slice and dice data in many ways. To run the software side of this, future generations simply must learn a little about the best ways to achieve scalable solutions. Software engineers will sell you whatever platform they happen to be comfortable with, not necessarily the best solution.

The goal of the software is to allow members to quickly have access to the kind of information they need to understand where they fit with other members and lineages based on the SNP results, the basic FTDNA results, and much more. Information wants to be free.

Active Recruitment in the UK, and Other Countries. We have an appalling lack of participation from other countries. This simply must be overcome to better understand our Lineages. It’s probably the single most important thing we must do. We do not have even nearly a complete picture of our family as a whole without more participation. While I've been slow to recruit based on input from a consultant, I feel it's time to begin to push into the UK, France,Italy and other countries. 

Long Term Next Steps

Future generations running this project must keep a sharp eye out for further SNP tests.

They must guard against allowing threats into the project. You may have noticed this as a recurring theme in this report. It deserves an explanation. Several years ago, a Baron Von Fulburg was allowed into one of the two chat groups on Yahoo that discuss family history.  He seemed particularly interested in the Earl’s son and whether they’d taken the DNA test. Further investigation of this “gentleman” turned up a disturbing trail of rumors such as arms sales, internet fraud, computer hacking, etc. When he took a strong interest in our DNA project and the Earl, I locked down the DNA results behind a password.

Other threats are the zealous reporting of half-investigated “facts.” We’re attempting to build a lasting legacy for the worldwide family. When I hear people using our results to make breathless pronouncements, it makes my skin crawl. While we encourage every member of the project to learn as much as you can, we demand that large scale pronouncements be fully investigated AND reported from all sides.

One thing you’ll notice in this report is that we’re attempting to come at any conclusion from all sides. There’s just too much yet to learn to leap to conclusions. So we warn any future administrators to watch carefully who you allow into the management page at FTDNA. Some people have a way of changing their colors.

Most importantly, we must continue to recruit from all over the world. It’s very tempting to leap to conclusions about our family simply from looking at the results which are overwhelmingly from the United States. And it’s very difficult to have the patience to wait for a more complete sampling size. But, wait we must.



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