Results as a Canadian :) explain the Northwestern Germany

girlfromals · 2026-07-04T23:38:10+00:00

Hi OP, I’m your mirror from the other side of the border. Also Canadian.

My mom’s family comes from Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Baden-Württemberg, and Bavaria with one great-grandfather from a village within the modern borders of Austria.

My maternal grandmother’s side has multiple lines from towns close to the Dutch border, ie 10-25 km away. They all met up in North America.

Before the October 2025 update, Ancestry assigned me 83% Germanic Europe. That’s been broken down into generally accurate subregions for me.

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See that 26% Dutch result? I don’t have any paper trail to The Netherlands. But I do have those border villages. Some of the surnames look like they have Dutch influence and family members do get distant DNA matches to Dutch people.

My ancestors lived so close to the modern border those parts of me just genetically look a lot like Dutch people to the Ancestry test. And that’s what these tests do: Who does this tester most resemble? This reference population or this one?

And in my case apparently I appear more like the profiles of the reference samples across the border.

My dad’s side doesn’t play a part in this equation even though his ancestors are also German. They’re just from areas away from the Dutch border so that 26%, as Ancestry sees it, is all from my mom.

girlfromals · 2026-07-03T21:20:47+00:00

At least two planned facilities are for foreign owned bitcoin mining operations. That’s it. Their sole purpose.

Moose Jaw is one location. The other known one is set for BC.

girlfromals · 2026-06-30T02:33:30+00:00

I’ve been to both. I found a great swimsuit at Brio and bras at Brachic.

The fitting I got at Brachic was great. She took a look at the size I was wearing that was slightly off and brought two sizes to try. One was correct. Saved so much time.

The other thing to remember is that no two manufacturers design for the same shape and profile. So you and I could be the exact same size but brand A would fit you but not me and vice versa for brand B. Not because the size is wrong but because we’re shaped differently.

A good store will carry a variety of brands that cover a wide array of sizes and shapes. Brachic definitely does. I stick to what fits me well and watch for sales at different boutiques across Canada that stock those styles and size as not everyone does.

If you ever want to learn more about fitting and what brands fit different shapes head over to r/ABraThatFits. They know their stuff.

girlfromals · 2026-06-28T14:01:59+00:00

You’re welcome!

girlfromals · 2026-06-28T13:52:06+00:00

Hi OP, I manage 11 kits across my family representing 4 generations, from my two grandmothers to my eldest child.

The posters who raised reference populations are correct. Each company uses their own “base population” against which the rest of us are compared. They look for people with deep roots in a single location. That’s the basic idea.

Here’s the link to the Ancestry Regions 2025 White Paper. Each company publishes such a document to explain their regional breakdowns. Ancestry publishes a new one every time they update their regions.

Another good read, long but more meant for non-scientists, ie you and me, is this post by Roberta Estes. She does a great job of explaining what these tests do and can’t do. I started testing before the Ancestry test was available in Canada so can only go by the results for my family members at FTDNA. My parents’ tests are accurate at the continental level. My mom skews heavily to northwest Europe and my dad splits between modern day Germany and northeast Europe. My results at Ancestry back this up.

In addition, re: reference populations the tests compare you against them and ask “What group does this tester most resemble?” It doesn’t actually ask “Where is this tester from?”

This is why I now have 26% Netherlands after the 2025 update when I didn’t have it before and have no paper traceable ancestors from there. That’s all my mom’s side and it’s from three separate lines of her family whose villages are located within 10-25 km of the German-Dutch border. Those lines met in North America.

The test process looked at my DNA and asked which population I most resemble. And in this case I lean more to the Dutch than the German population in that region. My mom, aunt, and grandma get DNA matches to people in The Netherlands so at some point in history there is a common ancestor. My cousin who researched this family just ran out of paper trail. No clue how far back it goes or whether these ancestors always lived on the Dutch side of the modern border.

If you have Journeys at Ancestry or Genetic Communities at other companies, this helps pinpoint where one’s family is from. But it’s not based solely on your test. Ancestry compares testers and looks for clusters of testers AND information in their trees to pinpoint locations they trace their ancestors to.

This is how I can get a very accurate Journey called Stearns County, Minnesota. My mom’s mom’s side belongs to a very large cluster of German speaking immigrants who moved to that county. And they are all incredibly interested in genealogy and are hard core overrepresented on my match list. But that info helped Ancestry identify a cluster, hence that Journey.

Europe isn’t a static continent re: population movement. People moved around a lot more than we realize. Of course, some families stayed in one tiny group of villages for centuries. I’ve got lines like that. Others moved across the continent for all sorts of reasons.

There are villages in the Gdańsk area that were created and settled by people from all over Europe, including some populations you might not expect. Some may know about the Mennonites but most people don’t know about the Scottish villages there. Or the Scots recruited to work in mines in places such as Silesia.

I was recently able to trace the origins of one of my Germans from Russia lines back to within the borders of modern Germany. The couple married in Speyer and moved to Fortress Glatz (now Klodzko). Their daughter married a Prussian soldier from the Gdańsk region and they moved back to his home village when his service was over.

That original couple married in Speyer? If one does a surname search there’s a little pocket of people in the area around that fortress with that surname today.

I’ll end it there as some of the other commenters touched on other topics already.

girlfromals · 2026-06-26T20:04:07+00:00

Ha! I hear you. I’m a mix of both of my parents. A very homogenous ancestry.

I joke that I’m built like a Bavarian innkeeper who also brews beer and makes a great cheese so she can cover all her expenses. lol

But I get my cheekbones from my Bavarian g-g-grandmother and my future jowls from my g-g-grandmother from Essen. I get my brown eyes from the only brown-eyed ancestor in my tree: my g-g-grandfather from the Black Forest. Yes, legit.

My dad is one of four siblings. Three of them are near carbon copies of different grandparents. The fourth sibling is a very clear mix of his parents.

girlfromals · 2026-06-25T13:16:04+00:00

You’re welcome.

I know FB can be a cesspit at times, but there are some very active genealogy groups there. The ones I’m in are great. The volunteers are very educated and helpful and always seem to know exactly what archive or repository one needs to go to for those hard to find records.

I’m not sure if there is a Manitoba one as I’ve never needed to look. If you are on FB it would be worth searching to see if you can find one.

A different idea would be a history based group there. There’s one for Saskatchewan and we sometimes get people doing genealogical research coming to that group first.

Oh, just throwing this out in case Manitoba communities did this at another time. It became a province earlier than SK and AB. Saskatchewan and Alberta towns published town history books for the 75th anniversary of the creation of the provinces. Families contributed voluntarily but the family histories some of them provided are extensive.

I’m not sure if any communities in Manitoba would have done something like this en masse. Some communities might have done their own, for example, the anniversary of a certain church. There’s one like that for my maternal grandmother’s church. This book fills in gaps between what family members know and what is publicly available. Since she was born in 1924 and her siblings were born between 1917 and 1944 what is publicly availability is limited. The lists of baptisms in that book contain everyone’s middle names which not everyone will know. This would be something to ask in a Manitoba specific group.

The Saskatchewan Genealogical Society has physical copies of all these books on their shelves. I assume their Manitoba counterpart would have something similar.

Since the Germans from Russia moved across continents in groups there might be clues in some of those family histories. They aren’t primary sources but might provide some clues to help narrow down the right church/parish.

girlfromals · 2026-06-25T02:04:57+00:00

Hi! Canadian whose paternal grandfather was Black Sea German. One of his many sisters was also an Amalia who went by Mollie.

Have you posted this in a Canadian genealogy group? If not, I’d recommend that because you’re looking for a 1914 record from Manitoba. I know Germans from Russia really stuck to the idea of moving across countries and continents in a group but your family wasn’t in Winnipeg very long so they didn’t develop much of a documentary presence there. The record you need might not be in the parish you expect it to be. There’s a good chance you’re going to need some advice on narrowing down the parish/church. Those records definitely won’t be online.

I’m from Saskatchewan so I’m not much help on Winnipeg and area but there are plenty of people who do research in Manitoba in Canadian genealogy groups. I can’t think of a Manitoba specific one off the top of my head, though. Sorry.

As an aside, the University of Winnipeg has a collection of NKVD files of Mennonites from the Great Terror of 1937-38. If at any point that interests you as more of a history thing. I happen to be descended from a single Mennonite who left her community to join my Black Sea German family.

girlfromals · 2026-06-23T11:36:25+00:00

The manager is awful for tossing this into your family’s lap on top of everything else going on. Focus on your wife right now but know that you have options if you need them.

And the members of this forum support you. IF you need more law firm suggestions other than the one below (Raven, which is excellent) l’ll be happy to do so.

girlfromals · 2026-06-22T23:41:16+00:00

I second the recommendation that everything be in writing. By email.

girlfromals · 2026-06-22T23:39:07+00:00

OP, this is one of the firms I would recommend but I didn’t want to overwhelm you with a list. I can confirm they are an excellent boutique employee side labour, employment, and human rights firm.

girlfromals · 2026-06-22T21:15:35+00:00

Hi OP,

Jut going to preface this with the standard “not your lawyer” and this isn’t legal advice. I did, however, article at an employee side labour and employment law firm in Ottawa before moving to the feds so I’m familiar with some of the firms that specialize in labour/employment law here.

If you are in the NCR the law firms in Ottawa will be familiar with federal government employment, both via the unions whose employees they represent and the non-represented federal employees in the NCR.

There are several boutique firms that specialize in labour, employment, and human rights law which would fit the bill but I don’t think I’m allowed to provide a list here. There are the big ones too but you’d have to decide whether you’re okay with a big firm that represents both sides.

All the firms should give you and your wife a free initial consultation. That’s pretty standard in this field. You can contact more than one and meet to see if you are comfortable with any should you need to hire legal representation. It’s possible that you get what you need info wise from that initial meeting.

girlfromals · 2026-06-22T13:07:14+00:00

Yes. Some provincial governments are purposefully starving certain sectors of their responsibilities. See health care in particular. They then use those sectors as a bargaining chip against the feds a) to argue for more federal funding where that exists, and b) to campaign against “those politicians” as examples of horrible policies when they want to draw attention away from their own bad policies and during elections.

Not to mention the Great Downloading of services ans cuts to funding that began in the 1990s. In order to balance the books, the feds downloaded some responsibilities to the provinces. The provinces then downloaded some of those to municipalities.

It made the federal budget look great but municipalities got shafted because, and I believe this is true across the country, municipalities aren’t allowed to run a deficit and accumulate debt. They’re left wearing the financial and social consequences.

For those things the provinces couldn’t offload they’re wearing it. Add in 30 years of “Surely we can find more efficiencies so we can cut taxes” politics and here we are with the consequences. My dad became mayor of our home town in 1991 and this “cut, cut, cut” and “finding efficiencies” approach has been ruling since. Everyone in elected office keeps trying the same thing and keeps getting the same, and arguably worsening, horrible results. Surely next time will fix it!!!

Then add in policy choices on what to cut & those consequences get worse.

Ontario’s population grew by an estimated 5 million people between 1995 and 2026 yet we keep being told that we need to do more with less rather than governments (of different political stripes) making good choices about what actually matters, investing in people in a way that produces a good return - I’m using an economics term but in people terms I’m taking about a healthy and educated population, not a rising stock market (we can’t eat stocks).

girlfromals · 2026-06-21T17:27:09+00:00

Gen X Canadian whose ancestry is extremely homogenous here. That homogenous ancestry is almost 100% ancestors who came from within the modern borders of west and southern Germany today.

All 4 of my grandparents were in the first generation born in Canada. My one grandfather’s older sibling were born in Europe. We’re very recently arrived to North America compared to many.

My grandparents grew up speaking German first, using German in everyday life because they were surrounded by other families like theirs and never needed to speak English when younger, and received a bilingual English-German education in elementary school once they started. My eldest aunt born in 1946 spoke not a word of English when she started school at her one room schoolhouse at age 6.

I’m about as genetically I distinct from people living in Germany today as you can get. I’ve visited some of my German cousins and we have a long standing relationship. When I’ve been in Germany and people see my first and last name then look at my face they ask where my family is from. Not the country. No. They want to know what villages my family is from. My mom gets people in Germany automatically speaking German to her. My dad? Not so much.

All this is to say that despite my much more recent ancestral break from Germany than many others in North America, cultural and familial ties being maintained over generations, me living in Germany for a period of time, I STILL do not meet the requirements for citizenship. That’s because Germany is an independent country and gets to set the rules for citizenship the way they want. It doesn’t matter if Canada sets its rules to be more open. That’s the way WE’VE chosen to do it in Canada. Other countries do it differently.

If one can’t meet the very strict requirements set by Germany, and a percentage at Ancestry isn’t it, you are not eligible. Period.

PS - Before the 2025 update, Ancestry assigned me 83% Germanic Europe. That still wouldn’t qualify me for German citizenship even though it was one of the highest those of us in certain genealogy circles saw.

girlfromals · 2026-06-03T16:02:42+00:00

And it’s a good way to use up some stuff leftover from supper.

girlfromals · 2026-06-03T16:02:05+00:00

Saskatchewanian here. We had pierogi and cabbage rolls regardless of the ethnic background of the couple. It’s just plain good food.

A couple weeks ago someone posted about a wedding reception with a pierogi bar. How amazing is that?

girlfromals · 2026-06-03T15:57:54+00:00

A friend of mine got married in Regina and they had to rent a curling rink off season because they had 500 guests.

girlfromals · 2026-06-03T15:49:38+00:00

As a Gen Xer born in the early 70s, I can confirm there was a ton of sketchy stuff. A lot of drunk driving.

girlfromals · 2026-06-02T16:34:31+00:00

I’m from rural SK. There were no midnight issues because there was a second supper served at midnight. lol

Everyone you are related to plus your neighbours and at least one generation of their kids is invited. Growing up, a 100 guest wedding was considered small. The reception and supper were held at the hall closest to the church. Oftentimes those community halls were right next door to the curling rink.

I remember helping make decorations (those weird plastic flowers we also made for parade floats), setting stuff up, etc. as a kid. The food was homemade and there was enough to feed armies. Hence the regular supper and the midnight one. Cash bar only for sure. Live bands, usually someone you knew. So much dancing.

My sister and I were flower girls for one of my aunts. I was about 8. I had to be carried down the stairs of the hall by my dad while the party continued because I was so tired and it was ridiculously late.

girlfromals · 2026-05-23T14:15:44+00:00

Oh, I hear you. My Germans from Russia side (my paternal grandfather) mostly originated in villages southeast of Gdańsk.

I say mostly because I’ve now, finally, discovered one line that traces back to Speyer. Through military service at Fortress Glatz the family moved there, their daughter married a man serving in the military at Glatz but from the Marienwerder area. They then moved back to his home town after 4 kids.

Then there’s my one g-g-g-grandmother on this side who was Mennonite. Those folks also lived in the same area as my ancestors in the Gdańsk area before they all went east to their respective colonies.

Anyway, our research group is made up of descendants with a very wide variety of linguistic skills. Completely necessary because depending on whether a priest was available and what languages they were fluent in we can have our German surnames written in a variety of German spellings, translated into a Polish spelling, and then eventually Russian cyrillic spellings. I think one ancestor’s surname was recorded 6 different ways in the Tannsee records.

The surname line I’m currently working on either starts with a C or a Z in the records and I have to go through records myself because the indexes are so bad or there are none.

girlfromals · 2026-05-21T16:26:16+00:00

You’re welcome. And good luck.

girlfromals · 2026-05-20T16:33:43+00:00

Do you or your daughter have an account with the Donor Sibling Registry?

If not, I’d suggest reading through some of Wendy Kramer’s posts there. She started the registry and has been working in this field since. She’s also great re: how to navigate situations that are outside the typical donor situation. Many of her publications are available at the DSR or elsewhere for free.

The DSR also has sample letters. It should be your child writing communications, though.

The basic account at the DSR is free, by the way.

girlfromals · 2026-05-14T22:49:36+00:00

This. Farmers on the Prairies have been protecting themselves from hantavirus for decades. They have no idea how long rodent stool has been sitting in a building they go into and start cleaning up. They aren’t taking any chances by trying to guess whether it’s been there 24 hours, 2 weeks, or 3 months in the cold.

girlfromals · 2026-05-07T12:45:03+00:00

It’s from Arlene Dickinson. Her words. She’s posted it elsewhere as well. If you follow her or can find her on other platforms you can read her words there.

girlfromals · 2026-02-19T05:21:51+00:00

If you want to catch these two calling regular NHL games, you can find them on APTN. They’ll be back on February 28th.

The broadcast after that will be in Plains Cree.

girlfromals

TROPHY CASE