Another useful tool for DNA testing is to answer those questionable paternity that either was brought up by a family member or documentation may not support what is known. This was one of the main reasons why I got DNA tested in the first place.
Quite a bit of people getting DNA tested are finding what is known as an NPE (non-paternal event) or a misattributed parentage. That is when the presumed or putative father was not the biological father. This could have happened either recently, a generation ago, or way beyond that to where current living people may not be aware.
This is when people need to take the extra steps by testing other family members or also getting other specific tests, such as a Y-DNA test. Sometimes it can be a Y-DNA test that makes people realize that there was an NPE.
Back in July of 2015 I figured out who my mother’s biological mother was. Her name was Rose Kanae, and Rose was married three times. I found that one of her husbands — Joseph K. Akana resided at the same address where my mother was born. So the assumption was that he was probably my mother’s biological father. The Akana surname is of Chinese origin, and it is what initially made me believe that he was not the biological father. My mother was told after having met Joseph Akana once as she was 5 years old, that he was a pure Hawaiian man.
Last October a cousin confirmed that Joseph indeed was my mother’s biological father. It was explained to me by a couple of relatives that Joseph took the surname – Akana from his Aunt who married a Chinese man surnamed Akana. Joseph’s original name was Joseph Kaapuiki, and later he went by Joseph Kaapuiki Akana.
This same cousin who confirmed that Joseph was my mother’s biological father did question Joseph’s paternity, suggesting that Joseph’s mother Elena Kauhi was not so faithful. This is how I was able to confirm that Joseph’s father – John Kaapuiki was his biological father.
Below is my mother’s top 5 matches.
These all say “Possible range: 1st – 2nd cousins.” Her first match is how I was able to figure out who her biological mother was. This is how Frank is connected to my mother.
Frank and my mother are actually 1st cousins once removed, making Frank & I second cousins. With females there is less ambiguity whereas with men there can always be that questionable paternity.
The second top match was “lkauhi” and this is how that person actually is related to my mother once I was able to get my grandfather’s genealogy.
“lkauhi” is off to the right, and she matches my grandfather Joseph Kaapuiki (Akana) via his mother’s side, through Elena Kauhi. This would confirm that Joseph is the biological father of my mother since “lkauhi’s” grandfather Johnathan and Joseph’s mother Elena were brother and sister.
One of my cousins gave me the names of our grandfather Joseph Kaapuiki Akana’s ancestors going back as far as his grandparents. His father John Kaapuiki‘s father was Kukahuna Kaapuiki.
Further research online revealed that the Akana-Kaapuiki family listed my ancestor Kukahuna and traced it a few more generations back. But I was not confident at first to know that any of the names beyond Kukahuna were my own ancestors. This is the same family that I was told my grandfather Joseph took his surname from, and that they were related. Given that they listed Kaili Kaapuiki who married a Chinese man surnamed Akana as the sister to my ancestor Kukahuna Kaapuiki, I knew that was probably the connection but could not confirm it through documentation.
I looked for the genealogy of my mother’s 3rd match “milt17th.” I contacted him and he confirmed his genealogy, that he was the grandson of Kaili Kaapuiki and Akana.
This confirms that John Kaapuiki was the biological father of my grandfather Joseph Kaapuiki Akana.
Polynesian DNA 