Not pure Ilocano! Discovering my Indian DNA results

DNA tests show ancestry from the Ilocos, Cordilleras, and India. Map: Gerald Farinas.

When I first opened the results of two separate DNA tests, I was fascinated to see clear confirmation that I carry a little bit of ancestry from the Indian subcontinent.

As my friend Keizo says, “Surprise!”

My family has always identified strongly with Ilocos and the Cordilleras on the island of Luzon. That is the land where my grandparents and great-grandparents lived, worked, and built their lives.

I wondered how people from India could have made their way into my family tree, which feels deeply rooted in the ethnolinguistic tribes that would later be forced together by Spanish colonists.

The answer, I learned, is both simple and beautifully complex. My DNA apparently tells a story that stretches back thousands of years, one of migration, trade, and connection across the seas.

Long before the Spanish took possession of the archipelago and forcibly united its disparate peoples, and even before the Spanish arrived, the Ilocos coast was a part of a thriving trade network.

Merchants from India traveled the Indian Ocean and South China Sea, carrying beads, spices, textiles, and religious teachings. They settled along trade routes that touched every part of Southeast Asia, including the northern shores of Luzon.

These men did not just bring goods. They apparently brought some of their families along with them in addition to their cultures, and genes.

Over time, they became part of the communities they visited, marrying into local families and leaving behind traces of their heritage that would become part of the Ilocano identity.

Even further back, Indian influence came through powerful Southeast Asian empires like Srivijaya and Majapahit, which spread Hindu and Buddhist culture across the region.

Priests, artisans, and traders brought new ideas and ways of life to the Ilocos long before European colonizers arrived. As they traveled, they also became part of the local genetic fabric, adding another layer to the rich mix of cultures in this part of the Asia-Pacific.

The story does not end there.

During the Spanish colonial period, Indian soldiers and workers known as Sepoys came to the Philippines as part of the Spanish military and colonial infrastructure. Some of them settled permanently, building families and blending with the communities they served.

Their presence, combined with earlier waves of migration, meant that South Asian or Indian ancestry became deeply interwoven into Ilocano life.

If I keep tracing this story backward, it becomes even more profound.

The roots of my South Asian DNA likely stretch back tens of thousands of years, when early humans left Africa and traveled along a coastal route through India to reach Southeast Asia.

By the time Austronesian peoples sailed down from Taiwan to settle in the islands around 4,000 years ago, they were already carrying markers from ancient connections with South Asia and beyond.

What I see in my DNA today is not the imprint of a single journey, but a record of countless generations moving, trading, intermarrying, and carrying their cultures with them.

I used to imagine ancestry as a straight line, something clean and simple. The more I learn, the more I see that it is a woven tapestry.

My little bit of South Asian heritage is not a mystery guest that suddenly appeared in my family story. It is evidence of how deeply connected the Ilocos is to the wider world and how movement and exchange have always been part of human history.

Each thread tells a story. Some threads were spun by ancient travelers crossing oceans in wooden boats. Others were tied by soldiers, merchants, and priests arriving centuries later. All of them came together over time to create a culture that is both distinctly Ilocano and part of something far larger.

Learning about this ancestry does not pull me away from my identity as Ilocano. Instead, it deepens it.

It reminds me that Ilocos has never been isolated. My people are seafaring people. They lived at the edge of the water, trading with others, adopting new ideas, and sharing their own.

The DNA results are not just scientific data, as geneticists agree they are more accurate today than ever before. They are a reflection of my heritage as an Ilocano and a descendant of many worlds.

They show me that my identity is not a closed circle but part of a global story, one that began long before I was born and will continue long after.