as race, 39–40, 51-53, 205
Roman Empire and, 44–45
Sephardic, see Sephardic Jews
world population of, 58
see also Ashkenazi Jews; Judaism; Mizrahi Jews; Sephardic Jews
Jews, The: A Study of Race and Environment (Fishberg), 52
Jicarilla Apache Indians, 86, 93, 101, 116
Job, Book of, 73, 80
John of the Cross, Saint, 119
John the Baptist (biblical), 202
Judaism, 38–40, 45, 53, 54, 76, 226
First Temple of, 66
kabbalistic school of, 80
Second Temple of, 44, 58
see also Jews
Juggling Identities: Identity and Authenticity Among the Crypto-Jews (Kunin), 192
Kabbalah, 80–81
katsinas (Pueblo Indian deities), 92, 94, 98, 226–27
Khazars, 46–47
King, Mary-Claire, 147–48, 153, 246n
Kingdom Hall (in Culebra), 111–12, 121, 128
construction of, 126–27
kiva, 92, 94
Knights of Columbus, 118
Knome (gene-testing service), 162
Komen, Susan Goodman, 163
Kunin, Seth, 192
Kurcfeld, Mayer, 198–99
Lamy, Jean Baptiste, 116, 121
Laron syndrome, 215
Lash of the Penitentes, The (film), 120
Lazarus, Emma, 66
Leviticus, Book of, 219
Lithuania, 48, 49
Lobo (casta), 99
Lojanos, 215–16
Louis IX, King of France, 101
Luke, Book of, 73
Luria, Isaac, 80
Luther, Martin, 64
Lymph Tonic III, 172
Maestas, Huberto, 61
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 30, 159, 163, 245n–46n
Maija (painter), 16
Maimonides, 66
Malaria (and carrier advantage), 55
Manifest Destiny, 113
maple syrup urine disease, 142
Marranos, 67
“Marriage and Parenthood in This Time of the End,” 123
Martinez, Maria Clara (newspaper editor), 21, 201, 212
Martinez-Medina family, 21-22, 186, 210
cancer history of, 23-25, 201
in conversion to Jehovah’s Witnesses, 34–35
at genetic counseling session, 27–32
Jewish ancestry of, 31–32, 185
Martín Serrano (clan progenitor), 201
mastectomy (preventive), 30, 156-58, 244n
“Maurice Fishberg’s Legacy: Population Genetics in the 21st Century” (Ostrer), 53
mayordomos (overseers), 111
médicos, 106
melanin, 100
Mendel, Gregor, 51, 89, 137–38, 140, 146, 147
Mendelian genetics (Mendelism), 51–52, 89, 137-38, 147
Mendès-France, Pierre, 66
Mengele, Josef, 53
Mestizos (mestizaje), 95, 97, 98, 99, 100
Mexican-American War, 112–13, 116, 231n
Mexico, 92, 94, 113, 116, 208
break from Spain by, 101–2
Millennium, 122
see also Armageddon, Second Coming
“Mistaken Identity?” (Ferry and Nathan), 192
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), 96, 195, 207, 211, 234n, 248n
Mizrahi Jews, 66, 243n
monasticism, 10, 77
Mondragon, Orlando, 197–98
Montefiore, Moses, 66
morada (structure), 14–15, 64, 71, 94, 111–13, 115, 117, 118, 120, 127, 222, 223, 227
Moradas (Saint Teresa), 77
Mormons, 121–22, 147, 242n
Moses (biblical), 38, 194
Mount Blanca, 15–16, 18, 87, 95, 104, 112, 227
centrality of, 90
mucolipidosis type IV (genetic disorder), 142
Muhammad, Prophet, 45
Mulato (casta), 99
Mullineaux, Lisa, 183–86
muscular dystrophy (OPMD), 102
mutations, 27, 41, 43–44, 102, 138, 142, 148
bottlenecks and, 47, 49
DNA and, 40–42
genetic drift and, 41–42
natural selection and, 42
penetrance and, 149–50
see also BRCA1 gene; BRCA1 gene, 185delAG mutation of; BRCA2 gene
My Penitente Land: Reflections on Spanish New Mexico (Chavez), 190
Myriad Genetics, 32, 153–54, 160, 233n, 244n
Native Americans, 11, 17, 70, 94, 95, 99, 145, 199, 231n
and blending of races, 113–14
see also specific tribes
natural selection, 40-41, 235n
see also carrier advantage
Navajo Indians, 15, 90, 93, 97, 99
Navigenics (gene-testing service), 162
Nehemiah (biblical), 38
Nelson, Mildred, 176, 181
Neulander, Judith, 191–92, 194–95, 197
New Age medicine, 106, 170
New Christians, 66–68, 188, 203
of New Mexico, 101
New Mexico, University of, 189
New Mexico Jewish Historical Society, 197
New Spain, 91, 100, 188
New Testament, 121, 124
New York Breast Cancer Study, 153
New York Times, 56
New York University, 52, 143, 216
School of Medicine, 40, 200
Niemann-Pick (genetic disorder), 142
Noah (biblical), 140–41, 226
Nott, J. C., 114
obligate carrier, 18, 29–30, 184–85
Odd Fellows, 118
Oddoux, Carole, 242n
Old Christians, 67–68
of New Mexico, 101
Old Testament, 121, 124, 197
Oñate, Juan de, 91, 93, 97, 119, 188, 190
oophorectomy, 156–57, 244n
Oratz, Ruth, 183–84
“Origins and Migrations of Jewish Populations” (research project), 215
Orthodox Jews, 132–33, 140, 151, 199, 200
Osbourne, Ozzy, 162
Ostrer, Harry, 40–41, 44, 46–49, 57, 58–59, 65, 66, 89, 139, 140, 162, 183–84, 187, 195–96, 217, 234n, 244n
Culebra DNA project of, 204, 207–16
genetic testing work of, 142–45, 159–60
Jewish HapMap Project of, 53–54
outbreeding, 40–41, 46, 52
ovarian cancer, 23, 163
and HBOC risk, 28, 29–30, 49, 148, 149–50
prophylactic surgery for, 156–57, 159, 244n
Pale of Settlement, 48–49
Palestine, 44–45, 46, 80, 190–91
Paul the Apostle, Saint, 79–80, 123–24
PCR (polymerase chain reaction), 145
pemphigus vulgaris (skin condition), 193–94, 195, 203
penetrance, 149–50, 153, 158–59, 160
penitents, 14–15, 63, 72, 94, 112, 121, 125, 199
normalization of, 120
origins of, 119–20
Passion procession of, 118–19
Penrose Cancer Center, 24, 163, 181
Pentecostalism, 192
Pérez de Villagrá, Gaspar, 91
Peru, 203
phenotype, 16–17, 49, 57, 205, 235n
phenotypic plasticity, 11–12
phytoplankton, 107
Pike, Zebulon, 113
Plains
Indians, 93, 99
plazas (Hispano villages), 98–99, 117
pobladores (land owners, settlers), 22, 98, 116–17, 221
Poland, 48, 190
Popé, 97–98
Portugal, 68, 69
Posadas, Las, tradition, 202
prairie sunflower (Helianthus petiolaris), 12
Presbyterianism, 121
previvors, 157–58, 160
prostate cancer, 23
proteins, 137–38
Protestantism, 70
in New Mexico, 121–23
Pueblo Chieftain, 210
Pueblo Indians, 86, 91–95, 115, 194, 199, 239n, 240n
Catholic conversions of, 92–94, 97
genetic diseases of, 103
Revolt of, 97–98, 188
sexual exploitation of, 94–95
race, racism:
admixture and, 113–15
casta system and, 99–102
and continent of ancestry, 205–8
historical concepts of, 50-51, 52, 205-7
Jews and, 39–40, 51–53
and limpieza de sangre (Spain), 67–68
subspecies and, 205, 209
race science, 53, 57, 114
Mendelism and, 51–52
morphometrics and, 51
Rael-Gálvez, Estevan, 91
Reformation, 65
Reform Jews, 143, 200
Renaissance, 70
Revelation, Book of, 123, 133
Righteous Brothers, 19
risk factor (conceptual), 155–56, 159
Roman Empire, 44–45
rose hips (champe), 224
Rubinstein, Wendy, 159, 244n
Russell, Charles Taze, 122–23
Russia, 48, 190
Sanchez, William (priest), 194, 204
Sangre de Cristo Grant, 116–17, 223–24
Sangre de Cristo Mountains, 10, 13–15, 62, 90, 111, 113, 221
San Luis Museum, 63–64, 71
San Luis Valley syndrome, 102–3
Santa Fe Trail, 5, 113
Santo Niño Catholic cemetery, 10
Saudi Arabia (city of Medina), 45
Sciatica-HP, 172
Science, 153
Scientific Revolution, 70
Second Coming, 113, 122
see also Armageddon; Millennium
Second Temple, 44, 58
Secret Life of a BRCA1 Mutant (blog), 157
Sephardic Jews, 31, 80, 186, 193, 195, 203, 216, 243n, 247n
Catholic Church and, 67–68
as conversos, 67, 68–69
in Muslim Spain, 66–67
185delAG marker and, 69–70
origin of, 65–66
Spanish Inquisition and, 67–69
Seventh-Day Adventism, 192
Shark Cartilage 2X, 172
Shaw, Jeffrey, 74, 149, 155, 183, 213
genetic counseling session run by, 22–25, 27–32
sickle-cell anemia, 41–42
carrier advantage and, 55
sierra, la (Culebra mountain area), 10, 13, 117, 219, 221–22, 224–27, 228
Sierra, La (newspaper), 201
Sisterhood of the Mutant Bloggers, 158
Skolnick, Mark, 147–48
Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies, 189–90, 202
annual meetings of, 203–4
Solomon (biblical), 158
soul:
in Bible, 79
body and, 78–79, 179–80
concept of ibbur and, 80–81
DNA and, 137–38
genes and, 137–38
Jehovah’s Witnesses’ concept of, 79, 179–80
Spain, 15, 21, 22, 31, 43, 62, 64, 69, 92, 98, 107, 116, 186, 195, 247n
Arab conquest of, 66–67
asceticism in, 77–78
city of Medina in, 78
harsh Catholicism of, 70
Jews expelled from, 68
Mexico’s break with, 101–2
Spanish Inquisition, 31, 66, 71, 76, 77, 78, 188, 193, 215
Sephardic Jews and, 67–69
Spinoza, Baruch, 66
Star K Kosher Certification Agency, 198
Stations of the Cross Shrine, 61–62, 214, 226
supersessionism, 133
superstition, 70–71, 80, 237n
Susan G. Komen for the Cure, 163, 176
syncretism, 94
Talmud, 47
T-ana’s Restaurant, 15, 17–18, 22, 25, 28, 33, 75, 112, 209, 210, 221, 227
Taos Pueblo, 99
Tay-Sachs disease, 49, 138, 144, 148, 213, 235n–36n
carrier advantage and, 55-56
Dor Yeshorim program and, 141–42, 144
screening for, 139–41, 149, 159
Teresa of Avila, Saint, 66, 75–80, 81, 119, 122, 237n
childhood of, 76–77
missions founded by, 77–78
raptures of, 78, 79
Texas, 113, 165, 176
Theatines, 64–65
Theocratic Ministry School, 128–29
tinieblas (darkness) ceremony, 118
torna atrás (throwbacks), 100
Torquemada, Tomás de, 66
Torres, Francisco, 9–10
To the End of the Earth: A History of Crypto-Jews of New Mexico (Hordes), 194
tuberculosis, 55–56
Tutu, Desmond, 162
23andMe (gene-testing company), 89, 162, 248n
Types of Mankind (Nott and Gliddon), 114
Ukraine, 48
Unamuno, Miguel de, 77
Utah Territory, 117
Ute Indians, 89, 93, 97, 99, 101, 116
Valdez, Demetrio, 199
Valdez, Olive, 199
Valdez, Pat (priest), 196, 198
Velásquez, Ricardo, 197–98
Virgin in Black (sculpture), 63
Virgin Mary, 94
Wandering Jew, myth of, 47
Watchtower, The, 123–24, 125, 126, 130
Watchtower Society, 107
Watson, James D., 137
What Does the Bible Really Teach?, 130
When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away: Marriage, Sexuality, and Power in New Mexico, 1500–1846 (Gutiérrez), 91
Y chromosome, 69, 96, 196, 203, 204, 207–8, 211, 216, 234n, 247n, 248n
of crypto-Jews, 194–95
Yeshiva University, 144
Yiddish language, 46
Yom Kippur War, 139
Yorkshire, England, 43–44
Zionism, 43, 51
Zuni Indians, 98
genetic diseases of, 103–4, 239n
To protect the privacy of two men who married into the Medina family
and who lost their wives, I have changed their names.
Bill Kramer and Michael are pseudonyms.
Copyright © 2012 by Jeff Wheelwright
All rights reserved
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First Edition
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f Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wheelwright, Jeff.
The wandering gene and the Indian princess : race, religion, and DNA / Jeff Wheelwright.
p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-393-08191-6 (hardcover)
I. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Breast Neoplasms—genetics. 2. Genetic Predisposition
to Disease. 3. Ethnic Groups—genetics. 4. Genes, BRCA1.
5. History of Medicine. 6. Religion. WP 870]
LC classification not assigned
616.99’449042—dc23
2011030178
ISBN 978-0-393-08191-6
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