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Ancestry refers to the lineage or descent of a person, family, or group, tracing back through generations to identify their origins, heritage, and familial connections. It encompasses the genetic, cultural, and historical ties that link individuals to their forebears, shaping their identity and sense of belonging. Ancestry is a multifaceted concept, intertwining biology, genealogy, history, and culture, and it plays a significant role in how people understand themselves and their place in the world.

At its core, ancestry is rooted in genetics. Each individual inherits a unique combination of DNA from their parents, who in turn inherited their DNA from their own ancestors. This genetic material carries information about physical traits, predispositions to certain health conditions, and even behavioral tendencies. Advances in genetic testing, such as DNA analysis, have made it possible for individuals to trace their biological ancestry with remarkable precision. Companies like 23andMe and AncestryDNA offer services that analyze genetic markers to provide insights into a person's ethnic composition and geographic origins, often revealing surprising connections to distant relatives or previously unknown heritage.

Beyond genetics, ancestry is deeply tied to genealogy, the study of family history and lineage. Genealogical research involves constructing family trees, documenting relationships, and uncovering historical records such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, census data, and immigration documents. This process often reveals stories of migration, resilience, and adaptation, offering a window into the lives of ancestors and the challenges they faced. For many, genealogy is a way to honor their forebears and preserve their legacy for future generations.

Cultural ancestry is another critical dimension, encompassing the traditions, languages, customs, and values passed down through generations. It connects individuals to their ethnic or national heritage, shaping their cultural identity and worldview. For example, someone with Irish ancestry might celebrate St. Patrick's Day, learn traditional Irish dance, or explore the Gaelic language, while someone with Japanese ancestry might practice tea ceremonies, study calligraphy, or observe Obon festivals. Cultural ancestry fosters a sense of continuity and belonging, linking individuals to a broader community with shared experiences and values.

Historical ancestry delves into the broader context of a family's or group's past, including significant events, social conditions, and historical movements that shaped their lives. For instance, the transatlantic slave trade, the Irish Potato Famine, or the Jewish diaspora have profoundly influenced the ancestry of millions of people, leaving lasting imprints on their descendants' identities. Understanding historical ancestry often involves grappling with complex narratives of triumph and tragedy, resilience and oppression, and the interplay of individual and collective experiences.

Ancestry also has a deeply personal and emotional dimension. For many, exploring their ancestry is a journey of self-discovery, offering insights into who they are and where they come from. It can foster a sense of pride, connection, and continuity, as well as a deeper appreciation for the struggles and achievements of those who came before. At the same time, it can raise questions about identity, belonging, and the complexities of heritage, particularly for individuals with mixed or multicultural backgrounds.

In a globalized world, ancestry serves as a bridge between the past and the present, connecting individuals to their roots while also highlighting the interconnectedness of human history. It underscores the diversity and richness of human experience, reminding us that every person's story is part of a larger tapestry woven over centuries. Whether through genetic testing, genealogical research, cultural practices, or historical exploration, ancestry offers a profound way to understand ourselves and our place in the world.

A diversification score measures the diversity of ancestries in the county. As the value appoaches 100, ancestry diversity decreases and therefore increasing the risk of a lack of cultural diversity. The ancestry diversification score for this county is:

Most common ancestry not including "Unknown" is:

Ancestry Report Part I
Description	Total Population	American	Native American	Hawaiian	Caribbean (Latino)	Mexican	Central American	South American	Other Hispanic	African American	Sub- Saharan	Caribbean (Black)

Judith Basin County	2,096	214	1	3	0	86	0	0	3	4	0	0
Montana (in 000's)	1,143	50	63	1	4	36	2	3	4	3	1	1
National (in 000's)	343,251	13,890	2,213	626	11,327	38,879	6,181	4,644	3,687	25,893	7,852	7,174
Cascade County	84,902	4,397	3,383	96	629	2,967	121	132	300	771	164	206
Fergus County	11,914	1,456	111	0	5	214	0	11	19	39	1	11
Chouteau County	5,935	356	1,468	0	0	163	0	0	11	8	0	0
Meagher County	2,066	203	4	0	4	45	0	2	3	2	12	0
Wheatland County	2,109	357	8	0	1	59	0	0	2	0	16	0

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Judith Basin County	13.15	10.21	0.05	0.14	0.00	4.10	0.00	0.00	0.14	0.19	0.00	0.00
Montana	11.06	4.34	5.50	0.07	0.39	3.14	0.14	0.27	0.33	0.28	0.11	0.07
National	7.83	4.05	0.64	0.18	3.30	11.33	1.80	1.35	1.07	7.54	2.29	2.09
Cascade County	10.73	5.18	3.98	0.11	0.74	3.49	0.14	0.16	0.35	0.91	0.19	0.24
Fergus County	12.72	12.22	0.93	0.00	0.04	1.80	0.00	0.09	0.16	0.33	0.01	0.09
Chouteau County	13.29	6.00	24.73	0.00	0.00	2.75	0.00	0.00	0.19	0.13	0.00	0.00
Meagher County	12.18	9.83	0.19	0.00	0.19	2.18	0.00	0.10	0.15	0.10	0.58	0.00
Wheatland County	12.95	16.93	0.38	0.00	0.05	2.80	0.00	0.00	0.09	0.00	0.76	0.00

Comparisons to State Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Judith Basin County		235.04	0.87	199.21	0.00	130.60	0.00	0.00	42.74	68.15	0.00	0.00
Montana		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		93.16	11.71	253.99	847.57	360.52	1,314.03	504.24	320.71	2,693.75	2,034.20	2,992.90
Cascade County		119.22	72.39	157.38	190.28	111.23	103.99	57.94	105.51	324.28	171.77	347.44
Fergus County		281.33	16.93	0.00	10.78	57.17	0.00	34.41	47.62	116.89	7.46	132.21
Chouteau County		138.08	449.36	0.00	0.00	87.42	0.00	0.00	55.34	48.13	0.00	0.00
Meagher County		226.19	3.52	0.00	49.73	69.33	0.00	36.08	43.36	34.57	516.51	0.00
Wheatland County		389.68	6.89	0.00	12.18	89.04	0.00	0.00	28.32	0.00	674.64	0.00

Comparisons to National Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Judith Basin County		252.30	7.40	78.43	0.00	36.22	0.00	0.00	13.33	2.53	0.00	0.00
Montana		107.35	853.67	39.37	11.80	27.74	7.61	19.83	31.18	3.71	4.92	3.34
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Cascade County		127.98	617.97	61.96	22.45	30.85	7.91	11.49	32.90	12.04	8.44	11.61
Fergus County		302.00	144.49	0.00	1.27	15.86	0.00	6.82	14.85	4.34	0.37	4.42
Chouteau County		148.23	3,836.08	0.00	0.00	24.25	0.00	0.00	17.26	1.79	0.00	0.00
Meagher County		242.81	30.03	0.00	5.87	19.23	0.00	7.16	13.52	1.28	25.39	0.00
Wheatland County		418.31	58.83	0.00	1.44	24.70	0.00	0.00	8.83	0.00	33.16	0.00

Ancestry Report Part II
Description	Total Population	Canadian	British	Dutch	French	German	Italian	Polish	Scandinavian	Scotish/ Irish	Spanish	Other European

Judith Basin County	2,096	6	165	10	27	468	17	34	230	288	4	100
Montana (in 000's)	1,143	6	95	13	21	177	23	12	104	120	6	44
National (in 000's)	343,251	1,350	18,069	1,828	3,642	24,708	9,027	4,667	5,969	20,625	1,140	9,563
Cascade County	84,902	512	6,205	758	1,326	12,137	2,186	946	7,515	8,264	243	3,598
Fergus County	11,914	56	927	121	181	2,432	132	85	1,146	1,373	8	537
Chouteau County	5,935	7	390	32	61	742	25	31	521	331	6	251
Meagher County	2,066	0	278	65	34	287	34	24	240	328	21	31
Wheatland County	2,109	23	104	39	47	426	38	17	213	350	0	48

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Judith Basin County	13.15	0.29	7.87	0.48	1.29	22.33	0.81	1.62	10.97	13.74	0.19	4.77
Montana	11.06	0.52	8.30	1.13	1.81	15.52	2.02	1.04	9.10	10.50	0.50	3.82
National	7.83	0.39	5.26	0.53	1.06	7.20	2.63	1.36	1.74	6.01	0.33	2.79
Cascade County	10.73	0.60	7.31	0.89	1.56	14.30	2.57	1.11	8.85	9.73	0.29	4.24
Fergus County	12.72	0.47	7.78	1.02	1.52	20.41	1.11	0.71	9.62	11.52	0.07	4.51
Chouteau County	13.29	0.12	6.57	0.54	1.03	12.50	0.42	0.52	8.78	5.58	0.10	4.23
Meagher County	12.18	0.00	13.46	3.15	1.65	13.89	1.65	1.16	11.62	15.88	1.02	1.50
Wheatland County	12.95	1.09	4.93	1.85	2.23	20.20	1.80	0.81	10.10	16.60	0.00	2.28

Comparisons to State Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Judith Basin County		54.91	94.81	42.31	71.26	143.87	40.10	156.26	120.54	130.82	38.35	124.99
Montana		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		75.45	63.40	47.23	58.69	46.38	130.01	130.97	19.10	57.21	66.76	72.99
Cascade County		115.68	88.02	79.17	86.40	92.11	127.28	107.34	97.23	92.67	57.52	111.02
Fergus County		90.16	93.71	90.06	84.04	131.53	54.77	68.73	105.66	109.72	13.49	118.08
Chouteau County		22.62	79.14	47.81	56.86	80.56	20.82	50.32	96.43	53.10	20.32	110.79
Meagher County		0.00	162.06	278.99	91.04	89.51	81.36	111.91	127.60	151.16	204.27	39.31
Wheatland County		209.20	59.39	163.98	123.28	130.16	89.07	77.65	110.94	158.01	0.00	59.62

Comparisons to National Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Judith Basin County		72.78	149.55	89.59	121.41	310.19	30.84	119.31	631.07	228.68	57.45	171.24
Montana		132.53	157.73	211.75	170.38	215.60	76.92	76.35	523.55	174.80	149.79	137.01
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Cascade County		153.31	138.84	167.64	147.21	198.59	97.90	81.95	509.04	161.99	86.16	152.10
Fergus County		119.50	147.81	190.71	143.19	283.58	42.13	52.47	553.18	191.79	20.21	161.78
Chouteau County		29.99	124.83	101.24	96.87	173.68	16.02	38.42	504.84	92.82	30.43	151.79
Meagher County		0.00	255.62	590.77	155.11	192.99	62.57	85.44	668.07	264.22	305.99	53.86
Wheatland County		277.25	93.68	347.24	210.05	280.61	68.51	59.29	580.82	276.19	0.00	81.69

Ancestry Report Part III
Description	Total Population	Chinese	Filipino	Japanese	Korean	Vietnamese	South Central Asian	South East Asian	Other Asian	Middle Eastern	Other Ancestry	Unknown

Judith Basin County	2,096	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	82	351
Montana (in 000's)	1,143	2	2	1	1	0	1	1	1	2	108	237
National (in 000's)	343,251	4,461	3,010	793	1,541	1,913	5,452	1,643	1,229	1,931	47,322	51,000
Cascade County	84,902	159	429	11	81	20	40	46	143	146	9,176	17,795
Fergus County	11,914	0	0	0	32	0	29	0	10	1	746	2,231
Chouteau County	5,935	0	7	0	2	0	0	3	0	1	578	941
Meagher County	2,066	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	74	371
Wheatland County	2,109	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	99	258

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Judith Basin County	13.15	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.14	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	3.91	16.75
Montana	11.06	0.18	0.20	0.07	0.08	0.03	0.05	0.06	0.11	0.16	9.43	20.72
National	7.83	1.30	0.88	0.23	0.45	0.56	1.59	0.48	0.36	0.56	13.79	14.86
Cascade County	10.73	0.19	0.51	0.01	0.10	0.02	0.05	0.05	0.17	0.17	10.81	20.96
Fergus County	12.72	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.27	0.00	0.24	0.00	0.08	0.01	6.26	18.73
Chouteau County	13.29	0.00	0.12	0.00	0.03	0.00	0.00	0.05	0.00	0.02	9.74	15.86
Meagher County	12.18	0.00	0.19	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	3.58	17.96
Wheatland County	12.95	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.09	0.09	4.69	12.23

Comparisons to State Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Judith Basin County		0.00	0.00	0.00	178.16	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	41.51	80.81
Montana		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		731.57	449.60	328.70	558.96	1,711.84	2,913.25	782.44	337.96	355.69	146.27	71.70
Cascade County		105.42	259.04	18.44	118.76	72.36	86.41	88.57	158.93	108.74	114.66	101.14
Fergus County		0.00	0.00	0.00	334.33	0.00	446.46	0.00	79.20	5.31	66.43	90.36
Chouteau County		0.00	60.46	0.00	41.95	0.00	0.00	82.63	0.00	10.65	103.32	76.51
Meagher County		0.00	99.25	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	38.00	86.65
Wheatland County		0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	89.48	59.97	49.80	59.03

Comparisons to National Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Judith Basin County		0.00	0.00	0.00	31.87	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	28.38	112.71
Montana		13.67	22.24	30.42	17.89	5.84	3.43	12.78	29.59	28.11	68.37	139.48
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Cascade County		14.41	57.61	5.61	21.25	4.23	2.97	11.32	47.03	30.57	78.39	141.07
Fergus County		0.00	0.00	0.00	59.81	0.00	15.33	0.00	23.43	1.49	45.42	126.03
Chouteau County		0.00	13.45	0.00	7.50	0.00	0.00	10.56	0.00	3.00	70.64	106.71
Meagher County		0.00	22.08	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	25.98	120.86
Wheatland County		0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	26.48	16.86	34.05	82.33

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

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