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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)

Greer County	5,382	505	163	1	9	554	0	0	78	186	82	76
Oklahoma (in 000's)	4,117	225	305	8	28	390	37	16	22	185	53	46
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
Jackson County	24,525	1,281	358	68	308	4,631	322	95	425	877	307	301
Beckham County	22,332	2,108	734	9	96	2,390	74	8	249	639	186	185
Kiowa County	8,212	502	484	3	29	790	5	0	127	163	56	66
Harmon County	2,388	180	39	0	1	577	0	26	134	121	31	33

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Greer County	14.73	9.38	3.03	0.02	0.17	10.29	0.00	0.00	1.45	3.46	1.52	1.41
Oklahoma	11.59	5.47	7.42	0.19	0.67	9.46	0.89	0.39	0.53	4.48	1.30	1.12
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
Jackson County	12.97	5.22	1.46	0.28	1.26	18.88	1.31	0.39	1.73	3.58	1.25	1.23
Beckham County	14.60	9.44	3.29	0.04	0.43	10.70	0.33	0.04	1.11	2.86	0.83	0.83
Kiowa County	14.51	6.11	5.89	0.04	0.35	9.62	0.06	0.00	1.55	1.98	0.68	0.80
Harmon County	16.16	7.54	1.63	0.00	0.04	24.16	0.00	1.09	5.61	5.07	1.30	1.38

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

Greer County		171.57	40.84	9.90	24.96	108.77	0.00	0.00	274.62	77.08	117.44	126.26
Oklahoma		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		73.99	8.70	97.26	492.57	119.68	202.70	345.74	203.52	168.25	176.32	186.88
Jackson County		95.51	19.68	147.77	187.46	199.53	147.79	98.99	328.36	79.76	96.49	109.74
Beckham County		172.60	44.32	21.48	64.17	113.08	37.30	9.15	211.27	63.82	64.20	74.07
Kiowa County		111.78	79.48	19.47	52.71	101.65	6.85	0.00	293.04	44.27	52.56	71.86
Harmon County		137.83	22.02	0.00	6.25	255.31	0.00	278.23	1,063.28	113.01	100.06	123.56

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

Greer County		231.87	469.71	10.18	5.07	90.88	0.00	0.00	134.93	45.81	66.60	67.56
Oklahoma		135.15	1,150.07	102.82	20.30	83.55	49.33	28.92	49.13	59.44	56.71	53.51
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Jackson County		129.08	226.39	151.94	38.06	166.71	72.91	28.63	161.34	47.40	54.72	58.72
Beckham County		233.26	509.74	22.08	13.03	94.49	18.40	2.65	103.81	37.93	36.41	39.64
Kiowa County		151.06	914.07	20.02	10.70	84.93	3.38	0.00	143.99	26.31	29.81	38.45
Harmon County		186.27	253.29	0.00	1.27	213.33	0.00	80.47	522.44	67.17	56.75	66.12

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

Greer County	5,382	0	331	38	16	277	49	0	36	481	29	36
Oklahoma (in 000's)	4,117	6	254	22	32	270	35	16	39	265	13	69
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
Jackson County	24,525	46	1,443	90	141	1,842	166	56	186	1,307	81	228
Beckham County	22,332	101	1,559	217	236	1,422	113	28	201	1,400	147	234
Kiowa County	8,212	7	519	136	41	614	41	7	62	643	33	89
Harmon County	2,388	0	64	4	4	45	11	0	6	81	11	10

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Greer County	14.73	0.00	6.15	0.71	0.30	5.15	0.91	0.00	0.67	8.94	0.54	0.67
Oklahoma	11.59	0.14	6.18	0.53	0.78	6.56	0.86	0.39	0.95	6.43	0.31	1.66
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
Jackson County	12.97	0.19	5.88	0.37	0.57	7.51	0.68	0.23	0.76	5.33	0.33	0.93
Beckham County	14.60	0.45	6.98	0.97	1.06	6.37	0.51	0.13	0.90	6.27	0.66	1.05
Kiowa County	14.51	0.09	6.32	1.66	0.50	7.48	0.50	0.09	0.75	7.83	0.40	1.08
Harmon County	16.16	0.00	2.68	0.17	0.17	1.88	0.46	0.00	0.25	3.39	0.46	0.42

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

Greer County		0.00	99.52	132.90	38.19	78.49	105.92	0.00	70.49	139.00	176.07	40.18
Oklahoma		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		273.52	85.18	100.24	136.29	109.78	305.96	351.89	183.25	93.45	108.55	167.36
Jackson County		130.43	95.21	69.07	73.86	114.54	78.74	59.10	79.93	82.89	107.92	55.84
Beckham County		314.49	112.97	182.90	135.76	97.11	58.87	32.45	94.86	97.50	215.09	62.94
Kiowa County		59.27	102.27	311.73	64.14	114.02	58.08	22.06	79.57	121.78	131.31	65.10
Harmon County		0.00	43.37	31.53	21.52	28.74	53.59	0.00	26.48	52.76	150.52	25.15

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

Greer County		0.00	116.83	132.58	28.02	71.50	34.62	0.00	38.47	148.74	162.21	24.01
Oklahoma		36.56	117.39	99.76	73.37	91.10	32.68	28.42	54.57	107.00	92.13	59.75
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Jackson County		47.68	111.77	68.91	54.19	104.34	25.74	16.79	43.62	88.69	99.42	33.37
Beckham County		114.98	132.62	182.46	99.61	88.46	19.24	9.22	51.76	104.33	198.16	37.61
Kiowa County		21.67	120.06	310.98	47.06	103.87	18.98	6.27	43.42	130.31	120.97	38.90
Harmon County		0.00	50.91	31.45	15.79	26.18	17.51	0.00	14.45	56.45	138.67	15.03

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

Greer County	5,382	7	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	824	1,588
Oklahoma (in 000's)	4,117	12	8	2	5	22	20	14	12	11	798	878
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
Jackson County	24,525	8	195	5	25	13	6	90	5	22	4,697	4,900
Beckham County	22,332	31	89	0	9	0	1	0	33	23	3,061	6,749
Kiowa County	8,212	0	3	0	0	3	0	7	16	4	1,407	2,355
Harmon County	2,388	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	0	0	496	510

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Greer County	14.73	0.13	0.19	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.11	15.31	29.51
Oklahoma	11.59	0.30	0.20	0.05	0.12	0.52	0.49	0.33	0.30	0.26	19.39	21.33
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
Jackson County	12.97	0.03	0.80	0.02	0.10	0.05	0.02	0.37	0.02	0.09	19.15	19.98
Beckham County	14.60	0.14	0.40	0.00	0.04	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.15	0.10	13.71	30.22
Kiowa County	14.51	0.00	0.04	0.00	0.00	0.04	0.00	0.09	0.19	0.05	17.13	28.68
Harmon County	16.16	0.00	0.00	0.04	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.13	0.00	0.00	20.77	21.36

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

Greer County		43.88	92.22	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	42.09	78.97	138.31
Oklahoma		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		438.49	435.29	439.40	363.10	106.22	324.91	144.34	120.13	212.37	71.11	69.65
Jackson County		11.01	394.64	38.78	82.43	10.10	5.00	110.67	6.84	33.87	98.79	93.66
Beckham County		46.84	197.80	0.00	32.59	0.00	0.92	0.00	49.56	38.89	70.70	141.66
Kiowa County		0.00	18.13	0.00	0.00	6.96	0.00	25.71	65.35	18.39	88.38	134.43
Harmon County		0.00	0.00	79.66	0.00	0.00	0.00	37.89	0.00	0.00	107.14	100.11

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

Greer County		10.01	21.19	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	19.82	111.05	198.59
Oklahoma		22.81	22.97	22.76	27.54	94.14	30.78	69.28	83.25	47.09	140.62	143.58
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Jackson County		2.51	90.66	8.83	22.70	9.51	1.54	76.67	5.69	15.95	138.92	134.47
Beckham County		10.68	45.44	0.00	8.97	0.00	0.28	0.00	41.26	18.31	99.42	203.40
Kiowa County		0.00	4.17	0.00	0.00	6.56	0.00	17.81	54.40	8.66	124.28	193.01
Harmon County		0.00	0.00	18.13	0.00	0.00	0.00	26.25	0.00	0.00	150.66	143.74

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

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