July, 2016  Of the 66 members in the M44 E1a1 project, one African American tested using FTDNA's Big Y SNP test, with analysis at Yfull.com  He has been confirmed to be in a new subclade or subgroup of E-Z20646 See at this site   He matched a Mandenka African from the HGDP project.   Only one other African American is in the project and is now testing for that SNP. 9/2016: Two members have this SNP.   We encourage other African Americans who suspect they are M44 to join us and test.

June, 2016  Rare E1a1 found in 3 British Brays  From the Bray ydna project   The Bray surname featured in Y-DNA research by geneticists Dr Turi E. King and Professor Mark A. Jobling, of the University of Leicester, entitled “Founders, Drift, and Infidelity: The Relationship between Y Chromosome Diversity and Patrilineal Surnames” , which was published in 2009 in Molecular Biology and Evolution (Mol Biol Evol. 2009 May; 26(5): 1093–1102). Although Dr King’s principal area of research is Y-DNA, she is best known for her analysis of mitochondrial DNA from the exhumed body identified by University of Leicester as that of King Richard III. Professor Jobling’s principal area of research is Y-DNA. They analysed 1678 Y-DNA samples within 40 British surnames; the latter were chosen to represent a wide range of surname type and frequency. They concluded that sharing a surname significantly elevates the probability of sharing a Y-chromosomal haplogroup, and that rarer surnames show higher degrees of shared ancestry. The study also included a control group of 110 men who all had different surnames from each other and from the 40 surname-specific groups. The total number of bearers of the Bray surname (including surname variants) in the 1996 UK electoral register was documented as 12195, making Bray the third most common surname (after Smith and King) of the 40 surnames studied in this research. 29 of the 1678 Y-DNA surname-specific samples were collected from male Brays, with fewer samples from Brays than from most of the other surnames studied. Of the 29 Bray samples, 52% were haplogroup R1b1, 28% were haplogroup I, 3% were haplogroup R1a, 3% were haplogroup R1*, 3% were haplogroup J2, and, unusually, 10% were haplogroup E1a. Haplogroup E1a is very rare, and none of the other surname-specific or control samples belonged to this haplogroup. 

Thus the potential for a large number of E1a1 Brays in the UK seems very possible.  The study was first discovered and further researched by members R. Hall and Castle

April, 2016  Based on the Big Y SNP tests of our members and the analysis of ISOGG and Yfull.com we encourage everyone to look at YFULL.COM's revised E1a section of their E tree HERE .  Be sure to view the aging provided there for the common ancestors (or subgroups).  There are new subgroups offered in the E1a,  especially in our E1a1-M44 portion of the tree - apparently because of their access to the HGDP project and the Sardinian project.   As they provide updates to the tree about monthly we can expect more of this.   The aging presented in their tree is now showing the huge time separation of our M44 (E1a1) with what was previously called E1a2 and 3 at the E1a project.   Noteworthy is that the common ancestor of our E1a1 subgroup with E1a2 is said to be 19100 years!  At one time it was thought we were rather recently connected.

Using as  a guide the only current tree that continues to equate the former term with the new SNPs, the ISOGG tree,  below is the YFULL tree with the old subgroup terms added.
E1: P147 
   E1a:  M132 and a host of equivalents. Time to Most Recent Common ancestor:  19100 years
      E1a1: M44 and a host of equivalents
      E1a2:  CTS10713/Z958,  CTS230  and a host of equivalents
   E1b:   P177/PF1939  and a host of equivalents   

 FTDNA’s current tree is the same except in some cases they use equivalent SNPs.  They also show a third subgroup of E1a with the snp L636   That would be the former E1a3.  The other two organizations have not chosen to do so at this time.

Origins of E1a and E1a1...

Comment by member R. Hall, 4/2016: "Intense research over a long period has provided lots of information.  I now am convinced, for example, that E1a1 started out either in north Africa or just beyond.  And I am thoroughly convinced that E1a1 developed basically among the Hebrews as it became associated with that population.  At that point, E1a1 moved northward following the migrations of the Hebrews and the movements of the Roman Empire, but also back into Africa, where it was carried by the light-skinned Fulani nomads whose background is Jewish and whose origin is likely Persian or Middle Eastern.  Over time, the wanderings of these nomads sprinkled E1a1 in minute portions here and there, but none of these portions has equaled the 10% that remains among the Fulani.

Mali is sometimes cited as the location of African E1a1.  But that is not the case at all.  Mali is the home of E1a, not E1a1.  I have it on the authority and research of two ladies who did the study of the E1a Dogon.  E1a1 became separated from E1a long ago.  E1a, with few exceptions, developed strictly African characteristics.  E1a1 took on the characteristics of their more northern neighbors, as well as the particular population in which it lived.  Today, it seems that we carriers of E1a1 are either Jewish, African remnants from Africa, or ancient residue in European-based populations."

FTDNA: myOrigins Methodology Whitepaper  FTDNA’s observation on African origins and movements

"7.5  Niger-Congo Genesis

Stone Age  The earliest history of the Niger-Congo Genesis cluster is not well understood. Though of Africa, some have suggested that it contains part of an old migration into Africa from Eurasia. Others suggest that it shows traces of modern human interbreeding with an older African branch of the Homo lineage.  In the Stone Age, it was present only in the forests to the west of the Congo.

Middle Ages The medieval period brought Arab slavery, as millions were taken north. A substantial fraction of Arab ancestry is now Sub-Saharan, though rarely a preponderant component.

Modern History Slavery in the New World by Europeans created a vast Diaspora of African ancestry people. Most of these come from West Africa and the Niger and Congo basins. Thus, Niger-Congo Genesis reached the New World."

Wikipedia:   "The majority of DE male lines can be categorized as being in either Haplogroup D (Y-DNA), which likely originated in Asia, the only place where it has been found,^[1] or haplogroup E, which is believed to have originated in East Africa^[4][5] or the Near East.^[6] The remainder are said to be in the paragroup DE*, confirmed cases of which are extremely rare. " Source is here

3/2016: The following paper and web site are not currently available, thus the reliability is questioned.   From Geneancestry.com's library:  “Y-DNA Haplogroup E “Roots in Africa, Branches Beyond”  The leading hypothesis concerning the birth of Haplogroup E is that it originated in Northeast Africa and is one of the first emigrations of modern humans out of Africa to other parts of the world.  However, its shared phylogeny with Haplogroup D (see Figure 4), which is not in Africa and found in the Middle East, may indicate that Haplogroup E first appeared in the Middle East and the migration back to Africa is responsible for its prevalence here.  The TMRCA for Haplogroup E is 37 ±10kya and its subclades diverged from ~28-2kya (see Figure 6 and 13).  The simplest (or most parsimonious) explanation is that it arose in Northeast Africa and subsequently spread from this location to all parts of Africa, where it is clearly the dominant Y haplogroup.  The spread of Haplogroup E was also part of an early colonization of the Middle East and later Europe (see Figures 7-9).  As a result, Egypt served many times as a crossroads for the ancestors in Haplogroup E.  

The E1a1 (M44) subclade has been detected in the Fulbe population in Cameroon at 53%.  2-5% levels have been observed in Mali and Sudan, but no other countries or populations have been reported to carry the subclade.  Check this site regularly for updates on this subclade as new information will be posted as studies become available.