Autosmal DNA test the only way for my need?

Heinz57

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Hello,
I suspect that my father has some small % Indigenous North American genes (from my meeting some relatives and seeing pictures of earlier, late ones). This would almost certainly be from my paternal grandmother's side (Gram'ma, Dad's mom) but, beyond that, the gender of the carrier of the Native American genes could have swapped back and forth from being male to female a couple of times.

If I understand correctly, mtDNA is only passed down through females (although the test subject could be male or female) and Y-DNA is only passed down through males.

So if the genes I'm looking for could have passed hypothetically from male(?) to female(?) to male(Great Grandaddy Dale) to female(Gramma) to male (Dad) -- or anything like that, then surely both mtDNA and Y-DNA tests would both risk missing my target even if it's there, making autosmal more likely to give me a positive hit than even a kit that does both mt and Y, correct?

Thank you so very much for your time and this sanity check on my comprehension.
In Earnest,
Heinz57 (Jeff in Florida)

P.S.
My Mom is from New Zealand and is of well-documented UK lineage for umpteen generations, and so is my American, paternal Grandfather (of English descent). But my Grandmother's family history is blurry and it's she and all her relatives going back generations I feel look as though each have various Native American facial features here, skin there, etc.. probably going back through her father and then...?
 
What you need is just an autosomal DNA test. Any test will be able to identify Native American ancestry in your genome, but AncestryDNA tests more Native American ethnic groups than any other company.

I just updated the article Which DNA test to choose in 2021? over the last few days if you need more detailed information on the various tests and what to expect.
 

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