Gere is Jewish, I have read speculation that Finns and Lapps both have links to the northern “Lost Tribes” of Israel.
I can believe it. Being part Finn (1/4) I have to note that if I do any of those celebrity facial things that my second oldest son looks like Mulder from X-files (Jewish) and my oldest daughter matches Gwenyth Paltrow and some Israeli pop star (both Jewish) although my second oldest matches either eastern European models or Japanese models.
Works the other way around. Best I can do for you is to note that the core Sa'ami language group has a cognate in ancient Sumerian. Those are the people who invented writing. They were later on succeeded by Semitic people up and down the Euphrates valley who continued to use their language but only as a written language.
We recently had an article in here about the Druze in Israel who appear to draw on just about every type of Europen, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern population group (when it comes to genes). They also have individuals who carry the X-Factor, an identifying gene group for Sa'ami, Berbers and Chippewa Indians. Druze also have a decidedly Indian viewpoint when it comes to reincarnation, and that may suggest some of their origins.
Until recently philologists thought Sa'ami was simply part of the Uralic-Altaic language group. That was because it has a large Uralic-Altaic vocabulary. At the same time it has some grammatical features in common with German. Analysts thought Sa'ami had picked up those features through contact with "more advanced" Germans.
Later research shows that "less advanced" Germans picked up those grammatical features from the Sa'ami at some unknown point thousands of years ago.
Sa'ami languages are pretty much in their own group and may be more closely relate to Dravidian languages than to Indo-European, Asian or Afro-Semitic tongues.
Haplogroups 12,000 Years Ago
The three groups of humans had taken refuge for so long that their DNA had naturally picked up mutations, and consequently can be defined into different haplogroups. As they spread from these refuges, Haplogroups R1b, I and R1a propagated across Europe.
- Haplogroup R1b is common on the western Atlantic coast as far as Scotland.
- Haplogroup I is common across central Europe and up into Scandinavia.
- Haplogroup R1a is common in eastern Europe and has also spread across into central Asia and as far as India and Pakistan.
These three major haplogroups account for approx 80% of Europe's present-day population.
Around 8,000 years ago (Map 3), the Neolithic peoples of the Middle East that had developed the new technology of agriculture began moving into Europe. There were several haplogroups involved, mainly E3b, F, J2 and G2.
From 8,000 Years Ago
These Neolithic haplogroups came in several waves over time and are found predominantly along the Mediterranean coast. Around 20% of the present-day population are from these Neolithic haplogroups. What is interesting to note is that the agricultural technology spread much further than the people who first 'invented' it.
A little later, around 4,500 years ago, Haplogroup N3 began moving across from west of the Ural mountains. Haplogroup N3 follows closely the spread of the Finno-Ugric languages.