First mtDNA test reveals North American Ancestry for Anne Marie, wife of Réné Rimbault.
In early Acadian genealogy, there are still a number of marriages where the identity or ancestry of an Acadian mother remains unknown. Modern mtDNA testing is currently being exploited to reveal some of those secrets which cannot be unlocked through existing records.
The purpose of the post is solely to inform the descendants of Anne Marie and Réné Rimbault about the first known mtDNA test result for one of their descendants who traces her ancestry back to Anne Marie on the maternal line.
The descendant’s mtDNA test results revealed that the mutations in her mtDNA links her to Haplogroup A. This haplogroup is traceable to the Siberian-Arctic/Aleutian Indians. The Inuit peoples are known to have migrated East from the Arctic Regions, crossing Canada, and later dropping down into Newfoundland and
Nova Scotia.
Test Results:
Last Name: Descendant of Anne Marie
Haplogroup A
HVR1 111T,192T,223T,290T,319A,362C
Since haplogroup A is consistent with a mother that has North American Ancestry and not European ancestry, the initial test indicates that Anne Marie, the wife of Réné Rimbault was of Aboriginal-Indian-Native Ancestry and was not of European French descent.
(See Disclaimer on these results further below)
The individual tested prefers to remain anonymous for the purpose of this post,
but if:
1. you are a descendant of Anne Marie and Réné Rimbault and wish to know more,
2. if you are a descendant of Anne Marie who comes down an all female-to-female line known as
the maternal line
3. or you know of someone that fits that scenario,
4. or you are just uncertain what a maternal line is,
5. or you would like to contribute to the costs associated with mtDNA testing so that other suitable candidates
unable to pay the costs themselves might take the test,
please feel free to contact me for further information.
Eric
Burton,
Descendant of Anne Marie and Réné Rimbault
DISCLAIMER WITH REGARDS TO mtDNA TEST RESULTS:
If existing Acadian records where complete with no errors, a single test would be sufficient to prove ancestry one way or the other, however due to the fact so many Acadian records are incomplete, it is not possible for one test to prove conclusively the ancestry of any Acadian mother. Besides the issue of inaccuracies in the records that may be present as one tries to trace a line back 10 or 11 generations, there is always the possibility a person in the line was adopted or was illegitimate. These events were often hidden or not recorded. Because these are known issues, they must be eliminated before any mtDNA testing can be considered conclusive regarding the North American ancestry of Anne Marie. The only way to eliminate these pitfalls is by having more descendants who comes down the maternal line to also have their mtDNA tested.
The test can only prove that Anne Marie was of Aboriginal ancestry which means she could have been a full-blooded Native American or the daughter of one.
MY PERSONAL TAKE ON THE RESULTS
I believe the initial test results collaborate what has been suspected all along…that Anne Marie is of aboriginal ancestry. I have no reason to doubt the results of the test because
1. The individual tested does have a solid line which can be proven through documentation as each generation is traced back to Anne Marie.
2. The second reason I believe Anne Marie was a Native American is that my ancestors who were descendants of Anne Marie can be found in Fr. Bailly’s records living among the Mi’kmaw in Chezzetcook. Fr. Bailly was a missionary priest to the Mi’kmaw and had visited Chezzetcook on several occasions as he went throughout the different Mi’kmaw settlements in
Nova Scotia.
Fr. Bailly never says in any of the records that the people of French-Aboriginal ancestry are Mi’kmaw [because that is just the way it was when there was French ancestry]. However in Chezzetcook, intermingled among the numerous Mi’kmaw baptisms recorded during his visits there, there are also a large number of French baptisms. What one needs to know is that many of the parents listed in those baptismal records WERE of French-aboriginal ancestry. There is no doubt in my mind, Chezzetcook was a viable Mi’kmaw community which also included Mi’kmaw families with French ancestry.
3. The maiden name of Anne Marie in three consecutive French Acadian census records was never recorded. This has always been considered a red-marker when it comes to Anne Marie's Native American origins. It should be noted that there were other spouses in these census records who were clearly identified as "Indian" and there were also individuals who are known to be Native American and it was not mentioned.
When you couple these 3 things together, weigh in the concept of family clusters and then add a positive test result for North American ancestry for Anne Marie, I feel there is plenty of evident to support the test results that Anne Marie was either a Native American or the daughter of a Native American.
For more information about mtDNA testing go to one of the sites below or feel free to contact me to discuss further.
I’m am not affiliated or associated with any of the sites below, nor should they be associated with any of the information provided in this post. I only post them here as a source of Information regarding mtDNA testing
The National Geographic participation site:
https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/index.htmlThe
Theriot Metis-Mother’s site:
http://www.familytreedna.com/surname_join.asp?code=N70727&am...The French
Heritage DNA Project
http://home.earthlink.net/~djmill/fcdna.htmlKEYWORDS:
GEORGE
Burton, JUDITH
BENOIT,
LUC BENOIT, PAUL
BENOIT,
OLIVIER BENOIT, MARGARET
BENOIT, PATRICK
TIMMONS,
LEBLANC, NEWFOUNDLAND, CAPE
BRETON, CAPE NORTH, MARGAREE, TRACADIE,
HAVRE BOUCHER, MICMAC, VICTOIRE
LEBLANC, FÉLICITÉ LONGUE-ÉPÉE, MARIE
CHIASSON, HÉLÈNE
LEBLANC, HELEN
LEBLANC, SÉRAPHIE
LEBLANC, ISAAC
BENOIT,