Research
Family lore of an Indigenous ancestor is common in Quebec, but the DNA from the first French colonists suggests otherwise
Earth.com · By Luis Arrais ·
The Brief
- Many families in Quebec pass down a story of an Indigenous ancestor somewhere in their family tree.
- Researchers have studied DNA from the first French colonists in Quebec.
- According to Earth.com, that DNA evidence suggests the family lore is not supported.
Why it matters
Ancestry claims in Quebec often rest on family stories, and genetic evidence from the earliest colonists bears directly on how the region's founding population is understood.
Who’s affected
- genealogists and people researching Quebec family history
- population geneticists and historians of New France
- #genetics
- #ancestry
- #quebec
- #colonial history
- #indigenous peoples
Plenty of families in Quebec pass down the story of an Indigenous ancestor somewhere back in the family tree. History seems to back this. French Canada, in the usual telling, was founded by colonists and Indigenous people who lived and married together. But researchers have now…