• "The Acadian Refugee Camp on the Miramichi, 1756-1761" by Ronnie-Gilles LeBlanc (January, 2018)
• List of Refugee Acadian Households at Camp Espérance on the Miramichi, 1756-1757 Appendix to "The Acadian Refugee Camp on the Miramichi, 1756-1761" by Ronnie-Gilles LeBlanc English translation & glossary of place names by John Estano DeRoche, published with the author's permission.

Abstract: "This article addresses one of the least-known parts of Acadian history: the experience of families who remained in Acadie between 1755 and 1764. Most studies of Acadian history have treated this question quite briefly or superficially, preferring to focus on the fate of the families who were exiled to the AngloAmerican colonies or to Europe in this period. And yet, it is one of the most significant episodes in the legacy of Acadie, since the families who stayed behind constitute a major part of the ancestry of the Acadian community of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Canadian region."

Note from the author: "Folks, please note that these files (about refugees at Miramichi) are free to share. In fact, both I (translator) & the author hope to see them posted & shared on as many sites as possible.  Thanks."
-- John DeRoche, Halifax, Nova Scotia

See also: https://acadiens-metis-souriquois.ca/aams-blog/news-and-reflections-the-acadian-refugee-camp-on-the-miramichi-1756-1761-march-30-2018

Happy to receive so many nice emails and kind words from individuals who are basing their 2021 summer travel plans to Maryland on information they have learned from the Acadians Were Here website.  It is great to be able to enjoy some of the most picturesque, outdoor locations in the State of Maryland while walking the paths of Acadian exiles who were deported to Maryland by the British, in 1755.  Click the image below to visit the Acadianswerehere.org website and learn more about how to plan your next travel by ancestry trip -- to Maryland! And don't forget to visit the Acadians in Maryland sign in Princess Anne when you do!

Latest Big Y test results have come in for the Richelieu - Leger surname! Thank you to the Leger man who stepped up to participate in advanced Y DNA testing as part of the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA project. Currently there are no matches for this particular Big Y DNA test result and it is unique within the Family Tree DNA database. As more Richelieu - Leger men have the Big Y DNA test, we may find that the haplogroup changes. For now we are showing the distinguishing Richelieu - Leger Big Y DNA Marker as I-BY70584.  This line descends from Michel Leger (b. 1729 in Quebec) and Angelique Pinet (b. 1739 in Louisbourg). The widow Angelique Pinet settled on a property in Louisiana in 1787 with her three sons and her name, and distinction as a widow of Michel Leger, may be found on the Wall of Names in St. Martinville. 

Angelique Pinet descends from Anne Marie (married to the unknown Pinet and then to Rene Rimbault) through Anne Marie's son, Philippe Pinet, who was married to Catherine Hebert. Matrilineal descendants of Anne Marie, traced from mother to mother, belong to haplogroup A2f1a which is Amerindian in origin. The Richelieu - Leger surname line is genetically and genealogically separate from the La Rosette - Leger line (J-M267).

View the position of the I-BY70584 branch within the haplogroup I subclade on the Y DNA haplotree. France is noted as the country origin of this particular haplogroup, based upon genealogical research. This line traces back to Etienne (Estienne) Leger b. ca 1630 in France. https://www.familytreedna.com/public/y-dna-haplotree/I;name=I-BY70584. There is one downstream branch with one member reporting origins from England.

​The Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA Project Wall of Big Y DNA Markers

Advanced “Big Y” DNA testing offers members of the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA project insights into their surname lines and origins like none other. Big Y DNA testing has proven to be an excellent partner for those engaged with surname studies as Big Y DNA tests pinpoint specific genetic markers, called SNPs, that are unique to individual surnames. That marker is passed from father to father to father, from an earliest-known paternal ancestor to living male descendants who carry an Acadian surname. As with the project, we are inclusive of “allied” surnames as we know that post-exile, many of our Acadian ancestors intermarried with others and their DNA has since become an integral part of our genetic legacy.

Because not all descendants of Acadian and allied ancestors have had the Big Y DNA tests, and right now, our Big Y DNA test results are intermixed with other project information, our list is in no way complete, and as we find more of the Big Y DNA results in our project, and new results come in, we will continue add to the list.

We hope that the “Acadian Amerindian Ancestry Project Wall of Big Y DNA Markers” will help others in completing their genealogies and as always, inspire more to have Big Y DNA tests. We want to have all of our historic Acadian and allied surnames “on the map.” Please contact project administrators if you have any questions about how to order a Big Y DNA test.

• Germain Doucet b. 1641 Big Y DNA Marker: C-Z30754
• Savoy Big Y DNA Marker (Miramichi, NB): C-BY 22870
• Francois Broussard b. 1654 Big Y DNA Marker: R-FT196474
• Chiasson / Belisle Big Y DNA Marker: G-FT104375
• Abraham Dugas (includes some Louisiana-born Sonnier men) Big Y DNA Marker: J-Z15977
• Antoine Bourg Big Y DNA Marker: R-FT36442
• Smith (Allied) Big Y DNA Marker: I-A14738
• Broome (Allied) Big Y DNA Marker: C-BY22870
• Bonnevie dit Beaumont Big Y DNA Marker: I-Y21507
• Simon / Simonet / Simoneaux (Maryland Acadian 1763 Census) Big Y DNA Marker: I-FGC31049
• Guedry / Guidry Big Y DNA Marker: R-BY34785
• Hebert (Etienne) Big Y DNA Marker: R-BY31006
• Pike (Allied: Newfoundland) Big Y DNA Marker: R-BY23399
• Roy dit Laliberte Big Y DNA Marker: R-FGC7448
• Bastarache / Basque Big Y DNA Marker: R-CTS606
• Thibodeaux Big Y DNA Marker: R-FT273430 (Louis Thibodeaux b. 1823 lineage)-- Thibodeaux Big Y DNA Marker: R-FT27342 (Father-son branch of MRCA Louis Thibodeaux b. 1823 lineage)
• Lavergne Big Y DNA Marker: J-FT285544
• Trahan Big Y DNA Marker: R-BY34988
• Sonnier Big Y DNA Marker: R-Z1907
• Vincent Big Y DNA Marker: R-Y137866
• Benoit Big Y DNA Marker: R-FT18440
• Lejeune Big Y DNA Marker: R-BY40815
• LeBlanc Big Y DNA Marker: R-BY592 and subclade R-FT55255 (one-step-down)
• Savoie Big Y DNA Marker: R-BY199868
• Leger Big Y DNA Marker: I-BY70584

Reference: https://www.familytreedna.com/public/y-dna-haplotree/I;name=I-BY70584
Reference: https://gw.geneanet.org/katheriot?lang=en&p=frederick%20joseph&n=theriot&oc=1​
To learn more about the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA Project, visit: https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/acadian-amerindian/about/background

Serendipitous DNA Discovery Uncovers Rusty Petitjean's Hidden Native Ancestry
By Marie Rundquist with Deadra Doucet Bourke, Administrators
Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA Project
November 1, 2020

“…when Rusty’s mtDNA test results came back I was absolutely stunned …”

If the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA project were to have one, single, underlying characteristic to which we owe our most spectacular and unexpected DNA discoveries, it would have to be “serendipity.”  The Merriam Webster Online Dictionary (www.merriam-webster.com) defines serendipity as “the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.” “Serendipity” perfectly describes how Rusty Petitjean discovered his earliest Native ancestry only after his mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) test results came in.  Click here to read the article!

Update January 26, 2021: Since the publication of this article, another documented, matrilineal (mother-line) descendant of Marie Ouacanteous Rouensa b. 1677 and d. 1725, the daughter of Rouensa, Chief of the Kaskaskias, has had the full mitochondrial sequence mtDNA test, where markers at the HVR1, HVR2 and coding region are compared.  The latest full mitochondrial sequence mtDNA test results, received January 26, 2021, which matched Rusty Petitjean's results, were confirmed by Family Tree DNA as belonging to the C4c1 mtDNA haplogroup and therefore validate the lineage and the Native American origins of Marie Rouensa, established by the original article.  The Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA project wishes to thank Fr. Jason Vidrine and other members for providing their gracious assistance in sponsoring this latest match's full mitochondrial sequence mtDNA test and locating descendants of this historic line!

This is what the C4c1 mtDNA match looks like in our Acadian Amerindian Ancestry public mtDNA test results page (see attached snippet). Displayed are the DNA test kit numbers, the earliest mother-line ancestor (Marie Rouensa), the United States country origin (indicating Native American ancestry in this case), the mtDNA haplogroup (C4c1) and the HVR1 and HVR2 mutations.*  Coding region markers are not displayed on Family Tree DNA project websites.

To see more of our project mtDNA results, visit our link and set your view to 500, at least, to avoid scrolling: https://www.familytreedna.com/public/AcadianAmerIndian?iframe=mtresults 

The picture of a people is coming together -- test by test and story by story!

* Analysis of HVR1 mutations yielded a genetic difference of two. HVR2 and coding regions were identical. Each kit possessed the distinguishing marker for the C4c1 mtDNA haplogroup (T1243C) in the coding region and there were no missing markers.

-- by Marie Rundquist, Deadra Doucet Bourke, with Rusty Petitjean
Link to: https://dna-genealogy-history.com
Link to: https://familyheritageresearchcommunity.org/rouensa-dna
Link to: Rundquist, M., Bourke, D.D. (2020, November 1). Full Article: https://dna-genealogy-history.com/uploads/3/4/0/9/34098671/petitjean-serendipitous_c4c1_mtdna_finding-final.pdf