Combining inputs from the Family Tree DNA Y-DNA database, ancient DNA, the Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor (TMRCA) algorithm, Dr. Carlos Quiles' research, the work of phylogeneticist Michael Saeger, population genetic studies worldwide, Family Tree DNA group projects, the Genographic Project, and the community, the Discover tool, trademarked by Family Tree DNA, references a target haplogroup label; e.g., C-P39 or other, which the user may search using a query form (see https://discover.familytreedna.com/).

The Family Tree DNA Discover tool (amazingly) projects the timeframes for the date of birth of an earliest known patrilineal ancestor, traced from father-to-father, who belonged to that same haplogroup and the tens of thousands of years that may have elapsed between upstream and downstream branches of his line.

For example, the Discovery tool estimates that the first ancestor who belonged to Haplogroup C-Z30754 would have been born approximately 400 years ago (check!). Then, it provides estimated timeframes between intervening Big Y 700 branches, defined by leading SNPs (or markers) that separate C-Z30754 from the root, C-P39 Y DNA haplogroup that is estimated to have branched off from its parent subclade, some 11,000 years ago, plus or minus 2,100 years.

Explore the features, referencing haplogroup C-Z30754, the signature, Big Y 700 DNA haplogroup attained for the descendants of Germain Doucet b.1641. Click: https://discover.familytreedna.com/y-dna/C-Z30754/story

For information about the ground-breaking finding of Native American ancestry in the Doucet lineage tracing to Germain Doucet b. 1641 in 2008, and a chronology of Y DNA project updates, read the article, "Confirmed C3b Y DNA Test Results Test the Heritage of Cajun Cousin Keith Doucet" ...by Marie Rundquist with Keith Doucet.

Thanks to all members for your participation in the C-P39 Y DNA Project, the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA Project, and thanks also to the vast numbers of men who have taken the Big Y 700 DNA test, including the male descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641. Your test results were immensely helpful in  producing these estimates!!!

Join us in celebrating the long-awaited reopening of the Acadian Memorial & Cultural Center Museums with special guest Cajun Astronaut Hayley Arceneaux from 5 pm to 8 pm on Friday, March 18, 2022. All are welcome.
For more info, visit: Acadian Memorial News and Events.

New branches are showing up in the C-P39 Y DNA haplogroup for men of Native lines in the American southwest (C-BY56288) as well as descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 -- through his son Laurent!  As new members join the C-P39 Y DNA haplogroup, and have the Big Y DNA tests, new markers emerge that add branches to the C-P39 tree that differentiate among North American lineages (and keep genealogists up at night!).

It is truly remarkable to find that male, father-line descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641's son Laurent, who migrated to Louisiana following the forced exile of Acadians by the British, from Nova Scotia (which began in 1755), share a new branch of the Y DNA tree - and it appears that this branch, presently defined by the marker C-BY92312, is exclusively their own!

An earlier blog post, dating back to April of 2017, has been updated for consistency purposes and now contains the following up-to-date information:

Y chromosome DNA is only held by males - so the C-P39 Y DNA marker traces only through paternal lines.  This above chart represents the present C-P39 Native Y DNA haplogroup phylotree.  From limited data we had from earlier DNA studies, referencing a small group of men, this Y DNA haplogroup was found to have an "Athabascan" tribal connection in North America.

The C-P39 Y DNA study (that has been ongoing since approximately 2008) included men belonging to this haplogroup who trace earliest male ancestor locations to all regions out of North America including the Pacific Northwest, the American Southwest, the Appalachian region, Louisiana and Texas, and Eastern, Midwestern and Western Canada.  Updated C-P39 Y DNA haplogroup project data also includes the "diaspora" locations of descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 because a Doucet line -- the male descendants of son Laurent - was essentially split off from others when the Acadians, including those of Native ancestry, were deported from Nova Scotia in 1755 by the British.

Now, based on advanced Y DNA testing of a much larger population of men (whose ancestries trace to all regions of North America), this rare C-P39 Y DNA haplogroup has a broader distribution, geographically. As more results come into the project -- as more men participate in the advanced Y DNA studies - this chart will continue to be updated.

C-P39 Y DNA Project Updates

Update 12/14/2021: A new subclade of the C-Z30754 branch has been identified through Big Y DNA testing: C-BY92312.  As shown in the phylotree above, the C-BY92312 branch is one-step down from the C-BY101109 branch (identified in update 07/12/2021) which in turn is one step down from the Z30754 branch (a subclade of the C-P39 haplogroup). At this time, the new subclade, C-BY92312, is unique to descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 through his son, Laurent.  Members of the C-BY92312 subclade will appear as Y chromosome DNA matches to other men descending from Germain Doucet b. 1641 and will test positive for the C-P39+ SNP and the C-Z30754+ SNP. 

A new subclade, C-BY56288, also shown in the phylotree chart above, has been identified for men belonging to C-P39 Y DNA haplogroup subclades, whose origins trace to the American Southwest.

Update 07/12/2021: A new subclade of the C-Z30754 branch has been identified through Big Y DNA testing: C-BY101109.  This branch is one-step down from the C-Z30754 branch (a subclade of the C-P39 haplogroup) and is unique to descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641.  Members of the C-BY101109 subclade will appear as Y chromosome DNA matches to other men descending from Germain Doucet b. 1641 and will test positive for the C-P39+ SNP and the C-Z30754+ SNP.

Update 05/06/2019: The C-Z30754 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), or genetic marker, has been identified as unique to male, patrilineal (father to father) descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 through advanced Y DNA testing. Y chromosome DNA is inherited  through patrilineal line of descent and is passed, from one generation to the next, virtually unchanged, from father to father. Y chromosome DNA tests are separate test from autosomal DNA tests and are for males only.  The C-Z30754 marker also identifies a new subclade of the C-P39 Y DNA haplogroup to which male descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 belong. Male descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 who have had advanced Y DNA test will show this marker in their results.

Update 04/29/2017: Results from advanced Y DNA testing by men participating in the C-P39 Y DNA project have been placed on the map. A Savoy man out of New Brunswick, a Mi'kmaw Broome Man out of Quebec (Gaspe) have been found to share the same Y DNA haplgroup marker: C-BY22870+ and both men belong to this new C-P39 Y DNA haplogroup subclade.  As a result of this latest C-P39 haplogroup tree update, the Savoy and Broome man no longer share the same Y haplogroup subclade with the Newfoundland man, Wejitu, whose C-P39 Y DNA haplogroup subclade remains BY18405+.

A Mills man and a Fortune man out of the Appalachian region of the United States had tested positive for the C-P39 Y DNA SNP.  Subsequent Big Y DNA test results have yielded that both men belong to the same C-Z38940+ subclade of haplogroup C-P39, offering new possibilities for a deep ancestry connection among the two families.

Update 08/04/2018:  Visit the Family Tree DNA C-P39 Y DNA Project site for up to date results: https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/ydna-c-p39/about/background

Update 9/7/2017: Through exhaustive Y Chromosome DNA testing of numerous male, paternal line Doucet / Doucette descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641, who was from Port Royal, Nova Scotia, Canada, our Acadian-Amerindian and C-P39 Y DNA projects have uncovered, validated, and then verified a Native American Y Chromosome DNA haplogroup signature (originally referred to as haplogroup C3b and now referred to as haplogroup C-P39) for his descendants– through sons Charles, Claude and Laurent.

The discovery of a Native signature for descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 by our projects (the first descendant of this line having tested with the Acadian-Amerindian DNA project in the Summer of 2008) had great significance for the descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 because the Native Y DNA signature attained for this line (1) disproved a European ancestry for Germain Doucet b. 1641, (2) disproved a father-son relationship between Germain Doucet b. 1641 and Germain Doucet Sr. of France and (3) disproved that Pierre Doucet (b. ca 1621) and Germain Doucet (b. 1641) were blood brothers having descended from the same father.

Having the Native Y DNA haplogroup signature for this line also helped correct errors that have since been discovered in genealogies for Doucet men who were thought (at one time) to have descended from Germain Doucet b. 1641, but, through Y DNA testing, were discovered to have descended from Pierre. As a result of this finding, Doucet descendants question the relationships of individuals once thought to be the offspring of Germain Doucet Sr. of France as well.

To reference the actual data from which this chart was derived, please visit our study: https://www.familytreedna.com/public/ydna_C-P39/ and the Y DNA results: https://www.familytreedna.com/public/ydna_C-P39/default.aspx?section=ycolorized and the Y DNA Phylotree: https://www.familytreedna.com/public/y-dna-haplotree/C;name=C-P39

To read Roberta Estes informative article about this project, Native Y Haplogroup C-P39 Sprouts More Branches, click: https://dna-explained.com/2017/05/01/native-american-y-haplogroup-c-p39-sprouts-branches/ For questions about this study, please email marierundquist@gmail.com.

To learn more about the Doucet C-P39 DNA Discovery, visit the DNA-Genealogy-History travel by ancestry blog post: https://dna-genealogy-history.com/travel-by-ancestry/update-12142021-new-y-dna-markers-add-to-the-c-p39-y-dna-tree-and-include-a-new-branch-of-doucet-dna: and the Family Heritage Research Community Doucet DNA page: https://familyheritageresearchcommunity.org/doucet_dna

The Thibodeaux Y haplotree has another new branch! Since the last Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA Project update of February 2021, more Thibodeaux men have taken the Big Y DNA test and now a new Thibodeaux branch has emerged on the Y DNA haplogroup tree: R-FT273461.

With every new Big Y DNA single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), or marker, that arises from the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA Project, comes a story of a common Acadian ancestry, as Y DNA is passed virtually unchanged from father to father, a history that traces back generations to 17th-century Acadia (in Nova Scotia, Canada), and a shared culture, with its earliest origins in Europe (most often France) and also the New World. 

Such a story is told by the Y DNA haplotree branches displayed in the graphic above. On the left are the new branches of the Y DNA haplotree that have resulted from the Big Y DNA tests of several Thibodeaux men. The Y DNA haplogroup branches shown on the chart are downstream from haplogroup R-M269, a sub-clade of Y-chromosome haplogroup R1b. To the right of each branch is an icon symbolizing the colors of France and the earliest country of origin reported by testers for this historic, Acadian Thibodeaux lineage.

While Thibodeaux men descend from Pierre Thibodeaux who was born in France (ca 1631) and married to Jeanne Theriot, the Thibodeaux  men who belong to the FT273461, R-FT273430, and R-FT274342 branches of the Y haplotree, that comprise this particular Big Y DNA research, descend from Pierre's grandson, also named Pierre Thibodeaux (born ca 1724 in Port Royal, Acadia) who married Francoise Saulnier.

In addition, a new branch, R-FT273461, takes root in a Thibodeaux men, recently from Fordoche, and one other Thibodeaux man who more recently descends from Leon Thibodeaux (born in 1819 in St. Landry Parish) who was married to Celeste Margaret Smith. Another Thibodeaux man, who also descends from this same Leon Thibodeaux, awaits Big Y DNA test results.

Downstream is haplogroup R-FT273430, shared by two male descendants of their most recent common ancestor (MRCA) Pierre Cyril Thibodeaux (born ca 1772) who was married to Anna Adelaide Chiasson.  A father and son, who also descend from this same Pierre Cyril Thibodeaux, belong to the next downstream haplogroup, R-FT274342.

Each new branch of the Thibodeaux Y tree gives rise to more questions about ancestry. More Thibodeaux men who descend from Pierre Thibodeaux (born ca 1724 in Port Royal, Acadia) who married Francoise Saulnier, need to have the Big Y DNA test.  If this is your line please contact Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA Project administrators to find out how you may participate in Y chromosome and Big Y DNA testing. For more information about the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA Project mentioned in this article, visit: https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/acadian-amerindian/about/background. 

Reference: Y DNA Haplotree: https://www.familytreedna.com/public/y-dna-haplotree/R;name=R-FT273461