Acadians Were Here Maryland Historical Trust 2018 Excellence in Media and Publications Acceptance Speech delivered by Marie Rundquist mrundqui@shentel.net February 1, 2018 at the Maryland Senate Office Building in Annapolis, Maryland. Reference: http://acadianswerehere.org for Dr. R. Martin Guidry, Contributor and Historian, Greg Wood, Author, Contributor and Historian, Marie Rundquist, Author, Contributor and Website Developer

"The website, Acadians Were Here, which receives today the MHT award for Excellence in Media and Publications, delivers the lesser-known history of Acadians in Maryland to new audiences: tourists and tour guides, researchers, historical societies and organizations, journalists, documentary producers, family genealogists, and regular people interested in traveling to the places where over 900 Acadians were exiled after being forcibly removed from their lands in Nova Scotia in November of 1755. They travel by bus, by car, by bicycle and on foot to visit the areas around the Chesapeake Bay where Acadian families lived – and they connect to the Acadians Were Here website from the US and Canada to plan their trips. 

Thank you, Maryland Historical Trust for this excellent recognition of the Acadians Were Here organization and thanks to all whose support and endorsement we are so grateful to have received, and thanks to our guests today, Lynn Wood, Sean Carney, and my husband Edward Nowicki for their support. We honor Nell Ziehl and the Maryland Historical Trust Program staff for elevating the vital role of Acadians In Maryland’s history to the mainstream, and through this MHT award, recognizing our project, and that Acadians Were Here."
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About the Maryland Historical Trust 2018 Awards: https://mht.maryland.gov/awards_2018.shtml
Press Release: ​2018-0201-press-release-2018-md-preservation-awards.pdf
Slideshow: mht.maryland.gov/awardsphotos2018.shtml

For information about the sash worn by site developer and contributor, Marie Rundquist,  pictured here (https://acadianswerehere.org/about-the-authors.html) on the Acadians Were Here website, please visit the following website: ​http://acadiens-metis-souriquois.ca/index.html where you will find the history and culture of an acadien-metis people discussed at length.

Mélançon / Melanson: New Y DNA results in the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry Project, and a match, add to a growing Y DNA signature for legacy Acadian surname Mélançon / Melanson.

Those who travel to the Melanson Settlement National Historic Site ("pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/ns/melanson/index") in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, will experience the family history of Charles Melanson and his wife, Marie Dugas, in Acadia. Research of Mélançon / Melanson history will show much debate about the possible origins of the surname progenitor, Pierre dit Laverdure Melancon, and his wife, Priscilla. A visitor to the "AcadiansWereHere.org" website may find the names of Mélançon / Melanson descendants who were exiled to Snow Hill and Annapolis, Maryland in 1755, recorded on the 1763 Acadian Census taken at these locations.

Mélançon / Melanson men who have Y DNA tests discover that throughout history, passed down from fathers to their sons, is a consistent set of markers, encoded in their Y DNA, that prevails among Mélançon / Melanson male descendants today. Y DNA tests reveal historic Acadian lineages among living male descendants. Find out how: https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/acadian-amerindian/about/background

When I first posted the new image for our Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA project there were all manner of discussions of the sabots that were part of the cover design - which then prompted discussion of the dykelands among project members. Those lands spoke to me when I last visited Grand Pre this summer -- I felt our family there. I like the specific mention of how the building of the dykes to create the fertile lands in Grand Pre distinguished Acadians from other peoples -- setting our families apart from the New England settlers and those whose settled New France.
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Isn't it funny how just about a month ago, this image spoke to me -- and I had to include it in our project. It seems that I had one of my "inklings" (that come out of nowhere) that this image would be important:

​https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/acadian-amerindian/

On the 24th of September, 2017, I was honored to deliver a presentation about genetic genealogy to the Washington, D.C. Society of Mayflower Descendants.  Normally I am engaged with audiences who share my interest in descendants of Acadians, as this is the ancestry I have traced, primarily, through DNA testing.  In this case, the Governor of the Society, Glennon Harrison, reached out to me to present to his group, as he was interested in my research of Acadian ancestries using traditional genealogy research, history, and DNA tests and believed it would be fascinating to have a speaker who could speak knowledgeably about using DNA results as a major part of genealogical analysis. Glennon also mentioned that the society had started a Mayflower DNA project and was beginning to use DNA test results as part of the membership qualification process (the Mayflower society has particularly stringent rules for genealogical line verification). His invitation offered a perfect opportunity to present all the ways that Y chromosome DNA, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and autosomal DNA (including the X chromosome) could be used to help with genealogies  -- referencing about 10 years of case studies!  

During every presentation I've delivered, I've always made special connections with my audiences and although I do not have records of my own family's Mayflower ancestry at this time, I was happy to meet the members and share insights -- and reunite, unexpectedly, with one of my favorite former clients from my professional consulting life at the Department of Energy who showed up with his wife (who was also a member), who decided to attend the presentation when he saw my name, and the topic of genetic genealogy, on the program.  I also connected with another member who who came up to me following the presentation and asked me, "Was I Asselia Lichliter's granddaughter?" (how long had it been since I had heard that question?).  Asselia Lichliter was a matrilinial descendant of Anne Marie (?) Amerindian / First Nations / Metis / Mi'kmaq / Metis / Metisse of Port Royal Acadia b. ca 1625 - 1631-- as was her daughter, Nancy (my late mother) and as am I!
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My grandmother, Asselia S. Lichliter, was an editor on Capitol Hill during her career there, and in her "second life" (we don't retire in our family -- we take on "second lives"), an avid genealogist who combined history and genealogy in the same way that I now combine history, genealogy and DNA to research, document and publish family histories. My middle name, "Asselia," mentioned in reference to my grandmother Asselia's extensive research of her Beville lineage in the United States, England and France, was the tip-off and the Mayflower society member recalled my grandmother right away and remarked that she had known my late grandmother when she was an active member of the National Genealogical Society (based in Arlington, Virginia). Click here to read a bulletin that includes an article, "Thank you, Asselia Lichliter," about my grandmother and her work as a long-time volunteer and benefactor of the NGS.

​Anne Marie's DNA is instrumental in reuniting her descendants throughout the US and Canada --  and now her DNA is also reconnecting me, although indirectly, with former clients and people who knew my grandmother (also Anne Marie's direct descendant).  We are all related!