Serendipitous DNA Discovery Uncovers Rusty Petitjean's Hidden Native Ancestry

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