The AmerIndian Ancestry Surname Project enables participants to actively engage in our unique and exciting heritage by adding and comparing DNA test results and family lines, sponsoring the purchase of DNA test kits, and discovering more about our earliest ancestors.

The Amerindian Ancestry out of Acadia Family Tree DNA Project results reflect the diverse heritage of our earliest Nova Scotia ancestors. Our ancestors include AmerIndians (mostly Mi’kmaq) and the intrepid settlers who arrived in Nova Scotia in the 16th and 17th centuries and intermarried with the AmerIndians of the area, whose families would become pioneers of the New World. Numbering among our project participants are those who possess European surnames, but have been found (through Y DNA testing) to be of Amerindian ancestries, through paternal family lines.

Our family lines have extended well-beyond the original boundaries of what was known to the French as Acadia, but to our AmerIndian ancestors as Mi’kma’ki, as our ancestors settled the outer-reaches of Nova Scotia, including Cape Breton, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Quebec. Our family lines continue to extend, traversing the entire North American continent and beyond. Many who live in the United States trace their genealogies back to the first Acadian AmerIndian immigrants who arrived in Louisiana after being deported from Nova Scotia by the British in 1755 (in the "Grand Deportation') -- and belong to a "Cajun" community known worldwide for its food, flair, fun, and love of all things French.

Group participants are at once intrigued, mystified, and challenged by our AmerIndian heritage; some of us have completed our quest for our earliest AmerIndian ancestors; other searches are still in progress, with participant DNA testing helping us solve some of our greatest family riddles. One participant describes how she employed her own mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) test results in her quest for her earliest maternal AmerIndian ancestor in the story,  Finding Anne Marie.

A companion article, Confirmed C3b Y DNA Results Test the Heritage of Cajun Cousin Keith Doucet details a participant's experience with Y DNA testing, with an outcome that leads him, and others, to re-assess the origins of his established Acadian surname. 

The AmerIndian Ancestry Surname Project assists participants in their search for their earliest AmerIndian ancestors, at times contributing to the purchase of DNA test kits for descendants whose maternal line traces to a “Person of Interest” (For a list of names, click on Goals Tab) and employing DNA test results to validate family lines.

It is incredibly exciting to have found that so many of our study participants share the same ancient AmerIndian family lines and have the same exact DNA mutation strings appearing in their test results. By comparing DNA test results with known genealogical lines and establishing "Family Clusters" among surnames, we enhance the traditional paper-based genealogical search methods with the study of our common genetic characteristics (markers) so that we may discover and verify our Acadian AmerIndian ancestor’s earliest origins.

We welcome you to join the AmerIndian Ancestry Surname Project and become part of our study. YOUR DNA may be the key to unlocking somes of the mysteries surrounding our ancestors as well as proving the AmerIndian origins of some of our earliest mothers. There may even be surprises with regards to the origins of some Founding Fathers.  Email the Project Administrator if you have any questions.

QUESTION: How do I order my DNA test kit from the Amerindian
Ancestry out of Acadia Family Tree DNA Project?

ANSWER: It's easy! Follow these steps:

1. Click the "REQUEST TO JOIN THIS GROUP" link on the left nav bar of the Amerindian Ancestry out of Acadia Family Tree DNA Project Page.
2. Click the button labelled, "I want to purchase a test to join the project."
3. Complete the order form as directed and submit it.
   

1. Using your FTDNA kit ID and password (that you were issued when you first ordered your test kit from Family Tree DNA), logon to your Family Tree DNA home page.
2. Click the button labelled, "Join Projects."
3. Locate the "Search by Surname" section on the page and enter the term, "Amerindian" in the search window provided -- then, click the "Search" button.
4. You will see the link to the "Amerindian Acadian Ancestry" project in your results. Click the link.
5. Click the "Join" button on the lower right hand corner of the project page that follows.

Note: If you need assistance in joining our project, please Email the Project Administrator.