Of all of the various types of DNA testing that has been made available to members of the
Amerindian Ancestry out of Acadia Family Tree DNA project, none has been received with so much enthusiasm, and interest, as
the recently introduced “Family Finder” product -- that not only tests participant DNA, but reveals family relationships
among participants.
While mitochondrial (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome
DNA test results have proven infinitely valuable to Amerindian Ancestry out of Acadia project participants interested in discovering
the earliest origins of ancestors from Nova Scotia, Gaspe, Quebec, and the Maritime regions and have given our members new
avenues for research of ancestors' earliest histories, the Family Tree DNA Family Finder test digs deep into participant
autosomal DNA, discovers matching DNA segments that occur within participant information, and correlates these with second,
third, fourth, and fifth-cousin relationships -- that would be difficult, if nearly impossible for most to identify using
traditional paper-based genealogy research methods.
“Living
Legend” Joseph Bernie Wayne ("Bernie") David joined the Amerindian Ancestry out of Acadia project to explore
his ancestry through DNA testing. Bernie David, an accomplished Cajun heritage musician and performer in his home state of
Louisiana, shares his Acadian-Mi'kmaq heritage, and family lines, with many other members of the Amerindian Ancestry out
of Acadia Family Tree DNA project. Just a peek into Bernie's family tree reveals a catalog of prominent Acadian surnames
from seventeenth and eighteenth-century Nova Scotia -- a time when the Acadian people called Nova Scotia their home. In addition
to the known European surnames, and those Acadian lines that continued in Louisiana following the deportation of the Acadian
people from Nova Scotia during the mid-eighteenth century, the names of Mi'kmaq ancestors feature in Bernie's genealogy.
Bernie was therefore a natural selection for sponsorship as a Family Finder program participant, and since the “Family
Finder” program kicked off, Bernie David has emerged as the “Universal Cousin,” sharing matching DNA segments
and cousin relationships with the majority of Amerindian Ancestry out of Acadia Family Finder participants.
Louisiana resident Steve Simon was new to genealogy research, and
knew of his Acadian Gautrot ancestry only from the limited amount of information that he had learned from his grandfather
and the other relatives he met at family reunions. Steve wanted to learn more so that he could share his complete family
history with his children. Steve contacted Bernie David who then pointed him in the direction of the Amerindian Ancestry
out of Acadia Family Tree DNA project. For Steve's purposes, participating in the Family Finder project was a perfect
way to add branches to his family tree and expand his knowledge of shared family lines and so, he joined the Amerindian Ancestry
out of Acadia Family Finder project, and ordered the Family Finder test, joining other project members who awaited their results.
When Steve received his Family Finder results, with Bernie David
appearing in his Family Finder list as a possible fourth cousin, it was about the same time that several other Family Finder
results came in for the project, and members were abuzz about the number of third, fourth, and fifth cousins who were showing
up among their Family Finder relationships. E-mails, accompanied by pages of family lines, flew back and forth among Family
Finder participants looking for common shared ancestors who would account for the relationships reported by Family Finder.
Bernie, the project's “Universal Cousin,” his results factoring into the majority of Family Finder participant's
third, fourth, and fifth cousin relationships, found himself in the middle of a flood of genealogy information -- greater
than he had never seen before. Others were facing similar challenges in researching their Family Finder “cousins,”
and the numbers of shared Acadian surnames that feature in the family trees of Amerindian Ancestry out of Acadia Family Finder
participants added to the complexity of the task.
To
assist the Family Finder project, the Amerindian Ancestry out of Acadia project administrator introduced the idea of the
Family Finder “Match Map,” where on a single page, participants graphically charted five generations of maternal
and paternal ancestry, starting with themselves and their own two parents. By referencing a participant's Family Finder
Match Map, Family Finder participants could visually identify not only shared surnames that existed among family lines, but
also at what generations relationships may have occurred, turning proposed Family Finder relationships into honest-to-goodness
cousins! Bernie David put together his Family Finder Match Map immediately, sharing it with Steve and other members who had
added their own. Several members added flair to their Match Maps and the charting of five generations of family ancestry
took on new form – one resembling a bird in flight, with the participant at the center, his generations of maternal
and paternal grandparents comprising each outstretched wing. By referencing the charts, Family Finder participants located
shared surnames easily, along with possible cousin relationships.
