At the start of Acadian family lines are the the Native and European grandmothers whose every sacrifice contributed to the survival of their descendants. 

Within the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA project, the A2, B, C, D, and X2a mtDNA haplogroups distinguish the descendants of Native grandmothers whose matrilinial (mother to mother) ancestral lines trace to North America. 

​While those having Acadian ancestry will be most interested in researching the history of Native grandmothers whose lineages start in Port Royal, in the early 1600s, our Native grandmothers are actually part of a larger community whose beginnings go back thousands and thousands of years in the Americas.  Indeed, those of us belonging to Native mtDNA haplogroups may find descendants of Native grandmothers from tribal communities all across North America listed among our mtDNA matches and belonging to the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA project.  Of particular interest to those of Acadian lines are the Native grandmothers whose names grace Acadian census and parish records, their names coupled with those of their European spouses; their distinctive mitochondrial DNA having passed from mother-to-mother-to-mother to living descendants today.  Click here to find out more about the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA project: https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/acadian-amerindian/about

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!

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 [email protected].

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