British Genes in the
Genome of French Canadians : a Riddle of Genetic Genealogy
By Clément Fortin,
retired attorney at law
The following article is a translation of Des gènes britanniques chez des Canadiens français : une énigme de
la généalogie génétique published in La Mémoire, the magazine of the
Société d’histoire et de généalogie des Pays-d’en-Haut, Winter 2018, Number 147.
By Clément Fortin, retired attorney at law
On YouTube, a French Canadian
describes, in English, his DNA results that he just received from MyHeritage.
To his dismay, he discovers that his ascendants are everyone but French. I let
you enjoy watching him discovering his genetic origins in clicking on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D826Fpu62X4
Genetics captivates me.
First, as a lawyer, I salute an effective way to ferret out assassins. And
historically, the search for fossil DNA facilitates the discovery of the
origins of the man of Neanderthal and of the modern man. Finally, with a little
saliva, I discovered my genetic background.
On the 25th of April
1953, James Watson and Francis Crick published in the magazine NATURE a
one-page article establishing the structure of the DNA double helix. They were
granted a Nobel prize. Almost 50 years later, the human genome was decoded.
What a giant step their discovery has offered humanity!
While surfing on the Web, I came across an
interesting offer of a DNA test by
MyHeritage. Curiosity induced me to live that experience. A few weeks later, I
received these surprising results. I was informed that I am:
63 % English
19.3 % Iberian
15.5 % Greek
2.2 % of the
Balkans (Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina).
There is no doubt that I am of
French descent. This is confirmed by the genealogy of my maternal and paternal
families. But we do not know what the collaterals reserve for us as a surprise.
Quebec is a land of welcome. For
example, in 1811, Mgr. Joseph-Octave Plessis, bishop of Quebec, went by boat to
Matane, my hometown, to make his pastoral visit. He observed with admiration Micmacs,
Canadians, Acadians, Scots, Germans, Irish and Anglo-Americans live in perfect
harmony. He found it remarkable to hear the same person speaks three or four
languages.
Continuing my
research on the Web, I took note of a study conducted by the Fédération des
Québécois de souche (Federation of Quebecers of Ancestral Origin) that comments the DNA analyses made by
23andMe[i], a genetics laboratory for the general public.
I invite you to read this study. You can access it by clicking on the link in
footnote 1. I also suggest you read this article Le patrimoine génétique
germanique des Québécois [ii] (The Genetic
and Germanic Heritage of Quebecers) by Christian Allen Drouin whose link will
lead you to it in footnote 2, at the end of this document. And you will also
like to read an article by Alain Vadeboncoeur entitled "I'm an English, My
Dear"[iii]».
23andMe also offers the
opportunity to know our state of health; to learn if we are carriers of genetic
disease; to what extent are we likely to suffer from diabetes, Alzheimer's,
etc. For now, I'm sticking to genetic genealogy. All things considered, I gave in to the
temptation to undergo a DNA test offered by 23andMe whose report provides a lot
of information on each of the ethnic groups analyzed. I extracted the ones that
seemed most pertinent to me.
European 98.2% North-West European 87.2%
French and German 48.1%
The "French and Germans" descend from
ancient Celtic and Germanic alpine populations and inhabit a region stretching
from the Netherlands to Austria, which is roughly the extent of Charlemagne's
Frankish Kingdom in the Middle Ages. Estimates place Charlemagne himself in the
genealogical trees of all modern Europeans, perhaps several times. Genetically
and geographically, the French and the Germans are at the heart of Europe.
Native American 0.6%
British and Irish 20.0%
Widely Northwestern Europe
19.0%
Southern European 6.9%
Iberian 5.4%
Largely Southern European
1.5%
Largely European 4.1%
East Asian and Native
American 0.7%
The first humans to reach
the New World populated much of North, Central and South America a few thousand
years after their arrival from Northeast Asia and the genetic legacy of these
prehistoric pioneers persists to date among the indigenous people of the
Americas. In North America, however, Native American ancestry tends to be only
five generations or more, leaving little DNA evidence of this heritage.
Middle East and North Africa 0.2%
The people of West Asia and North Africa have not only
genetic links, but also deep linguistic links with each other.
Mostly from East Asia and Amerindian <0 .1="" span="">
The people of East Asia and the Americas have a common
genetic history. Their common ancestors left Western Asia 80,000 years ago,
migrating eastward across the continent. The ancestors of the Amerindians began
crossing the Americas 12,000 to 15,000 years ago.
Neanderthal Descent
You have fewer Neanderthal variants than 80% of
23andMe customers. However, your Neanderthal ancestry accounts for less than 4%
of your overall DNA.
A reconstruction of the Neanderthal man and woman
Your maternal haplogroup[iv]
is H1c
Your paternal haplogroup is R-P311
You
share a paternal ancestor with Niall of the nine hostages. The spread of
haplogroup R-M269 in Northern Ireland and Scotland was probably favoured by men
like Niall of the nine hostages. Perhaps more a myth than a man, Niall of the
nine hostages would have been a king of Tara in Northwestern Ireland at the end
of the fourth century AD. His name comes from a story of nine hostages he
detained from the areas he ruled. Although the legendary stories of his life
were invented hundreds of years after his death, genetic evidence suggests that
the Uí Néill dynasty, whose name means "descendants of Niall", refers
only to a man who wore a branch of haplogroup R-M269. The Uí Néill reigned as
kings of Ireland from the seventh to the eleventh century AD. In the very
patriarchal society of medieval Ireland, their status allowed them to have a
large number of children and to perpetuate their paternal lineage. In fact,
researchers estimated that between 2 and 3 million men with roots in Northwestern
Ireland are descendants of Niall.
At
first glance, these results from 23andMe seem closer to my reality.
Nevertheless, I am surprised that I am awarded 19 % under "Widely Northwestern
Europe" without more precision. This part of Europe stretches from Northern
Ireland to Northern Norway to Finland and France to the south.
As
I continue my research, I learn that AncestryDNA has larger databases that
would enlighten me on this topic. You have no doubt realized that the results
of DNA tests are dependent on the information obtained from the laboratories'
databases. I gave a sample of my saliva to AncestryDNA with the following
results and comments:
Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales)
34%
Ireland / Scotland / Wales 29%
(Note: If you add 34% + 29%, you get 63%,
which is the same percentage as in the MyHeritage test, each lab has its own
terminology.)
Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) 18%
The Greeks named this region
"Iberia" after the river Ebro. The Romans, who called this region
Hispania, introduced Christianity and Latin that would be transformed into
Spanish and Portuguese. Subsequently, the Moors crossed the Strait of Gibraltar
and established on the continent one of the most advanced civilizations, rich
in universities, libraries and hospitals. At the collapse of the last Moors' stronghold
in 1492, sailors from Spain and Portugal were ready to spread their languages
and culture to the world.
Scandinavia
(Sweden, Norway and Denmark) 8%
The Scandinavian adventures, historically known as
savvy navigators, put them in touch with much of the rest of Europe, sometimes
as feared pirates and at other times as merchants and traders always on the
move. The Scandinavian navigator Leif Ericson is the first European to reach
North America, 500 years before the first voyage of Columbus in 1492.
Southern Europe (Italy and Greece, mainly) 8%
Regions
with a low confidence index
Middle East (Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan,
Oman, Yemen,
United Arab Emirates (UAE), Lebanon, Israel) 1%
Finland / Northwestern Russia <1 span="">
Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Iraq,
Syria, Turkey) <1 span="">
Eastern Europe (Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic,
Austria, Russia, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, Byelorussia,
Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia) <1 span="">
Migration
French settlers from Gaspésie, New Brunswick and Maine
You probably have relatives who were part of this
migration in the last few centuries. Your connection to this migration is
probably due to your ancestry in Britain, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
French settlers along the St. Lawrence River
Many French settlers emigrated to New France to
trade in fur. In the wild, they lived surrounded by hostile natives. After the
War of the Conquest, the British regarded Canadians as second-class citizens. Many of them fled to New England.
The above three
tests describe the main elements of my DNA results. I surely did not
expect receiving such results. It is for that reason I wanted to compare my DNA
test results with those of members of my family. At my instigation, one of my
brothers, a first cousin, a sister-in-law and a niece also took DNA tests and
got results similar to mine. You will tell me that this is a weak sample. Be
that as it may, I do not pretend to carry
a scientific study. However, it shows that my DNA is not exceptional. One could
say that my genes are partly Germanic if this appellation had been retained by
MyHeritage, 23andMe and AncestryDNA. Finally, if my genes are not French, I'm
still from France. That's why I tried to explain this puzzle by reviewing the
history of barbarian and Viking invasions. Those who are called barbarians are
Germanic people, as are the Vikings. Below, a map tells us that the inhabitants
of Northwestern France are Germanic. It is this part of France that my
ancestors left to settle in New France.
This map is based on the work of Professor Georges-Alexis Montandon.
In the fifth century, the Romans began to withdraw from the British Isles. See the map b
elow for a migratory influx to England of Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians (Germanic
people). I add Frisians who seem to be ignored despite the fact that it is from their language
that Old English draws part of its origins. Several Celts who were there fled to Ireland,
Scotland, Wales and Brittany. As for the Franks, another Germanic tribe, they invaded Gaul,
part of which became France. In his book, The Origins of the British[v], Stephen
Oppenheimer claims that the Angles and Saxons account for only 5% of the genome of the
British. They would be of Celtic origin as the Irish, Scots and Welsh.
In contrast, The Guardian reports that researchers at Oxford University conducted a genetic study they published in the journal Nature; it has been spread over 20 years; it reveals that 30% of the DNA of white British has a strong Anglo-Saxon influence. Although the Romans, Vikings and Normans ruled the British for hundreds of years, they left little trace of their DNA, they observed[vi].
Surprisingly, this study shows that people living in the south and centre of England today share, generally speaking, 40 % of their DNA with the French, 11 % with the Danish and 9 % with the Belgians. More than 2000 people have participated in this study. The French contribution was not linked to the Norman invasion of 1066, but to a wave of migrations until then unknown in Great Britain, some time after the last glacial period, nearly 10 000 years ago.
In the 9th century, the Vikings, in their turn, upset
Northwestern European DNA. See the map below which indicates the places they
have invaded, Normandy being one of them.
France was colonized or invaded by Celts, Basques,
Greeks, Romans, Franks, Vikings, etc. And it is generally admitted that
Northern France is culturally and ethnically closer to Northern Europe.
Therefore, is it not a heresy to refer to Quebecers as Latins?
In France, parental tests may
only be authorized by court decisions, and for medical or research purposes.
Consequently, French DNA databases are reduced. Review the results I got from
23andMe. My genome would be 48,1 % French and German. However, who knows in
what proportion I am one or the other. To submit oneself to a DNA test, also
involves the acceptance of flabbergasting results.
Since
the arrival of my ancestors in New France, in the course of the 17th century,
populations of Northwestern France have undergone migratory influxes. And
one should not be surprised to not being able to find oneself?
Recreational genomics, as the French call it, is forbidden. However, many
French call upon foreign laboratories
for their DNA tests. As time elapses, databases will refine their procedure and
be able to offer more precise results.
In a few pages, I have barely scratched a
difficult subject, but how captivating. I induce you to live this experience. The
human genome is a vast domain of study. For example, how our genes do influence
our behaviour? Should justice consider the fact that the author of an offence
was under the influence of his genome? Are we really free? Would knowing one’s
own genetic origins have us envisage the world differently?
Note: For
the reproduction of the maps in my text, I did not find to whom I had to
address.
[i]
Comprendre les tests génétiques : analyse
de «23andMe»
[ii]
Le patrimoine génétique germanique des
Québécois par Christian Allen Drouin
[iii] « I’m an English, my dear » Alain
Vadeboncoeur
[iv] Haplogroups are in a way branches
of the genealogical tree of modern man. In genetics, a haplogroup is a large
group of genes on the same chromosome (haplotypes). There are about 25
haplogroups (A, B, C, etc.), each with its own genetic characteristics.
Haplogroups help to understand the geographical movements of men and women over
time. The most studied are the Y chromosome haplogroup (men, paternal line) and
the mtDNA haplogroup (men and women, maternal line).
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