Ancient DNA from skeletons buried in a historic cemetery in Quebec is changing people's understanding of their Indigenous ancestry. Contrary to popular belief, there may be little truth to stories of intermarriage between Indigenous and French people during the early days of colonization, according to a new archaeology study published Oct. 5 in the journal PNAS.
"Family stories of an Indigenous ancestor are very common" in Quebec, study first author Diane Martin-Moya, a biological anthropologist at the University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières in Canada, told Live Science in an email, and "commercial genealogy and DNA tests have amplified this." But distant or claimed Indigenous identities can actually undermine the rights, resources and recognition of Indigenous nations, she said.
To learn more about the founders of Quebec, Martin-Moya and co-authors investigated Notre-Dame Cemetery, which was established in Montreal in 1683 and used for Catholic burials until 1796. Based on previous studies of the skeletons in the cemetery, experts ...
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