Myth Busting: Episode One

This is a post that I’ve tried to avoid posting, but given current external circumstances I feel that I must make this post. 

*Warning, this post may upset some of you:

This post is concerning the “Lejeune sisters” (Catherine and Edmée). Contrary to popular belief, prior to 1994 and internet genealogy, it was “common knowledge” that the Lejeune sisters were “French” in origin. Yes, French Historian and Genealogist, François-Edme Rameau de Saint-Père did originally hypothesize in 1889 in his book entitled, “Une colonie féodale en Amérique” (Tome 2) that the sisters were “métis” however, he changed his mind about this and in 1890 he hypothesized that the sisters CAME TO ACADIA FROM FRANCE. Yes, Rameau recanted his initial hypothesis yet many people are unaware of this, or they simply ignore this.

This theory remained “common knowledge” for over a century until 1994 when an AMATEUR “Historian” named Léopold Lanctôt decided to revive the original theory in his two volume collection entitled, “Familles Acadiennes” (see pages 153 to 155 of “Tome II”). It is also Lanctôt who decided that Radegonde Lambert was “métis” despite her always having been concluded to have come from France (see pages 59 to 64). 

It is from this unfortunate revival that the internet took the original theory and expanded it to be that Catherine and Edmée Lejeune were Membertou’s daughters. Even if these two women were of First Nations descent, this assertion is impossible because they were born AFTER Membertou’s death. This is a clear example of the dangers of internet genealogy.

Now, during the one hundred plus years that passed between François-Edme Rameau de Saint-Père’s change in opinion, such renowned Historians/Genealogists as Père Clarence-Joseph d’Entremont continued Rameau’s revised theory that the Lejeune sisters came to Acadia from France. It is on page 1121 of “Volume 3” of his 1981 book entitled, “Histoire du Cap-Sable De l'An Mil Au Traité de Paris (1763)” that Père d’Entremont concludes that the Lejeune sisters came from France and his reference for this is Rameau himself.

page 1121 of “Volume 3” of a 1981 book entitled, “Histoire du Cap-Sable De l'An Mil Au Traité de Paris (1763)”

A document that has been shared over the internet over the past decade or so that people claim to be “proof” of Indigenous ancestry for the Lejeune sisters is the so-called “1661 Québec Register.” This document, my friends, is not actually a register at all and is rather a page from the draft of Archange Godbout’s unpublished work from the twentieth century entitled, “Dictionnaire généalogique des familles acadiennes.” I’ve included a verified page from his manuscript for reference. When you think about it, the so-called “register” should signal red flags, as it says that Lejeune sisters’ mother was either a French woman or an “Indienne” (Indian woman/First Nations woman). “Indienne” was rarely used in French registers (if at all) and the term that would have been used for that time period (1661) is actually “Sauvagesse” (Savage woman/First Nations woman). 

Draft of Archange Godbout’s unpublished work from the twentieth century entitled, “Dictionnaire généalogique des familles acadiennes.”

Finally, although it should have never come to this, and people still argue against it, mtDNA testing of the Lejeune sisters’ direct female descendants have consistently produced a haplogroup of “U6a7a1a,” which is “North African” in origin. According to Bernard Secher, Rosa Fregel, José M Larruga, Vicente M Cabrera, Phillip Endicott, José J Pestano, and Ana M González’s scientific 2014 article entitled, “The History of the North African Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroup U6 Gene Flow into the African, Eurasian and American Continents,” this specific Haplogroup possesses distinguishing mutations referred to as the “Acadian Cluster,” as these mutations appear to be unique to the mtDNA of these two women and occurred approximately five hundred years ago (see https://bmcevolbiol.biomedcentral.com/…/10…/1471-2148-14-109).

I’m sorry if this post upset or offended anyone, but this is all information that I believe has to come out. Feel free to believe what you want however, as everyone is entitled to their own opinion. This post is not an attack on anyone, but is simply intended to provide a history of the beliefs and the science surrounding the Lejeune sisters. 

Basically, these are the known facts and many of them have been "common knowledge" for years, decades, even centuries. DNA evidence simply supported this.

Thank you for your understanding,

Note from the editor: The “native princess” myth is really persistent among non-indigenous population. We believe that the made-up connection of the Lejeune’s sister to the Mi’gmaq chief Membertou has fed this persistent myth. For many indigenous people, the Indian princess perpetuates racist stereotypes of Indigenous women. One of our mission is to bust myth because we strongly believe that the perpetuation of false information undermine the work we do and is harmful to the people and communities that are reviving and preserving their unique indigenous identity on the east coast.