Cynde's thoughts: My DNA story

I sometimes hear people in Europe think it’s silly that North Americans cling to their ethnic ancestors. But here’s the thing compared to European countries, Canada and the US are fairly new countries that are made up of immigrants. We don’t have “roots” that are uniquely American or Canadian. Yes, there are cliches “Canadians are polite” etc., but because both are vast counties the uniqueness is mostly regional, not countrywide. People in New England are vastly different from people in Texas for example. So, we tend to cling to our European roots. I had friends that were very proud of being Italian and just go to Scottish games and you see that in spades. And some ethnic groups like the Scots were forced out of their homeland and tried to cling to the old country as much as possible.

But I think some of those people are not looking in their backyards. There’s a show called Delicious starring Dawn French. She plays a chef Gina Benelli who is definitely English but her father was Italian and she embraced her Italian heritage, including the food. Would Italians say that she shouldn’t act Italian because she obviously has an English accent and lives there? Look at Peter Capaldi who is as Scottish as you get and speaks Italian. The other thing about not looking in your backyard is all the wars (some ongoing) over ethnicity in Europe, so it’s there as well.

Here is a personal insight involving my ethnicity and DNA. My father was a Newfoundland, my mother was from London, my sister and brother were born in Newfoundland and because of my father’s job, I was born in Montreal. My sister, although she spent the first 10 years of her life in Newfoundland doesn’t really think of herself as a Newfoundlander. I left Montreal when I was eight months old and definitely do not consider myself a Montreal native. I did think of myself as being a Newfoundlander because I loved visiting there, loved the music, loved everything about the place (it felt like home to me) -- and I picked up a lot of my dad’s nuances. I would call this a nurturing effect.

But here’s the thing. I had a feeling that my father wasn’t my biological father since my parents separated right after I was born so I took a DNA test that confirmed it.

Now here’s the interesting thing.

All my life I always said that being English on both sides was a bit boring, I wanted to be Scottish. I love bagpipes and I played drums in a bagpipe band for years. I went to the Scottish games with my ex-husband, who was of Scottish roots, and I was always a little jealous that he could claim a clan and I couldn’t.

The other interesting thing is I had to go to New Orleans for two weeks for school. I absolutely fell in love with New Orleans, felt like I was “home” again. I’ve always enjoyed Zydeco music and often when to the Cajun festival here in San Diego. I had no idea where this feeling came from.

So here is what my DNA said* 20% Scotland, 32% English, 9% Irish, and 21% French. French?? I couldn’t be further away from France if I tried. I don’t like wine, am not into cheese, and never had the hankering to visit there. My sister (who is technically my half-sister now) on the other hand, loves France, drinks wine, adores cheese, and doesn’t have a drop of French blood in her. And the other surprise was Indigenous Americas – North. Huh?

Then I did some digging to find out who my biofather was. I had an idea and it was confirmed by a second cousin. He was Arthur Edward McDonald! So that confirms the Scottish connection and I now have a clan affiliation. But where did the French come from? Turns out Arthur was from D'Escousse, Nova Scotia a town on the Ille Madame island, one of the Acadian areas of Nova Scotia. Apparently, a lot of the McDonald men married Acadian women. I have a long line of Acadian names like Pettit, LaFave, Douchette, etc. If you know your history a lot of the Cajons were originally Acadians who moved down to Louisiana bringing their culture and music. One of my biological grandmothers was part Mi’kmaq, so that’s where the 3% came from.

Now here’s the funny part. If you know anything about Atlantic Canada genealogy, it’s that everyone is related somehow! A lot of endogamy in the trees. Well, it turns out that the McDonalds stopped off in Newfoundland before settling in Nova Scotia and you got it… I’m related to the Durnfords about five generations back. I’m also related to my Cape Breton stepfamily through the Acadian lines. Ain’t genealogy and DNA grand!

*Ethnicity estimates are fluid and an estimation based on comparison with others.