Over the course of my CSL placement with the Métis Research Lab, I researched the genealogical history of the family of Métis political figure and resistance fighter, Gabriel Dumont. In the lab, using historical archives and records from online databases and genealogy software, it’s possible to create extensive genealogy trees. For this artistic rendering, I decided to creatively map out 3 generations (and part of a 4th) of the Dumont family in a model I call a “hybrid kinship pedigree”, as it combines both the genetic concepts I learned in the BIO2133 course and the genealogical concepts I learned from my CSL placement. I had to be very crafty with my tree, using only materials I had at home because I couldn’t leave my house due to Covid-19.
While there are many similarities between family (or “kinship”) trees and pedigrees, there are also differences. Generally speaking, both use squares to represent males and circles for females. I used squares to represent men and circles for women in my model. Gender was determined by the individual’s first name available in the records. Generations are organized in rows, with Roman numerals indicating the generation number and Arabic numerals indicating each individual in the generation, in the order of birth among their siblings if they have any. The main difference is that while kinship trees are meant to simply map out all the relations in a family, the purpose of a pedigree is to show the inheritance of a particular genetic trait.
The genetic concept displayed here is mitochondrial inheritance, which follows maternal lines. I was inspired to depict this genetic concept after learning about traditional Indigenous societies being matrilineally organized. In one of my many discussions with my CSL supervisor and mentor, Dr. Brenda Macdougall, she said something along the lines of: “it makes sense for children to follow their mothers, and be raised by their mother’s family… You may not know who your father is, but you always know who your mother is.” It’s super interesting to me that most Indigenous societies are traditionally matrilineal, and that children were normally raised by their mother’s family, or tribe in the case of inter-tribal unions. Women were the heads of the households, and there is strong evidence to suggest that they held political power in their societies (indicating that they were not only matrilineally organized, but matriarchal). Colonization and European influence disrupted these systems of governance. Many Indigenous naming practices have also been colonized and follow the patriline through surname, as you can see by looking at the surnames of the individuals in the Dumont tree. My documentation of mitochondrial inheritance, as well as surnames in this tree is an attempt to show both patrilineal and matrilineal organization of Indigenous families in tandem.
In my research, I learned that one of the main types of DNA testing done by direct-to-consumer (DTC) genealogy businesses is mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis. As discussed in the course lectures (and more deeply in the Module 5 videos), mtDNA is a good marker of family relations and DNA inheritance along maternal lines because mitochondria do not generally recombine a lot and are relatively unchanged in transmission to the next generation (from mothers to their children). Everyone inherits mtDNA from their mother, irrespective of biological sex, as the mother’s eggs contribute most of the cytoplasm when we are just starting to form as zygotes (sperm contribute very little to no cytoplasm).
In contrast to a typical pedigree we would see in genetics, my hybrid tree includes all the names of each family member, so as to not simply reduce each person to merely their biological identity. Additionally, I have included family members who are not necessarily biologically related to Gabriel Dumont (adoptions for example), or responsible for producing offspring in the family (marriage but no children, i.e. Joseph Desmarais, II-6), but who I believed were important members of the family nonetheless.
As you can see in my “Kinship Tree Update” post, I created all the squares and circles on my computer, printed them, and cut them out. I was originally going to use a blue corkboard, but that turned out to be too small for the 3rd generation (which has 37 individuals!) I found a white sheet that turned out to be the perfect size, which I used instead. Lots of colourful string, pins, markers and coloured pencils were used.
Before I start throwing names around, it is important to note that the Gabriel Dumont I started studying is III-27, not his uncle, II-1. This is indicated using an arrow, which is commonly used in pedigrees to indicate the individual you started studying, also called the proband. Métis genealogy can get really confusing really quickly because everyone is named after everyone else.
A doubled-up piece of black string indicates a marriage. Different coloured strings were used to represent the inheritance of mtDNA. As you can see, the string colour follows maternal lines (i.e. each individual inherits their mother’s colour).
For multiple marriages, the number in parentheses above the spouse indicates the order of marriage. For example, Joseph Berger (II-4) is Cecile’s 1st husband, Joseph ‘Leblanc’ Laframboise (II-5) is her 2nd husband, and so on. You may notice that II-5’s mtDNA colour is the same as Louise Laframboise (II-11, also known as Gabriel Dumont’s mother). That is because they are brother and sister (parents are Joseph Laframboise and Josephte Assiniboine, I-3 and I-4), so their children are actually cousins on both sides, through the Dumonts and the Laframboises. Only Louise can pass on her mtDNA to her children, which is why the mtDNA of her brother’s children is different.
A twisted piece of black and white string (my attempt at a dotted line) indicates an adoption.
More close-up photos of the finished tree:
Random photos from making the tree:
Honourable mentions that didn't make it in (would have made the tree too busy, or didn't make sense):
