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Ancient DNA from 45 people buried in Montreal’s Notre-Dame Cemetery found exclusively French European ancestry in the analyzed sample. The result challenges the idea that colonial Montreal began as a broadly admixed settler population—but it does not show that Indigenous people were absent, that interracial unions never occurred, or that every New France cemetery had the same population.
The study, published in PNAS on October 5, 2026, is best read as a cemetery-specific finding. It adds genetic evidence to a historical record that shows extensive contact between French colonists and Indigenous peoples, while also showing why ancestry, social relationships and Indigenous identity cannot be treated as interchangeable.
What the Montreal ancient-DNA study examined
The cemetery and sample
Notre-Dame Cemetery was used from 1683 to 1796. Researchers sampled cochlea from temporal bones and associated teeth from 45 individuals. These parts of the skeleton can preserve DNA relatively well, allowing researchers to study people whose identities are otherwise difficult to establish.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The analysis used genotype imputation, runs-of-homozygosity measurements and identity-by-descent analyses. Several genetic lineages continued across successive burial phases instead of forming obvious family plots. The spatial pattern fit rapid demographic growth followed by disruption as urban development altered the cemetery.
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What the researchers reported
At the level of the analyzed subsample, the researchers detected no recent Indigenous or African admixture. Biological anthropologist Diane Martin-Moya summarized the result as: “At the subsampling level, at least, there is no evidence of settler-Indigenous admixture.”
That wording is important. The conclusion describes the 45 sampled remains, not every person who lived in Montreal or anywhere else in New France.
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Why one cemetery cannot represent all colonial Montreal
Cemetery selection can change the genetic picture. The University of Montreal’s account notes that wealthier people were more likely to have remains moved during urban redevelopment, while poorer burials were more likely to remain in place. Notre-Dame therefore reflects a particular burial population shaped by class, parish practice, preservation and later construction.
Martin-Moya specifically cautioned that the same pattern might not appear in other cemeteries, including a cemetery for poorer residents from the same period. Indigenous people have also been archaeologically documented at the earlier Pointe-à-Callière cemetery. Their presence there does not, by itself, reveal whether they were integrated, visiting, living under mission authority or socially marginalized.
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What the result does—and does not—show
Supported by the DNA
- The 45 analyzed Notre-Dame remains carried French European ancestry in the tested data.
- No recent Indigenous or African admixture was detected in that sample.
- Lineage patterns indicate that some genetic relationships extended through multiple burial phases rather than being confined to clearly marked family plots.
Not established by the DNA
- It does not prove that Indigenous people were absent from colonial Montreal.
- It does not prove that French-Indigenous unions never occurred.
- It does not establish that all New France cemeteries, parishes or social classes had the same ancestry profile.
- It cannot determine the social status or cultural belonging of a person from genetic ancestry alone.
How this compares with genetics from living Quebecers
A 2013 PLOS One study analyzed 205 contemporary Quebec individuals rather than colonial-era skeletons. Its f3 estimates of Native American admixture ranged from 0.5% to 2.9%. An ALDER analysis produced a lower-bound estimate of 0.8% ± 0.2%. Depending on the reference population and method, the inferred average timing was about 435 ± 80 years ago or 358 ± 102 years ago—roughly seven to thirteen generations.
| Evidence | Population and place | Time frame | Main result | Interpretive limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ancient-DNA study | 45 people from Notre-Dame Cemetery, Montreal | Burials from 1683–1796 | No detected recent Indigenous or African admixture in the analyzed remains | One cemetery and one sample; cannot stand for all New France |
| 2013 population-genetics study | 205 living Quebec individuals | Admixture inferred in earlier ancestors | Native American ancestry estimates of 0.5%–2.9%; ALDER lower bound 0.8% ± 0.2% | Contemporary regional sample, not a direct test of the Montreal burials |
These findings are not a direct contradiction. They concern different populations, locations and time points. The 2013 study also warned that mitochondrial or other single-lineage Native ancestry cannot quantify a person’s total nuclear-DNA admixture. A small contribution in some living Quebec lineages can coexist with no detectable contribution in a particular historical cemetery sample.
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What historical records say about French-Indigenous relationships
Contact was broader than marriage
A 2024 bioarchaeological study describes French settlement along the St. Lawrence, colonial policies that encouraged intermarriage and “francization,” and relationships involving trade, alliance, conflict, missionization and co-residence. Some colonists lived with Indigenous communities outside formal marriage.
Why the marriage count is not a complete census
The same study identified only 19 recorded marriages between Indigenous Catholics and colonists. Parish records capture formal Catholic marriages, not every relationship, household arrangement or child. Missing records, informal unions and movement between communities can all reduce the number visible in church documentation. Conversely, policies encouraging assimilation did not guarantee equal social standing or widespread biological mixing.
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Can a DNA test prove Indigenous identity?
No. Genetic ancestry can indicate that a person shares DNA with a reference population, but it cannot by itself establish Indigenous belonging. Martin-Moya states that “Biological ancestry cannot by itself establish Indigenous belonging.” The University of Montreal’s explanation places identity in kinship, community, land and cultural relationships, not solely in inherited bloodlines.
This distinction applies to ancient remains as well as living people. Finding Indigenous ancestry in a skeleton would not automatically identify that person’s nation, community ties or social position. As bioarchaeologist Isabelle Ribot put it: “Even if we find (the remains of) Indigenous people in cemeteries, the question remains: What was their place in society?”
The PNAS study frames this issue in decolonial terms, arguing that bioarchaeology should move beyond blood ties as the sole measure of kinship and address reciprocal obligations of care for human remains. A consumer ancestry test therefore cannot settle a historical or identity question that depends on community recognition, documented relationships and lived cultural connection.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsHow to interpret claims about an “admixed founding population”
- Check the population. Ask whether the evidence comes from one cemetery, a regional sample or living descendants.
- Check the date. A burial dated 1683–1796 and an admixture estimate for ancestors several centuries earlier are not equivalent time frames.
- Check the method. Autosomal estimates, mitochondrial lineages and archaeological identification answer different questions.
- Check the social context. Class, missionization, displacement, burial practices and urban redevelopment can determine who is represented in the surviving sample.
- Separate ancestry from belonging. Genetic similarity is not a legal, cultural or community definition of Indigenous identity.
What this changes about New France history
The Montreal result narrows one influential claim: the tested Notre-Dame burials do not support a broadly admixed founding population for that cemetery. It does not erase evidence of Indigenous presence or the many forms of French-Indigenous interaction recorded along the St. Lawrence.
The more accurate historical picture is uneven. Contact could involve commerce, diplomacy, warfare, missions, shared households or family ties, while biological ancestry varied by place, period, class and lineage. Ancient DNA is most informative when combined with archaeology, parish records and Indigenous community knowledge—and when its limits are stated as clearly as its findings.
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