Why Oka is important to me

Oka, or what I refer to as Lake of the Two Mountains is located northwest of Montreal, Quebec. For thousands of years it was a meeting place and hunting ground for a number of First Nations. Huron, Algonquin, Iroquois, Nipissings, Pawnee, Fox and Sioux. In 1721 a Roman Catholic mission by the Sulpician Order was setup. It was next to a Mohawk settlement and a number of Algonquins settle there also at Oka. The mission lasted more than one hundred years. Doing Baptisms, marriages and burials. For both the Algonquin and Mohawk communities. My direct ancestors both Algonquin and Mohawk were baptize, married and buried there. On my father side which was Algonquin and my Mother side which is Mohawk.

What's in a name!!

First Nations could have many names in their life time. One at birth like, for son of or daughter of, At a certain age, the young men and women were given a name sometimes for life or change their name later in life. It was only one name, there wasn't any surnames in First Nations. When the Europeans came and baptism the First Nations people. They baptism them with a first name, like John, Jacob, Joseph or Margaret, Mary and Susan. Then their First Nations name example: Margaret Kviethentha, Abraham Onagsakearet and Jacob Quincbas. Later they took surnames. One famous example is John Yodeserontyon or John Deseronto, chief of the Bay of Quinte Mohawks. His father was Chief Warrior of Tionondoroge, Thomas Ganughsiddishe. Yodeserontyon, means (The Lightning has Struck). When he was baptism, he took John as his first name. Also, took John as his surname, his descendants surnames are also name John.

Algonquin women in France

To further the relations between First Nations people and New France(Quebec). The policy of the government was to ship a number of Algonquin women to France and to educate them on the French language and the French way of life. Some stay in France, married French men and had children in France. Some of the children came to New France to been with their people. Most, were educated, brought back to New France and serve as agents for their Algonquin Nations. One of them was Francoise Grenier.

The Irish in Scotland

When I was researching my father side of the family, from the 1851 Census of Canada. I knew two things, That William Bonner was born in Scotland and his wife Jane Holmes was born in Ireland. At that time, I didn't know where or when they met or what date they got married. William Bonner and Jane Holmes are my 5 generations great grand parents. I contract a relative, who was also doing family research and she gave me some information, when William Bonner and Jane Holmes got married. August 16, 1841 in Dundee, Scotland. My first question, was how did Jane Holmes end up in Dundee, when she was born in Ireland. After some researching I found out that for centuries that Irish and Scottish people have been emigrating to each other countries. In the 1830's and 1840's, there was a sharp decline of the textile industries in Ireland. At the same time a huge demand for textile workers in the Dundee area. The introduction of jute which was cheaper than flax, resulted in a mass immigration of Irish people to Dundee Scotland. I found Jane Holmes in the 1841 Scotland Census, with her parents John and Rebecca and her brothers and sisters. Which I didn't know she had. The census shown that,they were were born in Ireland and their occupation was Linen Handloom weaver and winder and they lived on Rose Street. So, they work in a textile factory. I also, found William Bonner, who lived not to far on James Street and also was a Linen Handloom weaver. I believe they work in the same factory. They lived in Dundee for 5 years, and had five children. Three didn't survive their first birthday. I believe the rapid urban expansion of Dundee and the industrial revolution made cities a very bad place to live. In 1846, they emigrate to Canada.

It starts at a beginning

This is a intro, on what this site is about. This is a genealogy site, I am not a professional genealogist or a professional historian. But, I am passionate about genealogy and history. I have over 25, 000 in my family tree and counting. I count, from my ancestry, the old and new world. My ancestors are, Iroquois, Algonquins, French, English, Irish, Scottish, Swiss and right up to royalty. I will explain my experiences on researching my family tree and the history that goes with it. There isn't much on First Nations genealogy on many blogs. I hope people are interested, I know, I want to share what I learn.