...So then, what exactly IS the bottom line here? My pat answer is..."I don't know!"
I have, in the past, heard stories from family members but never had anybody offer up any proof. My great-grandmother, Malvina D'AOUST, I've been told was "part Indian". I never doubted the story, but to this day, I've not uncovered any factual evidence either proving or disproving the allegation. I did find out that at some point, while living in Escanaba, Michigan, Malvina was somehow involved with teaching the Native American population at a school on a local Indian reservation. I don't know any more detail. It was in Escanaba she met, and married, my great-grandfather, Joseph Lachance.
As to the story that she had "Native American" blood, I've also been told that there must have been a mistake. That, in fact, there was a saying, in French, describing the "farmers from the Beauce region who emigrated to the US". The specific words in French, escape me but I recall it was something like "L'arrière de vos jambes sont noires". Or is it "La revers de vos jambe sont noires"? It means something to the effect of - "the back of your legs are black". This was later determined to be a reference to the fact that Malvina and Joseph were poor dirt farmers from Beauce who left to go to Maine in search of opportunity - or maybe just to join his brothers who were already there.