In this blog the word tribe is not used to describe an organisation or corporate entity; it is used to describe descendants from a common male ancestor and his brothers.
The Ouellette and alternate spellings such as Ouellet, Willet, Willette, Tribe of Great Turtle Island aka North America are believed to be descendants of René Auclaire dit Houelet*, born ca 1635. Those surnamed Ouellet who are believed to be his descendants may have first appeared on Wendake, named Île d'Orleans by francophones, which is where the Jesuits established a mission and settlement for their Huron Wendat converts. Wendake was the name given to the island by the Wendat, known to the Jesuits as Huron. Wendake was a place name they brought with them from their original Georgian Bay homeland. When they moved again in the early 1700s, they again brought the place name with them.
Though at one time René was believed to be of French / European ethnicity, Haplogroup Y DNA results in the "French Heritage" study of descendants so far indicate he was of West Asian origin, of Afro-Asian ethnicity. Other families found around the same time on the Île d'Orleans at the Huron mission share this ethnicity. Though there are many legends about their supposed origin in Europe (France), documentation of this has never been found. No one knows for sure when these West Asian (Indian) peoples arrived in North America, perhaps their migration was centuries before Europeans were "discovered" on their territories by the Original inhabitants of North America.
A note about claims to French nationality for the Ouellette, the nation of France did not exist until 1789, long after the Ouellette were being documented in colonial records. Further, the French observe the law jus soli naturalisation, rather than jus sanguinis birthright: this means that descendants of René Auclaire dit Houelet, even if they did have a patrilineal ancestor born in France and even if they spoke french, would not be French but francophone North Americans. Nor does baptism or christening convey French (or any European) nationality.
Based on our own research, it is our position that the Ouellette Tribe, descendants of René, are descendants of Iroquoian language speakers who started being enculturated by Europeans at the Jesuit's mission for their Huron converts on the Île d'Orleans, and they were among the First Peoples -- Original inhabitants -- of North America described as Indians or Amerindiens by Europeans.
Kisikew, Kisikewiskw
26 Oct 2011, revised 28 Nov 2011
*Houelet, possibly from la houlette, a shepherd's implement, a long stick with a spoon-like tip of iron, used to scoop and cast dirt clods and small stones at sheep to get them to move without startling them or causing them to panic. By 1612 in France (see image) the word and tool had become synonymous with leadership, perhaps the masculine form of the feminine word indicates René was some sort of community leader.
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