First and foremost I am American and in all honesty I find some pride in that. But as an American I know that my ancestral roots are based in other countries and cultures from Irish to German (and possibly Russian? Not so sure on that...). Mediterranean to Native American (So I've been told. I'm not even going to show my ignorance by guessing a tribe.). I've been told mixed things throughout my childhood, "You're American, what else doesn't matter." "You should know your heritage and take pride in it." But because one side of my families horrible filing skills I have no way of knowing exactly -who- my ancestors were or what their lives and cultures were like.
I know you watch my Blog aunt Kari so I would appreciate any info, if at all, you have on the matter. I'd like to go about getting as much information about my personal family history together and then research and develop a sense of my ancestral culture as well as recording my own for future generations. I want to go about this in a respectful manner however.
Recently running into a Native American blogger who cataloged Indian Appropriation across the country I realized just how little I know. I to have donned feathers and war paint with little thought as to their meaning. Admittedly I was giving a 3rd grade presentation on Sacajawea at the time.
This will not be a short term, quick project. I expect it to last most of my lifetime if not all of the rest of it. How can I learn multiple cultures, respectfully and my own personal history in a few months or years what my ancestors had to do their whole lives, that their different peoples and countries slowly and painstakingly developed over centuries?
Sorry it took so long to post. I've been in the dungeon, my favorite place.
ReplyDeleteGram has a box from nana and Papa that contains wedding rings, bits of paper, etc. On that trip to MT 11 years ago, we tried tracing that side of the family back. We got stumped on one character who we think may have been a criminal of some sorts and sent over the the states around the time of the Civil war. I'll have to revisit all that nonsense.
I think you can learn your personal heritage pretty quickly if you have the right tools, but learning multiple cultures takes more time, especially since you (and I) grew up in families that don't practice certain traditions. Perhaps an anthropology class. I know little of my own personal heritage. Most of what I know is the German stuff from Nana and Papa.