The Importance of Understanding one’s Ancestry

The Importance of Understanding one’s Ancestry
Everyone is curious about knowing their origin at some given time in life. This urge is even stronger when the history has been hidden from them or is inaccessible. Such cases happen to those of who were either adopted, lost their parents when young, or parents and family members have been too busy to educate the young about their cultural backgrounds. Culture defines our ethics, moral stability, identity and particular beliefs. Most of the times, the origin is backdated when one experiences some exceptional happenings such as diseases, unaccounted deaths, defects at birth, peculiar genetic disorders or unique talents. At such times, the family must come together to get to the bottom of the problem which involves assessing the past annals. This forms what is referred as genealogy. Some people consider it as a hobby while others are obsessed by the urge to understand themselves. However, the large percentage digs for their origins out of curiosity. Our ancestry may mean a lot to us. At times, they define the lives one is experiencing, the challenges they face and unique traits that they possess. Whether out of curiosity or coercion to search for particular answers, genealogy can be a source of inspiration or satisfaction. Although it may be disturbing to learn some of the histories about our dynasties, knowing a bit of that history could help find solutions to a lot of disturbing questions and make previously seemingly hard to admit conclusions.

People often say that if they’re good at something their parents were good at it too and that their talent for it is just “in their blood.” This paper assesses the significance of knowing one’s ancestry.
Genealogy can have different meanings to particular people. What triggers us to search for ancestral attachments varies with the tribe, cultural heritage, demographics, personal attitude and even education level. What mostly drive people to know their history are adverse eventualities in their lives. An agreement between a slaveholder and newly freed ancestor will help give information about where they were enslaved and hence the owner. Contracts that were once signed reveal more details about the historical employment events, property ownership, location and family size they owned. The primary spark off in such a situation would be the urge to authenticate family history. Most of the information regarding our families are given as stories but are never proven. At the time, our families attach various occurrences like diseases and skills to previous familial history. In most cases, some recurring conditions like getting twins, children with deformities like anemia, and physical disabilities may be inheritable. This may be dated back to a long time ago where certain relatives suffered similar ailments either as a result of curses in the family tree or bad omens (Redman 126). It is at times, passed on to those children who fall directly under the initial lineage. The second is when famous people want to associate their superiority to some other renowned figures in the society. This form of geology is more of belief than a natural occurrence. Previous involvement in activities like politics and community leadership may make one adopt the same career. However, various conspicuous traits are not just adopted but rather occur naturally. Physical looks and features like commanding figures, ability to coordinate events and public relations are more of an heirloom than personal achievements. Assessing one’s ancestral background helps reveals the genetic connection to given characters and one could evaluate the possibility of possessing the same. The family trees thus remain a vital section of our personal growth and a mandatory knowledge if we were to break some of the past histories for a better future.
Genealogy is an activity open to any culture. It trespasses across all eras and cultures. The principal value of genealogy is that it satisfies our curiosity besides solving some of the most complicated incidents in family trees. It helps one to answer three fundamental questions: where do we originate from (the past), why are we here (the present) and what is going to happen in the latter days (the future). The past may never be changed, but it is worth knowing it so that we can link it with the present. The essence of ancestral history is to change the present. Upon analyzing the past, some puzzles of the present situations can be cracked. And although it may take the time to solve the current issue, then the future could be envisioned and planned for. It is worth noting that genealogy is not only limited to cultural and physical inheritances but can also be used to describe matters of religious and social life, politics, and science. In a way, there is a connection between genealogy and religion. Both tend to educate us about our past, how we should live the present and what holds the future holds. When one studies their family tree in details and tries to invert the time scale to observe it from the perspective of a single ancestor, then the future can be predicted. They can draw a line connecting various drop-down heredity processes and identify the specific threads that may contain similar manifestations (Lambert 122). This may provide the truth about the generations before, where we stand at the end. On a personal scale, genealogy is history. It facilitates a better understanding of how we fit in the free world around us as regards our family lineage. Besides the collection of family thread through a given period, genealogy is also a woven perspective of the past present and the future.
According to Savolainen, there is a difference between looking for orienting information and looking for practical information. Most of us search information as historians and not genealogists. A transformation is required for the previous to the latter for substantial information to be revealed (Savolainen 263). Most professional genealogists search for discrete facts from records such as census, obituaries, and microfilms. These are bits that historian overlook and usually contains the most vital information. For historians, the information is often overshadowed by other needs such as connecting or looking for an identity. The shift in information checking signals a change in thinking about the historical origin. Mostly, the researchers are led to more intriguing sources in a bid to develop sophisticated strategies to figure out how the institution holds such information. Learning how to select pedigree information is a vital step in the process of self-identification. Where the written references could contain information regarding the ancestors, they do not explain the underlying factors such as personal behaviors.
There are many sources of information regarding one’s past. These include archive sites, previous publications, notebooks and company journals. Others are verbal forms of information such as narratives. Organized strategies and devices are used to manage and create meaning to research data. However, information management is the most critical activity when finding one’s ancestral origin. There are three primary organizational methods that genealogists conceptualize these sources: story, pedigree charts, and archives. While narratives may be an unproven source of information, they form the largest of ancestral information origin. These come in two forms; as transcribed stories and as integrated personal data. Such data include birth, marriage and death information regarding a given family line. These are the most trustable for of historical data. Some scientists consider them as family archives that consist a library of all certificates, notebooks, scribbles and original heirlooms (Ashton 90). Some of this information about ancestral lives may not be answered via vital records.
The other sources of studying ancestry are the reviewed sites and publications. An organization such as the Freedmen’s Bureau collects and keeps a record regarding the African Americans in America. Any historian who would wish to access this information can easily access it through their site at an affordable cost. This has been in operation since 1870’s making it one of the oldest here organization. Most of their information entails an entire family tree, slaves who do not have a past and natives who were either abandoned or adopted during the civil wars. Most of the people who seek information regarding their past are those who had broken loose with their ancestral family ties due to unavoidable circumstances. One importance of seeking this information from such an organization is that we can access data fast and from reliable sites. At the same time, the workers in the organizations have an experience in searching sourcing and analyzing historical data. They have gained flexibility and know where to search for the very particular type of information (McKay 26). Freedman’s organization in specific contains data regarding slave names, ages, place or residence or plantation, who owned them and where they originated from. This means that they provide accurate information. Other corporations contain information regarding other specificities like civil records, visual and audio data and photo galleries. The may include print media and governmental institutions. They are secondary sources of personal data especially that which is not readily accessible in other sites. Heredity can, however, be studied via online search engines of late although most of them are not approved. They, however, give preliminary information that can assist one to get to the next study level.
The record of a parent’s health information and that of the close relatives can be a source of vital information when trying to fight some ailments or medical conditions in a family lineage. Genes are highly related to some family medical history. It is argued that we share common genes with our parents and these are the only inheritance that we can never alter. They are what identify us with our parents and close relatives. Genes have been passed from generation to the succeeding ones. Mostly, a complete record entails the information regarding three backdated generations not only in the direct line but also in the extended family like grandparents, uncles, and cousins. Although the male genes alter the pattern, some traces of the genes from either side of the parents are passed to the child during formation. It is only the dominance that varies where the child could assimilate more of the father’s genes than that from the mother. The dominant disease usually caused by mutation of a particular type of gene. If the parents had these materials, then the children have a 50 percent possibility of inheriting the ailment. Further, there can be a recessive genetic disease where both parents are carriers. In such a case, the children are 25 percent prone to contracting the disease. Others sex-related defects like color-blindness, multifactorial traits and chromosome defects are inherited traits that show that families share commonalities factors in make and character. If noted in time, people like healthcare professionals can determine whether the young are at risk of contracting the same conditions as their ancestors had. Genealogy helps us to have self-identity and plan for the best course of action to prevent some occurrences.
In most cases, what is contained in the documents is deceiving. Currently, certain companies are charging as little as $300 to trace one’s past. However, this is similar to what has been documented. People’s decisive moments are the only ones captured in artifacts such as eulogies, photos, and biographies. As a result, this is only meant for publicity and safeguarding their character. Their real self can only be explained by people who interacted with them. The history they hold can never be contained in written materials as some of the cultural, moral standards require certain information kept private. Hence issues like curses, sorcery, and defects are regarded as bad omens and should never be invoked. The best way we could get to know the history of our ancestor would by reviewing their personal diaries. However, few people keep track of things that happen in their lifetime. This means that all the best elements that could define their characters are neglected and the only information we get is what the successors wanted to be conveyed. For the genealogy process to be fruitful and efficient, the researcher must not confine themselves to the written materials. Although they provide the initial information, they must seek proof of this information through questioning the family members and in particular those in the direct lineage to the one in question.
Finding the real expression of our true self is a choice that one must be prepared for. The challenges and information may be fulfilling or at times discouraging. What one must first accept is that they are as good as their ancestors to some extent. Many characteristics are inherited or adopted from their historical backgrounds. Hence, the family tree study entails identifying, collecting, analyzing, organizing and documenting pertinent information about that history. Whether at personal, family, community or religious level, knowing the ancestral history is critical. Genealogy is a field worth studying by everyone if they wish to realize themselves. It helps them make sense out of complex situations, manage information that they get concerning their ancestry, handle the complexities and adversities in the present as well as prepare for what can be predicted. However, care must be taken to avoid negative impacts once one is aware the truth. Although one gains accountability over their life, to be at peace with the discovery may take a strong sense of passion, conscience and efforts.
References
BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 Lambert, R. “The family historian and temporal orientations towards the ancestral past.” Time and Society (1996): 121-132.
McKay, A. “Genealogists and Records.” Conservation, advocacy, and principle (2002): 23-33.
Ashton R., “A commitment to excellence in geology.” How the public library became the only tourist attraction in Fort Wayne, Indiana (1983): 89-96.
Redman, G. “Genealogists and Archivists.” The trend toward a peaceful accord (1983): 121-132.
Savolainen, R. “Seeking Everyday life information.” Approaching information seeking in the context of the of life (1995): 259-294.