There are lots of blogs out there to help you learn how to do family history research. This blog lets you watch our progress as we roll the Canadian Genealogy Survey out across the country. We'll also track developments in research on family history. It's a bit of a twist, but we hope you'll find something of interest. We welcome your comments.

If you haven't taken the survey yet, you can find it at: http://www.cusurveycentre.ca/gensurvey


Friday 7 October 2011

Genealogy and the Pursuit of Rights


  • The National Post last week on October 1st featured story by Kathryn Carlson about the genealogical involvement of a comparatively large number of Newfoundland and Labradorians in the pursuit of native status. http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Newfound+natives/5487209/story.html
    This was prompted by an announcement last year that the federal government was finally recognizing the rights of descendants of the Mi’kmaw of Newfoundland and Labrador.
  • The qualification for recognition is entirely genealogical; i.e. individuals have to establish at least one native ancestor. It has prompted a wide search in genealogical sources and has kept genealogists in the province busy for the past several months.
  • This raises an interesting question about the political uses of genealogy and the extent to which pursuit of genealogy can be driven by perceived gains to be made from associating with some particular group in the past. It is also a commentary on the changing nature of prejudice. Evidently, many Newfoundlanders had buried their Mi’kmaw heritage to escape discrimination based on race; today they are pursuing that status to activate the privileges associated with registered status as native Canadians
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