What is your heritage?

Romy

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#22
My mom is half Maniot (from Greece), and the rest of her is a blend of German jew (Einsteins, Albert was a cousin) Swede, Irish, Welsh, Scottish and English.

My dad is half Peigan Blackfoot, and the rest is Irish and Scottish.

People always look at me and ask, "What ARE you?" My sister often gets asked if she's part Chinese, which is weird because she's 6'1" and has bright red hair. But then her eyes and eye set is apparently kind of Asian looking because of the Blackfoot or something?
 
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#23
My dad's side is pretty much 100% English!his parents were first generation Canadians.

My moms side is a mixture, bohemian, german, and English, her moms family has been traced back to 1400 something to some duke of some place lol. But her dad is a mystery,he was born in 1898 and died when she was six, so all they have to go on is his name and year of birth, which they traced to being born in Nova Scotia but that's about it.

In fact here is my moms cousin Bill looking for information on him
 

Romy

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#24
My dad's side is pretty much 100% English!his parents were first generation Canadians.

My moms side is a mixture, bohemian, german, and English, her moms family has been traced back to 1400 something to some duke of some place lol. But her dad is a mystery,he was born in 1898 and died when she was six, so all they have to go on is his name and year of birth, which they traced to being born in Nova Scotia but that's about it.

In fact here is my moms cousin Bill looking for information on him
Just out of curiosity, what was mystery grandpa's name? I have a bunch of 1880's-1900's census by county for Nova Scotia because that's where my grandpa was born (Parish of Perth). I wonder if he or some of his family might be in it somewhere.

ETA: derpaderpaderp. It's Delancy Graham, right? Haha, I should read better before posting. Will check the paperwork for some Grahams. :)
 

MandyPug

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#25
1/4 Japanese (Mission, BC internment), 1/4 Polish (WWII concentration camp), 1/4 Czechoslovakian (1st gen canadian), and the last 1/4 is a mix of scottish (macpherson) and welsh and british.
 

Paviche

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#26
1/4 Mexican, 1/4 Swedish. Some Polish and English as well... maybe 1/4 each, or maybe there's more mixed in there, I'm not quite sure.
 

GipsyQueen

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#27
I am pretty much 95% German and 5% Dutch... but the dutch was wayyyy back.

I find it interesting, that Americans tend to be very obsessed (? wrong word maybe) with their heritage and everyone knows what portions what they are and no ever really says, I'm American when asked where they come from. For example:
A friend of mines great-great-grandparents are from Italy and Slowania. She neither speaks the language, nor has she ever been there. But when asked where she is from, she always answers Italy and Slowania... which is so odd to me, because SHE herself is not from there.
 

Dizzy

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#28
Errrr, English and Scottish :D

My maternal grandfather was from a tiny fishing village on the east coast of Scotland, but moved to Yorkshire and set up home with my maternal gran. My paternal family are English.

My dad has done some genealogy stuff and don't think it threw up any big surprises.

My other half is welsh and is convinced he's the true king of wales :p I feel like an honorary welsh sometimes lol


And this.

I find it interesting, that Americans tend to be very obsessed (? wrong word maybe) with their heritage and everyone knows what portions what they are and no ever really says, I'm American when asked where they come from. For example:
A friend of mines great-great-grandparents are from Italy and Slowania. She neither speaks the language, nor has she ever been there. But when asked where she is from, she always answers Italy and Slowania... which is so odd to me, because SHE herself is not from there.
 

Jules

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#29
My mom's family is from France and Prussia, my dad's side from Scandinavia.

And, yes, also this. To me, there is a difference between saying "my family's ancestry is from [insert countries of choosing]" and to say "I AM [insert nationality of choosing]. I would never say that I am German and French. I was born in Germany, therefore I am German. Not 45% German, 25% French, 15% this, 8% this, and 7% that (how do people even get these crummy numbers?!).

I can't even count any anymore the times I have told people that I am from Germany only for them to happily exclaim "Oh, me too!" And then, when I continue the conversation in German, say that they can't speak it or have ever set a foot on German soil. But their great-grandparents were from Germany, that's why they like beer and sausages. It's in their blood.

Sorry to go off on a rant, but it's a huge pet peeve of mine.

I am pretty much 95% German and 5% Dutch... but the dutch was wayyyy back.

I find it interesting, that Americans tend to be very obsessed (? wrong word maybe) with their heritage and everyone knows what portions what they are and no ever really says, I'm American when asked where they come from. For example:
A friend of mines great-great-grandparents are from Italy and Slowania. She neither speaks the language, nor has she ever been there. But when asked where she is from, she always answers Italy and Slowania... which is so odd to me, because SHE herself is not from there.
 

BostonBanker

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#31
I think that in a relatively new country with such a huge variety of backgrounds, some people probably really seek that sense of identification with something older. And with a lot of the early immigrants having changed their identity, or been forced to have it changed, there may be a desire to seek out answer. I can't say I'd ever reply to "what are you" with anything but a blank stare (uh, human? It seems a weird question.) or "where are you from" with anything but "Vermont", but that would be my guess.

My father's side of the family is very well documented, with a foundation, textbooks listing ancestors back to the 1400s, a historic homestead in Mass, etc. They are mostly Danish via England.

My mother's side gives me enough Abenaki blood to allow me to have tribal membership. The rest isn't very well recorded; some English, maybe some French Canadian.
 

ACooper

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#32
I am pretty much 95% German and 5% Dutch... but the dutch was wayyyy back.

I find it interesting, that Americans tend to be very obsessed (? wrong word maybe) with their heritage and everyone knows what portions what they are and no ever really says, I'm American when asked where they come from. For example:
A friend of mines great-great-grandparents are from Italy and Slowania. She neither speaks the language, nor has she ever been there. But when asked where she is from, she always answers Italy and Slowania... which is so odd to me, because SHE herself is not from there.
Sooooo agreed!

I'm AMERICAN. Not Irish-American....not English-American....and not Native American-American. I was born and raised American. I'm proud to have/claim Irish, English, and Native American background....but I myself am American!

I have English and Irish on paternal side, and English and Native American on maternal side.

People confuse what heritage means I think and I finsd it annoying as well.
 

Whisper

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#33
I am pretty much 95% German and 5% Dutch... but the dutch was wayyyy back.

I find it interesting, that Americans tend to be very obsessed (? wrong word maybe) with their heritage and everyone knows what portions what they are and no ever really says, I'm American when asked where they come from. For example:
A friend of mines great-great-grandparents are from Italy and Slowania. She neither speaks the language, nor has she ever been there. But when asked where she is from, she always answers Italy and Slowania... which is so odd to me, because SHE herself is not from there.
Yeah, I totally get this too. It's kind of weird.
My grandmother is English like I said before, and I've been a bit influenced by it, like half my books are from relatives in England with the spellings different from the American way (theatre, centre, colour) which sometimes I catch myself writing simply because it's been in my head so much. Spell checks correct it though, lol.
However I would never say I was English just because some of my family is and I've picked up a little habit based on that. I was born in the US, which means I'm American. I totally do want to live in rural Yorkshire one day, though.
 

smkie

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#34
ONe hundred percent
American bred
Mutt.
THat's me.
A little of this,
a little of that.
Would you adopt me?
If I was a dog?
 

Torch

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#35
I've never really been terribly interested in knowing all the minute details of my heritage. I know I'm American and that's usually good enough for me :rofl1: There are some interesting facts that I occasionally think on.

I'm mostly a mish-mash too. My father's family is primarily German and French, the French actually being French-Canadian, trappers and hunters that have been in North America for several hundred years. The German side has some Scottish and came to America in the late 1800s. Think woodsman meets farmer lol.

My mother's family is a bit more unknown. I know her father was of primarily Scottish descent, with one generation of English blood before coming to America (male ancestor from Scotland comes to England to travel to America, falls in love with an English girl and marries her.) They came to America in the early 1900s.

My mother's mother was 1/2 Cherokee, 1/4 Irish, and 1/4 Mexican. She was abandoned by her birth mother and only found out about her ancestry as an adult. She was raised in Oklahoma knowing who her birth father was but not her birth mother.
 

Shai

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#36
100% German

Hubby is a mix of pretty much all of Europe, but mostly England and France.

I find it interesting, that Americans tend to be very obsessed (? wrong word maybe) with their heritage and everyone knows what portions what they are and no ever really says, I'm American when asked where they come from. For example:
A friend of mines great-great-grandparents are from Italy and Slowania. She neither speaks the language, nor has she ever been there. But when asked where she is from, she always answers Italy and Slowania... which is so odd to me, because SHE herself is not from there.
I grew up in an extremely German part of the U.S. The actual Germans-from-Germany were 5-6 generations back but almost our entire current older population spoke at home as kids and many are still proficient in the language. It wasn't until the World Wars that they stopped speaking it at their main language, due to social/political perception.

That said I don't think I've ever told anyone that *I* am German, just that my ancestors were, and that goes for my whole area. People may say they are germanic, but not German. And I have actually be (briefly) to Germany, but I was a tourist not a local :p.

ONe hundred percent
American bred
Mutt.
THat's me.
A little of this,
a little of that.
Would you adopt me?
If I was a dog?
Heck, as long as you keep making those beautiful bird sculptures I'd adopt you right now, as a human :p

But if you ever find yourself a muttly dog, Kim, Webster, and Mira welcome you as a sister.
 

RottenFlower

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#37
My dad's mom was Spanish, Filipina + Chinese (her father was a Spaniard and her mother was 1/2 Filipina, 1/2 Chinese). My dad's dad is mostly German, I think. My mom's side of the family is Scot/Irish, Native American and other that I don't know.

So I am a mutt of the highest order.
 

*blackrose

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#38
Everyone usually assumes I am italian lol
Me, too! I was asked once if I was Greek. Um, no.

And when people ask me where I'm from, I most definitely say I'm American. But when they ask what my heritage is...I'm a German mutt. ^^
 

Airn

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#39
I've tried to trace back my heritage but my grandparents share so little it's very difficult to find the correct links. I think I have some Blackfoot Indian (probably so little it's not worth mentioning). My great-grandmother immigrated from Wales, so there's that. I'm told we're 'mostly German' so I usually say Native American and German. I continue to use the Blackfoot mostly because I apparently look very much like my great-grandmother who was like 3/4 Blackfoot. So that tends to help when I say "German" and get these odd looks. Otherwise... that's about it.

The only reason I wanted to trace it back was because I found it interesting. I love history and as someone has said, when you don't feel like you have that link to a past, you tend to want it even more. I would never say I'M German. I'm not from Germany, I don't speak the language. My ancestors are from there (probably). I also get annoyed at the "I'm Irish-American." comments when your family has been here so long they've just figured red hair= Irish. :popcorn:

I am jealous of people who actually have a history of their family, though.
 

AllieMackie

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#40
Third generation Canadian. Bonafide.

But if we're talking geneology/lineage, it's 100% Scottish on both sides. Isle of Barra on my mom's side, Kintyre on my dad's side. I have full family trees for both sides dating back to the 1600's. Cool stuff!
 

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