I have heard of sung genealogies in Africa, at least in "Roots" (the book by Alex Haley, not the made-for-TV movie). ?It is possible a Barbadian could trace her or her roots to Arawaks, but only if her ancestors came to Barbados from neighboring islands. ?(My grandmother, for instance, would have fit that description, but she was only a Barbadian because her parents moved there from St. Vincent). ?I have always read, and heard while on Barbados, that for whatever reason (epidemic disease introduced from Europe, Carib raids, internal warfare, local malthusian crisis, take your pick) there were no native Barbadians left by the time the place was colonized. -----Original Message----- From: Augusta Elmwood <augustae@bellsouth.net> To: CARIBBEAN Roots Web <caribbean@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sun, Oct 4, 2009 3:11 pm Subject: [Carib] Fw: Oral History & Caribbean Geneologies? Hi, everyone, I received the message below from the H-Caribbean list. Even if we can't help, it certainly is worth sharing. Augusta Elmwood in rainy-Sunday New Orleans ----- Original Message ----- From: "Audra A. Diptee" <adiptee@MAIL.H-NET.MSU.EDU> To: <H-CARIBBEAN@H-NET.MSU.EDU> Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2009 9:15 AM Subject: Oral History & Caribbean Geneologies? > From: David V. Trotman <dtrotman@yorku.ca> > Date: Sat, October 3, 2009 9:28 am > Subject: Oral History & Caribbean Geneologies? > > A colleague at York University reported the following from his class on > genealogy: > > "Meanwhile, Winnie, Jamaican, reeled off eleven generations. Back into the > slave times. > > Well now, that beguiled us all, in our classroom. > > We asked how she did that. > > She said that Jamaican families sing their genealogies. The tune and > rhythm is shared, but the content is your own. These songs string you > back, in Winnie's case, through the maroons up-country, and then, these > days, allow the modern family to link the sung record to written records > of the slave markets of the Carolinas". > > In response to this a graduate student, from Barbados, claiming Arawak > ancestry declared: > > "I think this is entirely possible...I can trace my geneology back to 1596 > so I don't see why this student can't. We don't sing ours though. We do it > as a response to the question "who are you?" with the response for me > being, I am Leilani, child of Elizabeth, child of Janice, child of Martha, > child of The Lucky One, child of Amorotahe Haubariria, child of Amorotahe, > grandchild of Wiwakaleme, child of the great Harpy eagle. I am a Harpy > Eagle Lokono". > > Do other members of the list know of the existence of these practices in > the Caribbean? > > If so, how widespread is this? Is there any published research on this > aspect of the oral tradition in the Caribbean? > > David V. Trotman > Department of History/Division of Humanities > York University *************************** The Caribbean List now has a Resources Page at Historic Antigua and Barbuda http://www.rootsweb.com/~atgwgw/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CARIBBEAN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message