I'm not an historian, but I have to agree with Ernest. I've been researching Jamaican ancestry for twenty years and have never come across any such thing as a "sung genealogy". Dorothy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ernest M. Wiltshire" <murcot@synapse.net> To: <caribbean@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2009 4:53 PM Subject: Re: [Carib] Fw: Oral History & Caribbean Geneologies? >I have seen this item on the H-Caribbean List and another friend also > forwarded it to me for my comments. > I am extremely puzzled at the idea of a Barbadian with Arawak ancestry: > when > the island was settled circa 1637, there were none of the original > inhabitants there so I do not understand how such a genealogy going back > to > 1596 would even be possible. > There is of course still an Arawak presence in Dominica and in (British) > Guiana, but I know of no Arawak links to Barbados. Can anyone on the List > shed any light on this? > As for the Jamaican "sung genealogies" I can't say that I have ever heard > of > such a thing in any of the islands in which I lived (including 3 years in > Jamaica). And what link is there between Jamaica and the slave markets in > he > Carolinas? I seriously doubt that slaves in Jamaica came there via the > mainland and not directly from Africa (or at least via Barbados!) > Historians please: Any serious scholarly evidence for these claims? > Ernest > > -----Original Message----- > From: caribbean-bounces@rootsweb.com > [mailto:caribbean-bounces@rootsweb.com] > 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> >> 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 > > > *************************** > 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.14.3/2413 - Release Date: 10/04/09 06:20:00

I, too, am very slim on the history of slavery. (I did recently read with angst the slave ads run in the Savannah Morning News in 1852.) That said, I do know that the aborigines of Australia have "song lines" that are actually geographic directions to travel to certain distant places. I've always just assumed songs are the perfect way for peoples to relate important knowledge. Poetry, after all, predates prose in nearly all cultures. I would love to hear one of these genealogy songs. Cheers, happy hunting, Laura On Oct 4, 2009, at 5:28 PM, Dorothy Kew wrote: > I'm not an historian, but I have to agree with Ernest. I've been > researching Jamaican ancestry for twenty years and have never come > across > any such thing as a "sung genealogy". >>

Thanks Dorothy. Here is Prof. Handler's response with which I wholeheartedly agree! _______ Subject: Oral History & Caribbean Genealogies From: "Jerome Handler" <jh3v@virginia.edu> Date: Sun, October 4, 2009 1:03 pm I cannot address the Jamaican situation David Trotman mentions, but I find it absolutely incredulous that any modern Barbadian could authentically validate and demonstrate, let alone claim, his/her ancestry to the aboriginal inhabitants of the island. Moreover, although there is ample archaeological evidence for Amerindians in Barbados in pre-colonial times, there is no evidence that they inhabited the island when it was colonized by the English in the 1620s; however, a small group of Amerindians, so-called "Arawaks", was brought to the island from South America not long after colonization. That this particular student claims "Arawak ancestry" in her family "back to 1596" is interesting but raises an issue that has nothing to do with historical or geneological veracity. Jerome Handler, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities -----Original Message----- From: caribbean-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:caribbean-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Dorothy Kew Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2009 5:28 PM To: caribbean@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [Carib] Fw: Oral History & Caribbean Geneologies? I'm not an historian, but I have to agree with Ernest. I've been researching Jamaican ancestry for twenty years and have never come across any such thing as a "sung genealogy". Dorothy