Thanks, Ernest. I too agree with Prof. Handler. One thing I would mention that we used to talk about in Jamaica was the habit of "tracing" people's ancestries while sitting around chatting of an evening. Of course, this could also be done in a pejorative way, as you can imagine! As a child I remember my parents and my maiden aunts sitting on the front verandah of a Sunday evening "tracing" some family or the other, most of which consisted of maybe going back one or two generations and making connections. I found this quite boring at the time, but it's amazing how some of what was said seeped into my unconcious and has popped up from time to time since I've been researching my family ... all of a sudden a name comes up and I say: "Wow! I remember them talking about that". Really it was more in the nature of who married who and who had which children, and so on. Nothing more than that, and I imagine most West Indian researchers will have experienced this with their own families. Good to hear from you! Dorothy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ernest M. Wiltshire" <murcot@synapse.net> To: <caribbean@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2009 9:36 PM Subject: Re: [Carib] Fw: Oral History & Caribbean Geneologies? > 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 > > *************************** > 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

Another very good response re Jamaica: Subject: Oral History & Caribbean Geneologies From: "Bennett, Natalie" <NBENNET1@depaul.edu> Date: Sun, October 4, 2009 6:07 pm David - While the claims of these students may reflect their own family traditions, it is hardly accurate for them to say that these are the traditions of "Barbadians", "Jamaicans", etc. Too often generalized claims about cultural practices in the Caribbean are based on scant evidence and individual experiences. I am aware of the recitation practice, because my own paternal grandmother did it, however, I considered that practice particular to where she lived - a village in the mountains where many elderly persons still live in wattle and daub structures. However, I have never heard of the practice anywhere else beyond that place. My maternal grandmother had her own method of conveying family history to me; she used pieces of furniture and trees as symbols of different persons. But, again, I've never heard of anybody else doing that. Natalie D. A. Bennett, PhD Assistant Professor Women's & Gender Studies DePaul University Byrne Hall, 4th Floor 2219 N. Kenmore Avenue Chicago, IL 60614-4412 phone: 773.325.4047 fax: 773.325.4412 edress: nbennet1@depaul.edu web: www.depaul.edu/~wms -----Original Message----- From: caribbean-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:caribbean-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Dorothy Kew Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 7:31 AM To: Caribbean List Subject: [Carib] Fw: Oral History & Caribbean Geneologies? Thanks, Ernest. I too agree with Prof. Handler. One thing I would mention that we used to talk about in Jamaica was the habit of "tracing" people's ancestries while sitting around chatting of an evening. Of course, this could also be done in a pejorative way, as you can imagine! As a child I remember my parents and my maiden aunts sitting on the front verandah of a Sunday evening "tracing" some family or the other, most of which consisted of maybe going back one or two generations and making connections. I found this quite boring at the time, but it's amazing how some of what was said seeped into my unconcious and has popped up from time to time since I've been researching my family ... all of a sudden a name comes up and I say: "Wow! I remember them talking about that". Really it was more in the nature of who married who and who had which children, and so on. Nothing more than that, and I imagine most West Indian researchers will have experienced this with their own families. Good to hear from you! Dorothy

Jerry Handler has reprimanded me (below) for the error of my ways: I hang my head in shame! Ernest "...Barbados was settled in 1627,not 1637 (obviously a typo), the amerindians in Dominica are not Arawaks, but the descendants of so-called Caribs, and people speaking Arawakan languages live in Guyana...there is no such thing as an Arawak ethnic group...sorry, to be so anthropological about this"...