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Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2006-09 > 1157129742


From: OrinWells <>
Subject: Re: [GENEALOGY-DNA] West pond Bias
Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2006 09:55:42 -0700
References: <4e5f821d50john@cartmell.demon.co.uk>
In-Reply-To: <4e5f821d50john@cartmell.demon.co.uk>


The last thing we want to see is a bias toward the US. It just
happens, for whatever reason, as a percentage of the population there
seem to be more people in the US who are interested in genealogy than
is generally true in other countries. But, if you scratch a US
genealogist, he/she is still interested in genealogy for the
ancestors who come from other countries. I have ancestry from
England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Sweden and probably more
others than I know. EVERYONE in the US has off-shore ancestry other
than the Native Americans whose roots are so deep there is no
possibility of ever reaching back to documented ancestry anywhere else.

This list was originally set up to help people who were getting
involved in DNA testing to supplement and augment their genealogical
work. Somewhere along the way many of us have gotten distracted by
the haplogroups and deep ancestry almost to the exclusion of the
original genealogical objectives. Some of us have not. Not that it
is bad, but other than providing hints to where one might want to
look for the missing ancestors, it seldom contributes a lot to the
actual names and other information of specific ancestors that most
genealogists are or should be seeking.

I have not had anyone come to my project wanting to find out if their
ancestors were Vikings. They want to find out the identity of the
parents and earlier ancestors of their Henry Wells born in
1806. This means, in many cases, they are intensely interested in
who it was that came over from the UK in a tiny ship on a 3 month
voyage in unbelievably difficult conditions.

If there is an American who is not interested in European
genealogists and DNA or in Canadian, Australian, Asian, South
American, Russian etc. then they are making a mistake. I can point
to American Wells families with members who came for all of these
places or had branches go off to them.

We certainly do not want to run any of you off because you may be
able to provide that critical link to our own ancestry.

I would say if anyone posts something that is so US-centric as to be
impossible for our off-shore cousins to understand, please raise your
hand and ask. Someone will be happy to help you out.


At 04:15 AM 9/1/2006, John Cartmell wrote:
>NB Not a complaint - just a 'did you appreciate that . . . ?'
>
>I'm catching up on some old unread mailings in this list and am constantly
>having to translate comments. They are clearly set in a foreign country and
>with the assumption that all readers live in that same foreign country and
>share the same language, mores, and myths.
>
>If it's true that GENEALOGY-DNA-L is specifically designed solely for USAians
>then, as an interloper, I'm happy to stick my head back behind the parapet. If
>it's not true then it might be worth a reminder that there are different
>perspectives across the Atlantic/Pacific and north and south of those borders
>- and we don't all speak US-English.
>
>And before hackles rise! ;-)
>I think I'm correct in believing that most USAians here are searching their
>heritage which lies outside the USA - and they need to appreciate the culture
>and language differences just as much as we outside the USA need to learn
>USAian just to discuss our culture
>
>--
> John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
> Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
> Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing
>
>
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Orin R. Wells
Wells Family Research Association
P. O. Box 5427
Kent, Washington 98064-5427
<>
http://www.wells.org
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