Where did you come from? Researching family history can be a challenge, especially the further you reach back into your family’s past, but there are experts out there to help bring the past a bit closer. The Yorkton Genealogy Association will host a seminar on Sept. 28, 2019 to reach out to the community and help them in their search for their family’s past.
The event is open to everyone, but speakers will focus on areas with the largest population in the region, First Nations and Eastern Europe.
Yorkton Genealogy Association president Gerald Moriarty said that their goal is to bring in a wealth of information to help people, many of whom might be running into roadblocks in their own research.
“A lot of times, birth, death and marriage records differ from family history. I have that in my family. Every family had its secrets, a lot of the secrets stopped at the border. At the dock in Halifax, everything stayed back in the old country... What they left behind, stayed behind, for some good reason, everybody started fresh.”
Three presenters will be at the event. John Pihach will cover genealogy from Eastern Europe, Ukraine, Astria and Galcia. Earl Schultz will cover the topic of DNA tracking in research. Lorna Hanowski will cover researching First Nations ancestry. The morning will have presentations, while the afternoon will workshops with more one on one advice.
“These geneologists can tell you how to get around the roadblocks and where to look,” Moriarty said.
Finding family history can be a fascinating subject, and Moriarty’s own research has taken him far back in the past.
“I have traced my family back to the 1700s, and my total ambition is to go far enough back to find a guy standing underneath an apple tree with a fig leaf!” Moriarty joked.
They are also encouraging people to get their DNA tested to find more about their family history, both in general and by inviting Schultz to present. Moriarty said it’s useful because you can find those common ancestors you didn’t know about.
“DNA is the proof in the pudding. If you’ve got a DNA match, you know you’ve got an ancestor back there.”
They want more people looking, because you never know who you’re going to find.
“I looked for 60 years for a cousin, and I finally found them, and I found a couple other ones that I didn’t know about. They’re my family, and family is family is family no matter what the situation,” said Moriarty.
The Yorkton Tribal Council is on board as a sponsor. Trevor Acoose with the YTC said they wanted to get involved because it’s important to get a complete view of family history.
“It’s always nice to see different sides of events that have happened throughout history. I was speaking to one individual here who has ties to Louis Riel, but on the other side we have the First Nations perspective through oral history. It will be interesting to see how these events unfold and we learn both sides of history.”
Studying family history is about the history of the land, and the future of it as well, and Acoose is happy to see an event that brings different groups together to explore that history.
“We all share the land, we all participate in the land. In our opinion, from the First Nations perspective, the land is very sacred, and we’ve been here for generations, non-First Nations have been here for generations, and we interacted for the last 150 years, we’re going to continue to interact, and it’s always nice to see how it all started, and how we’ve interacted over all these years.”
The event is all-day at the Painted Hand Casino on Sept. 28, with lunch included. Registration is $45 before Aug. 27, $55 after. The event is limited o 100 people. Register with Cindy Koroluik at 306-542-7182.
