As Canada celebrates 150 years, you may have decided you’d like to do a special Canada 150 family project. How about tracing your family tree?
Genealogy research has come a long way. While recording births, deaths and marriages is still vital to research, genealogists have also expanded their information to include photographs and family stories. It is never too early to ask relatives for these stories, because in the span of just a few short years, your family “historians” may pass away, and there will be no one left to ask about certain details. Begin now!
Write down your own stories. Things have changed at an accelerated pace in the last 100 years. Today’s children find it hard to imagine black and white televisions with one channel, or “party line” phones, or record players. So write down these stories; they are the new “pioneer” stories.
If you are interested in more detailed and in-depth research, you might explore the possibility of using a DNA kit to find out more about your family genetic makeup. If you search on-line under “DNA tests for genealogy”, you will find a variety of products and kits available to help you find out about people who possibly might share your DNA.
Some companies provide “autosomal DNA tests” which explore DNA from both parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. This type of testing can also give your ethnic makeup by percentage. “Y-DNA” tests trace direct paternal lines, and can give matches who share direct paternal ancestry, as well as ancestral migration routes, while “mtDNA” tests trace maternal lines, and can give matches who share common direct maternal ancestry.
These tests may also give information about possibilities of certain health conditions.
Before you decide to use any of this kind of testing, please do your homework before proceeding. There may be more information given than you really want to know, and only you can determine if these tests are the way you want to proceed in your research. Consider carefully and with caution.
You may prefer the more traditional forms of genealogy research, which will be just as important and interesting to future generations of your family. Whatever you record will give your relatives a sense of time and place in the family, and this permanent recording of your family history will give you a great sense of personal satisfaction.
If you would like help to get started, members of the Yorkton branch of the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society will be available at the 62nd Annual Threshermen’s Show and Seniors’ Festival at the Western Development Museum, Yorkton, on August 5 and 6. Stop by their table and find out more about how to get started on genealogy research!
And while the group takes July and August off, the Yorkton branch of the SGS will meet again on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the Yorkton Public Library starting in September. Meetings usually have a featured topic or speaker, and genealogists at any stage of research are welcome. You will find conversations and experiences that will help you on your family quest. There is no better time to record your family history than right now.
Every family has a story: discover yours with the Yorkton branch of the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society!
submitted by
Debbie Hayward
