Genealogy, Volume 7, Issue 2 (June 2023) – 19 articles

The recent proliferation of DNA testing in both popular culture and higher education calls to question whether such testing reifies race as a biological construct and, in particular, whether or not it disrupts or reinforces monoracial categorizations. Graduate students, who are often at a point in their educational journeys to further question and critique commonly held ideas, provide a unique lens through which to investigate discourses surrounding DNA testing. In this qualitative study, we analyze data from four focus groups with 22 racially diverse U.S. graduate students who had recently completed an ancestry test. We identify two specific discourses that graduate student participants engaged in, including (a) a biological race discourse and (b) an agentic choice discourse. Together, these discourses produced distinct unsettled subjectivities for Black and White participants. Our findings suggest the need to more critically consider the usage of DNA ancestry testing in and out of higher education and to provide further nuance around the validity of these tests as they relate to the social construction of race. Full article

As a means of opening the lid on transgenerational silencing—which was a survival strategy for thousands of Indigenous families against intended cultural genocide—while balancing the place of auto/biography in that journey, this paper focuses on the impact of Ancestors’ hidden histories and how the discovery of those histories drives complex identifications when woven with Presences, places, and people on Dharug Ngurra/Country. Using my own family’s recently uncovered early colonial Ancestral storying, histories that involve Dharug traditional custodian, African slave, and Anglo characters, some as First Fleet arrivals, the paper considers the place of auto/biography as a form of agency that brings past into presence, and which, in turn, opens opportunities to heal, decolonise, and transform Dharug and, more broadly, Indigenous communities, their knowledges, practices, and ontologies. When this activation involves most of the metropolis known as Sydney, Australia, we recognise its transformative potential to change non-Indigenous people’s perspectives. When we recognise auto/biography as a form of ‘truth-telling’, it allows a space to re-story relationality, both human and other-than-human, and restores Indigenous presence into Ngurra for biodiverse justice in a climate-changing world. Addressing these matters through poetic multimedia allows a place of safety between the pain and the healing. Full article

Approximately 3600 Korean children have been adopted to Australia, as of 2023. Existing studies have tended to approach transnational or intercountry adoption from child development, social welfare, or identity perspectives. Research on Korean adoption to Australia is relatively scarce. The current article approaches the population from a migration perspective, building on Richard Weil’s conceptualization of transnational adoption as “quiet migration.” Drawing on both Korean-language data from South Korean governments and Australian data, the authors analyse Korean adoption to Australia as a state-sanctioned transnational migratory mechanism that facilitated the orderly movement of children from so-called “deficient” families of predominantly single mothers in South Korea to adoptive families in Australia. Situating adoption practices within the socio-political contexts and larger migration trends of both countries, the authors identify multiple enabling factors for channelling the ‘quiet’ flow of Korean children for adoption and argue the very ‘quietness’ of the adoption system is a source of concern despite Australia’s relatively stringent regulations. A migration perspective and analysis of these enabling factors contributes to the conceptualization of adoption as a socio-political state-sanctioned phenomenon, rather than a solely private family affair. Full article

As schools and universities are under attack for educating students about race, racism, and other topics with deep roots that directly link to our current societal challenges, we must find and utilize meaningful tools of resistance. This article is a collaborative auto-ethnographic narrative inquiry that presents the stories of two professors and two students who engaged in the reflective work of critical family history (CFH). Currently, merely mentioning the word racism is so troubling to many politicians whose ideas are rooted in White supremacist ideology that laws are being passed in the U.S. to ban books on certain topics about race and LGBTQIA+ issues so that students cannot even read about these topics. A Tennessee law recently passed in both the state House and Senate seriously diminishes and limits how professors teach putative “divisive topics” related to race and its societal impact at the college level. A valuable teaching tool, critical family history, offers an impactful approach for us, especially for educators, to face the truth about the complexity of our lives and our ancestors, specifically in relation to issues of race—in a subtle, yet powerful way that is grounded in courage, wisdom, and compassion. The findings in this article are both surprising and troubling, which points to why educators need to seek ways to incorporate CFH in their work to dismantle racism. Full article

This review aims to establish criteria for identifying an adoption process in an archaeological context. We define adoption as raising an individual who does not belong genetically to the family. Adoption appears in different moments of past societies, and when establishing a “family” nucleus burial place we must consider certain social behaviors, such as burials under the houses, collective burials, or laying bodies in specific positions. After observing these signs, we are carrying out a genetic analysis, in order to confirm a biologically related family nucleus. These traces have been traditionally linked to family nuclei because they have been found previously in burials where biological kinship was confirmed. However, there can be cases where, after carrying out the genetic analyses, it is confirmed that certain individuals are not genetically related. In such cases, an adoption case cannot be ruled out. These cases are not easy to identify due to the differences between societies and cultures, so more in-depth studies should be carried out on the type of funeral practice in which these human remains are found to be able to discriminate an adopted individual from one who was not adopted. Therefore, the study of adoption should be carried out based on an in-depth knowledge of the cultural background, before using a powerful tool such as ancient DNA technology. Full article

We live in a world that desperately wishes to ignore centuries of racial divisions and hierarchies by positioning multiracial people as a declaration of a post-racial society. The latest U.S. 2020 Census results show that the U.S. population has grown in racial and ethnic diversity in the last ten years, with the white population decreasing. Our U.S. systems of policies, economy, and well-being are based upon “scientific” constructions of racial difference, hierarchy, Blackness, and fearmongering around miscegenation (racial mixing) that condemn proximity to Blackness. Driven by our respective multiracial Latinx and Asian experiences and entry points to anti-Blackness, this project explores the history of Latinx and Asian racialization and engagement with anti-Blackness. Racial hierarchy positions our communities as honorary whites and employs tactics to complicate solidarity and coalition. This project invites engagement in consciousness-raising in borderlands as sites of transformation as possible methods of addressing structural anti-Blackness. Full article

The secession campaign in Catalonia created a political fracture into two sizeable and opposing citizenry segments, those who favored secession from Spain and those who were against it. In a series of longitudinal studies covering the entire period of regular surveys made by the official polling agency of the Regional Government (2006–2019), we showed that this fissure operated mainly through an ethnolinguistic cleavage based on family language and ascendancy origins. Media outlets linked to successive pro-secession Regional Governments accentuated the division. Here we extend these analyses till 2022, to capture potential variations in such a division across the five years following the failed secession attempt of October 2017. Present findings confirm the persistence of the fissure along similar lines: family language interacts with the influence of regional partisan media to keep the fracture alive, though with trends denoting an attenuation of antagonistic identity alignments. We detected, as well, a turning point for the attenuation of both political confrontation and social division, within a conflict that has not been solved, albeit it appears mitigated. We discuss how elapsed time after secession failure and the effects of several political and non-political events might have helped to dampen down divisive tensions and repair a serious fracture produced by the secession push. Full article

This research aimed to understand the process adult Colombian adoptees raised in the United States of America go through to define themselves in the context of race and ethnicity. The research followed a qualitative narrative methodology, in which six participants were interviewed twice regarding their experiences with transracial and transnational adoption and their ethnic and racial identity process. The results suggest that identity is a dynamic process. Our research also confirms Colombian’s history of unethical adoptions and its influence on the complexity of identity and loss of adult Colombian adoptees. Throughout the article, the researchers use the term biological family referring to Colombian birth families. However, we acknowledge that other terms (i.e., first, natural, original, etc.) are also used in the adoptee community. Full article

This article seeks to investigate the design and creation of several models and dioramas of Holocaust death camps as spatial and historical representations of Holocaust memory. It broadly discusses their use as pedagogical tools, forms of art, testimonial expression and memorialization. It also addresses questions concerning the intention of their designers and creators, as well as the ethical considerations of recreating these spaces. Full article

In forced migration literature, there is a lack of studies on the impact of war trauma on interpersonal mistrust among refugees and their interpersonal trust in members of the host society. To contribute to filling this gap, the author studied the impact of war trauma on interpersonal mistrust among Syrian refugees in Germany and their interpersonal trust in Germans. The data are based on semi-structured qualitative interviews with 20 Syrian refugees and asylum-seekers conducted in 2018 and 2019. The author argues that because traumatised refugees are powerfully influenced by past traumatic events experienced in their home country, they tend to mistrust people who can be associated with the place where these traumatic experiences occurred. In contrast, they are inclined to trust people who cannot be linked to the geographical location of the traumatic experiences. The main result of this study is that similarity—that of war-traumatised refugees sharing the same socio-cultural backgrounds—leads to interpersonal mistrust, while dissimilarity leads to interpersonal trust. The author of this paper calls for considering trust-building among war traumatised refugees, which has significant importance for refugee integration. Full article

Background: Discrimination, racism, harassment, stereotyping, and bullying are a significant issue for medical students as they create a hostile environment with detrimental effect on student wellbeing and educational experience. Findings suggest that though prevalent, reporting of these experiences is rare and perceived as ineffective. Objectives: This scoping review aims to map the trends, types, and nature of discrimination, harassment, bullying, stereotyping, intimidation, and racism reports in undergraduate medical education in the UK since 2010 and to determine areas of focus for undertaking full systematic reviews in the future. Method: A search was conducted using the MEDLINE, AHMED, CINHL, and EMBASE electronic databases from 2010 up to February 2022 in English. Only primary research papers (e.g., cohort studies, cross-sectional studies, and case series) that report the words/phrases discrimination (including gender and racial), harassment (including verbal, sexual, academic, and physical), bullying, stereotype, intimidation, and racism within medical education in the UK after 2010, following the Equity Act 2010, were eligible for inclusion. Results: Five relevant articles relating to discrimination, harassment, bullying, stereotyping, intimidation, and racism in medical schools in the UK were included. Three themes were identified across these studies. Conclusions: The data suggest that there is a high prevalence rate of discrimination, harassment, and stereotyping being experienced by ethnic minority undergraduate medical students in the UK. There is underreporting due to perceived and structural barriers. The identified studies suggest that less progress has been made in these areas. Full article

Regarding human identification in armed conflicts, various complications can be observed. Usually, such difficulties can be social-related, which can include the lack of access to the relative’s genetic material, or the unwillingness of administrative and judicial authorities to participate in the process of identification. In the case of genetics, the analysis allows identifying the individual from a blood sample, a part of an organ, or from skeletal remains, which is why it is considered a much more extensive and effective method when compared with fingerprint techniques or odontology. However, several factors can prevent this identification, such as considerably degraded genetic material. For successful identification, it is mandatory to have access to antemortem biological samples unequivocally attributed to the individual in question, using recombinant nuclear markers, as well as using biological samples from close relatives, whether parents or sons. Nevertheless, the problems associated with armed conflicts make this type of study very difficult. In this article, we focus on the main difficulties encountered when identifying an individual victim of an armed conflict, as well as on the possibilities that exist and on viable measures that could be required to improve the identification of these victims. Full article

Rose Selwyn (1824–1905) was a first wave Australian feminist and public speaker. The poetry, art, and scraps of writing Rose left in her archive allow the reader to piece together an intellectual history, a genealogy of the making of self. Rose attained her way of being through several contemporary influences—the mysticism of Tractarianism, a concern with death and its meanings, an interest in the literary edges of the world, a concern with the suffering body, and a passion for women and a woman-centred world. From these tangled contemporary concerns, she made a feminism for all non-Aboriginal women apparent in her speeches. Her role as a colonising woman in a violent landscape created a complex relationship with Aboriginal people where she may be seen to be criticising her elite landholding (squatter) peers and introducing concepts such as an Aboriginal parliament. Full article

The former Kingdom of Granada, comprising the provinces of Granada, Málaga, and Almería (GMA), was once inhabited for over 700 years (711–1492 AD) by a North African population, which influenced its creation and establishment. The genetic data on 15 autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) in 245 unrelated donor residents were examined in order to assess any possible admixture. As the two surnames in Spain follow an inheritance similar to the Y chromosome, both surnames of all 245 unrelated individuals were queried and annotated. The Spanish Statistics Office website was consulted to determine the regions with the highest frequency of individuals born bearing each surname. Further, several heraldry and lineage pages were examined to determine the historical origin of the surnames. By AMOVA and STRUCTURE analysis, the populations of the three provinces can be treated genetically as a single population. The analysis of allele frequencies and genetic distance demonstrated that the GMA population lay in the Spanish population group but was slightly more similar to the North African populations than the remainder of the Spanish populations. In addition, the surnames of most individuals originated in Northern and Central Spain, whereas most surnames had higher frequencies in Southern Spain. These results confirm that the GMA population shows no characteristics that reflect a greater genetic influence of North African people than the rest of the populations of the Iberian Peninsula. This feature is consistent with the historical data that African inhabitants were expelled or isolated during the repopulation of the region with Spaniards from Northern Spain. The knowledge of present populations and their genetic history is essential for better statistical results in kinship analyses. Full article

Through this study, it has been possible to establish an accurate prediction of the physical characteristics, biogeographical origin, and genealogical ancestry of a previously obscured historical figure: The Princess Lady Leonor of Castile (1256–1275), one of the legitimate daughters of the Spanish King Alfonso X “The Wise”. The genetic analysis of External Visible Characteristics in the mummified remains attributed to this Princess has allowed determining her origin by mitochondrial and nuclear DNA analysis, and her physical appearance for hair, eyes, and skin color by autosomal SNPs. The results show that the mummified remains correspond to a young European woman with black hair, green-hazel eyes, and white skin. Her physical appearance has not been possible to be compared with any pictorial source, but the biogeographical analysis results are consistent with the historiographic genealogical information. Full article

Phoenicians were probably the first eastern Mediterranean population to establish long-distance connections with the West, namely the Iberian Peninsula, from the final Bronze to the early Iron Age. For a long time, these colonies all over the Mediterranean Sea directly depended on an important city administration, Gadir, the most important metropolis in the Western Mediterranean. Modern archaeological excavations were discovered in Cadiz (Spain), the ancient city of Gadir, as well as possible Phoenician burial places. The purpose of the present work is the molecular study of 16 individuals, (V–IV millennium B.C, V A.D.) from several burial places found in Cadiz, attempting to disclose their maternal biogeographical ancestry. Furthermore, the determination of a possible biological link between two individuals found buried together was also an objective of this investigation. Of all the 16 analyzed individuals, eight of them produced positive results. Three main lineages were found: HV0, H and L3b. In general, the results support an Eastern origin for this set of individuals, reinforcing the theory of a Phoenician origin. Due to their historical period, in some cases, it was not possible to discard a Roman origin. Finally, the maternal kinship between two individuals found buried together was discarded. Full article

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the popular pastime of exploring one’s family history can unleash strong emotions, both positive and negative. The aim of this study was to chart the extent and nature of negative emotions among family historians, and profile those most vulnerable to distress. Data from an online survey of 775 adult Australian hobbyist family historians showed nearly two-thirds experienced strong distressing emotions such as anger, shock and sadness while researching their forebears. Triggers included discoveries which led to feelings of betrayal and distrust or posed moral dilemmas. Also distressing were findings about ancestors who behaved badly, were treated cruelly/unfairly, or who experienced tragedy. Family historians who reported strong negative emotions were more likely than those who did not to be younger, female, spend more time on their hobby, have half-siblings, driven by the motive for greater self-understanding, and score higher on the personality trait of openness to experience but lower on emotional stability. The study is important because it raises issues of (a) what support is available to family historians who find their discoveries strongly distressing and (b) whether purveyors of genealogical research products should provide more education and support to their clients. Full article

Analysis of refugee experiences often stands in the context of broad and visible experiences, despite the accounts of child refugees consistently recalling their experiences through domestic, everyday experience. Over 80 years since the Kindertransport, the autobiographical literature bears witness to the lived realities of Kindertransport refugees, standing as memorials to their alternative experiences of the Holocaust. This paper addresses accounts shared through autobiographical texts, arguing that the Kinder constantly negotiated their identity performance in response to new ‘home’ spaces, creating new relationships with space in the homes of others. This article discusses spatial theory and identity performance to analyse the ways in which domestic spaces were a defining factor in the Kinder’s experiences and identity development, and likewise, how the Kinder’s experiences shaped their perceptions of domestic space. Everyday experiences exert affective impacts through repetitive encounters, and the Kindertransport saw children immersed in new everyday norms. Entering new, shared spaces during childhood, the Kinder experienced long-lasting impacts on identity development as they became distanced from familiar norms and suddenly immersed in new alternatives. Kinder found themselves with limited privacy in seemingly private homes as they entered into already-inhabited domestic environments. Blurred boundaries between public and private within these spaces contributed to an unusual constancy of performance as the Kinder were constantly before an audience. Full article

Music occupies a unique and multi-faceted role in spatial representation of the Holocaust, both in terms of documenting its horrors and in cultivating legacy. This uniqueness derives from music’s dual temporal and physical essence as it is represented by written scores that serve as a blueprint, as sonic events that fill both time and space, and as musical instruments that operate as conduits for both. String instruments, in particular, have occupied a vital place in Jewish culture and, consequently, during the Holocaust. In the most tragic sense, some of these instruments even became actual containers of genocidal evidence as with violins played outside concentration camp crematoria that filled with the human ash that fell. This article will demonstrate that, when played, these instruments transform into living artifacts and musical witnesses, with voices that can speak for those who have been silenced, and that the resulting music that resonates from the printed page fills a sonic space that serves as a powerful medium for memory and representation. The phrase “bearing witness” often refers to representing the stories of people, places, and experiences through words, either written or spoken. But material culture also has a role to play in representation. While objects, art, and architecture certainly support language-based witness, they also provide their own unique lens and conduit for testimony. This seems especially true for music, which has the ability to exist as and cross between both words and objects. Nevertheless, music as material witness remains a complex and often understudied aspect of historical testimony. As a result, this paper will explore through an interdisciplinary approach the divergent nature of music as an aural form, as a creative art, and as a cultural artifact and will offer examples of how music can enhance, elucidate, and complicate Holocaust representation. Full article