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Over the years, genealogy has been a source of interest to people of many cultures. Information was passed down through generations by the stories and songs of elders in the community, or through the preservation of family information and artifacts. Government sources – census, birth and death registry, land records, and much more, have provided both the professional and the amateur genealogist with much information to learn about their family history. The interest in genealogy has greatly expanded in the last number of years, enhanced by the information age and in particular, the internet.
For the individual student, genealogy is his or her own a link to history, on a personal as well as a global basis. In the past, as today, a particular historical event may have a profound effect on the students and their families. Our ancestors have witnessed, experienced, or participated in global migrations, nation building, economic boom and bust, widespread disease, and war. Therefore, genealogy, in a way, gives one a sense of ownership in a nation’s history, a link that attaches a person to the nation’s past.
By discovering information about their own families, students will gain an understanding of the relationship between themselves and the cultural-ethnic groups that make up their family history. In most cases they will discover that, like so many Canadians, they have a mixed cultural ancestry.
The following methods can be used as part of the Teaching Strategies activities: re-enactments, debates, map activities, power point, class presentations – individual and group, oral history – interviews and storytelling, foods, music, art, personal journals and diaries, narratives of ancestors as written by students, newspaper articles, drawings, cartoons.
This guide offers suggested resources from the internet, text, and The Peopling of Atlantic Canada CD. These are suggestions to facilitate preparation. Teachers may be more comfortable in using other resources. We suggest that you choose a few of the activities and to use as you need them.