During my walk this morning, I was considering developing a hub listing of all of the family hubs during the years of my family tree. In order to achieve this, I must first have a good understanding of where all of the families came from. When I talk to people about genealogy, the conversation usually turns toward the European country in which their family descends. There is very little discussion of the family in America, which is where they will find most of the data concerning their family in the first place. We like to talk about Europe. I believe that this is because Americans are a nomadic people.
Nomadism, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, means a “way of life of peoples who do not live continually in the same place but move cyclically or periodically.” As I look at a rough map of my ancestors on my father’s side, I find that through several different directions and stops along the way the families merged in Pensacola, Florida. Now, as the family grew up and began to move away, there are very few from the family left in that area. I consider this to be a type of nomadic behavior in the lives of Americans.
While I am only showing one family, I can say the same of my mother’s family, as well as both sides of my wife’s families. I think about the families moving “out west” in the 1800s and see the nomadic behavior once again. I see the migration of Hispanics from Latin America. I also see the African Americans throughout the country. While we are a nation of immigrants, it can be said that we have become a nation of nomads. We move primarily toward where the jobs and opportunity. Sometimes we celebrate this freedom.
What we lose is a sense of connection with a home.
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Map from Scribblemaps.com