Tangata Whenua: To be or not to be

Another Waitangi Day; another "national celebration".  To be quite honest, I don't find much to celebrate.  I know this is a beautiful country - I wouldn't truly like to live anywhere else - but beauty's just skin deep isn't it?  It's what's under the skin that really matters.

As a family researcher, I wonder if I'd think and feel differently if I had Maori DNA?  The first time I saw a photograph of one of my great-great-grandmothers, I wondered if she had Maori blood.  It was the lips that did it.  Turned out she wasn't part Maori at all but an English immigrant with a very distinctive mouth.  As a six year-old in the 1960s I was asked by a class-mate if I was a Maori, because I had "big lips".

Try as I might, I can't claim any Maori ancestry.  My mitochondrial DNA tells me my ancient ancestors lived in what is now known as Greece, before spreading out to Scandanavia and the British Isles.  Before Greece, they were in what is now called Africa, the cradle of humankind.  My more recent ancestors were of British extraction.  End of.

Did I want to find evidence of Maori lineage?  In a way, yes.  I already feel a part of this land - I have no other to call home - but even after five generations it's not considered my country.  I have relatives with Maori ancestry, even my own grand-daughters.  Trying to untangle New Zealand families to make us "one or the other" would be near on impossible.

None of us sprung from the soil; none of us has more right to water and air than anyone else.  Yes, there are some genuine grievances and they need to be addressed, but greed, brutality and racism are not traits of any one race.  What it comes down to is we are all immigrants to this country and we are all New Zealanders.

Rootsweb mailing list for buying/selling genealogical material

I was alerted to this Rootsweb Genealogy Materials Mailing List via another mailing list. Subscription required.

[Blurb]
"...Anyone with an interest in the buying or selling of new or used genealogy materials (e.g., books, newsletters, CDs, magazines) in United Kingdom and Ireland. Publishers of newsletters, books, or other materials relating to genealogy are welcome, as are resellers of any form of used genealogical materials, be they businesses or individuals cleaning bookshelves. Purchases are arranged in private posting between the buyer and the seller rather than on the list. NOTE: Commercial sellers please limit postings to one a month..."

What's happening to the weather?

It's early January and for those of us in the southern hemisphere it should be stinking hot.  It's certainly not freezing but I've taken to wearing long-sleeved tops again.

Days of ferocious wind and torrential rain seem to have been the norm over the last few summers.  What on earth is happening to our seasons?

I've recently added some links about climate change on my links site.

Newest genealogy records on the 'Net

For the latest information on what is newly available, check out GenealogyInTime Magazine's newest genealogy records on the Internet.

The end of the world is nigh

Well, another year is almost over.  Who would have thought we'd all still be here.  Between Nostradamus and the Mayans, I've been living in fear of eminent death for years (yes, I jest).

Waiting for and believing in the end of the world is not a new thing.  It's something that's been discussed, written about and promised since the year dot.  It's a certain thing that indeed one day our world will come to an end but I wonder how many young children hold that fear in their secret hearts.  Years ago when my science teacher informed the class the sun was dying, I truly thought it was going to happen in my lifetime.  It was on my mind regularly - such is the power of suggestion.

If only those in the various media would realise the impact they have on young minds.  Is it really necessary to give credence to the ramblings of doomsayers?  With the world as it is today - everything in one's face on numerous screens - there's no getting away from the mutterings of idiots and scaremongers.

A desert island's looking really good these days.

Scotland going it alone?

I see that Alex Salmond and British prime minister David Cameron have signed an agreement paving the way for the possible break up of the United Kingdom.  The Edinburgh Agreement was signed by the prime minister and the first minister at the Scottish government headquarters at St Andrew’s House.  The deal sets out the terms for a ground-breaking vote in 2014 on Scottish independence.

I've been watching a weekly programme on channel 12 (NZ) about Scotland's history.  What a tumultous history Scotland has endured.  Our own McPikes fought at Culloden on the side of 'Bonnie Prince Charlie', before escaping to Ireland.

I wonder what independence now would mean for Scotland.