Year: 2019

Identity Thieves

Identity Thieves

by Justin Durand

I ‘m not sure why the particular theme of invented identity plays out so often in the world around me. Maybe it’s that I’ve overly sensitive to it. Or maybe it’s that I’m out of touch with America.

This is not the thing where Americans confuse identity and ancestry— they’re German (or whatever) because they have German ancestry. And this is not the thing where ethnic ancestry gets garbled over the generations because there are too many pieces to remember. I’ve touched on those topics before.

No. What I’m thinking about now is the way meager pretexts lead some people to try for a kind of culture theft. I wrote just a bit about that as it relates to religion a few weeks ago.

Over on Geni, some of my chums are spinning rhapsodies because they can add Scarlett Johanson to the Danish-American project and Kyrsten Sinema to the Norwegian-American project. Objections that Scarlett Johanson’s ancestry is more accurately Swedish and that Krysten Sinema’s ancestry is more obviously Dutch are majestically swept aside. Not the point. The goal there is to create a narrative not to just explore and document complexity.

I think the first time I really understood that genealogy can be co-opted to invent a new identity was back in the early 2000s. Genetic genealogy was moving cautiously from STR analysis to SNP analysis and haplogroups.

(I got thrown out of one online group for daring to suggest SNPs might be the future—STRs are perfectly adequate for phylogenetic analysis, thank you very much. Take your SNPs and quack science somewhere else.)

So, what happened is that it took some work to determine my haplogroup. Back then my STR values might have fit with either haplogroup G or haplogroup I. Turned out I’m haplogroup G.

And that threw me into a cultural turmoil I didn’t know could exist. It was already clear haplogroup G came from the Caucasus region, and that it’s a minority (say 2 or 3 percent) in Europe. The general thought at the time was that it might have been brought to Europe by the Alans, a barbarian tribe. There were also some folks who thought it might have been spread by Roman legions. And others like Ray Banks who thought it might have been spread by Jewish Radhanite merchants.

Interesting theories but no sense getting too invested in any of them. The evidence would keep accumulating. We’d get closer and closer to the truth. Because science. (The experts, like Spencer Wells, were already saying G2 came to Europe with the spread of farming in the Neolithic. The other stuff was just romantic nonsense. As indeed it turned out.)

But some people in our group took it further. The U.S. was right then in the middle of betraying the Kurds (as we do every so often and we’re doing now under Mr. Trump). Because we were all Haplogroup G, which originated down there somewhere, and the Kurds have a concentration of G, they were taking up a collection to send money to help our Kurdish cousins.

Wow. Just wow. A quirky correlation DNA with culture. Creating a new identity.

It wasn’t an isolated case. Since that first time, I’ve watched it happen over and over and over. The guy on the commercial goes from being German to being Scottish. He turns in his Lederhosen for a kilt. Because of a DNA test. And it doesn’t even have to be a strong result. Over and over on Geni, someone’s DNA test tells them they’re 1 percent American Indian or Jewish, and suddenly they have a new ethnic identity.

And that doesn’t even begin to deal with the Melungeons, or the newly created fake Indian nations in the U.S., or the many other pretendian fantasies.

The way I explain it to people is this. My ancestry is Swedish but I am not Swedish. I have a Swedish last name. I have some Swedish DNA. And I keep up some Swedish customs (like the tomte). But I’m not a Swedish citizen. I don’t have a Swedish passport. I would not go to Sweden and expect anyone to take me seriously if I decided to tell Swedes I’m Swedish.

Yet, that’s exactly the situation of many Americans who seize on bits and pieces of science and perhaps also tradition to invent a new ethnic identity for themselves. It’s just another form of cultural appropriation.

Read more

Revised to update link.

Some Anniversaries

Some Anniversaries

by Justin Durand

February 8th is one of those days that stands out in the calendar of my family history. For me it has become Genealogy Day, a day to do something special about my interest in family history. Like Christmas but for me not Baby Jesus. And it helps a bit that Losar, the Tibetan New Year, is right around this time of year.

It’s the anniversary of my grandfather’s death. Harry William Swanstrom (1903-1957). By coincidence it’s also the anniversary of his sister’s death. Ellen Sophie (Swanstrom) Hinkle (1895-1949). She was the first of the kids to pass away.

That’s on the Swanstrom side. Then on the Howery side, today is the anniversary of the earliest surviving mention of the surname Hauri in history. A Conrad Hauri (Chuondradus dictus Hovri) was mentioned on 8 February 1282 as owing 9 shillings annually for his land at Steffisburg (Bern, No. 334), when Werner von Steffisburg leased certain lands to Kloster Interlaken. The taxes Conrad owed for his lands were in line with amounts throughout the region for larger peasant holdings. He was probably our ancestor but there’s no way to prove it.

For my Genealogy Day last year I started the process for getting a grave marker for my grandmother’s two babies that died at birth. Charles Edward Swanstrom (1932) and Harvey William Swanstrom (1934). It took nearly a year start to finish, which is part of the reason I’m just writing about it now.

My grandmother always intended to have a marker made for them and place it in Eden Valley Cemetery. It was one of the last things she mentioned to me just before she died. Actually, the babies are buried in Rock Springs but the funeral home has said there would not be enough left of their bodies to move them to Eden. And, we could mark the graves where they’re buried but then they would end up being disconnected from the family story.

So. We got the gravestone, and we had it placed between my grandparents’ graves. Also this year we did a memorial brick for my grandparents and another for my sister Evonne in the Peace Walk at the Amitabha Stupa in Sedona. But that’s a story for another time.

Grandpa Luce’s 3rd Marriage

Grandpa Luce’s 3rd Marriage

by Justin Durand

I ‘ve always known Wilford Luce, Jr. married three times. He divorced his first wife Dorothy Sharp. His second wife Essie Wilson died. (She was my great grandmother.) And his third wife Amanda Sizemore survived him by many, many years.

What I didn’t know until the past few years was that he married his third wife right here in Denver. That was a surprise. They had a ranch at Big Piney (Wyoming). Why not get married there? Or in town?

Maybe they were here for the Stock Show? But no. That would be in January, and this was in March.

That got me wondering. What church were they married in? He was Episcopalian. She was Mormon. Maybe they were married in one of the churches I’ve attended over the years. Wouldn’t it be cool if they got married at St. John’s or St. Andrew’s? And even if they were married somewhere else, it would be fun to drive by and see .

So, I ordered their marriage record. (I love Colorado’s state archives. They made it very easy.)

No surprises. They weren’t married in a church after all. They were married by a justice of the peace. (And her son Russell Short was one of the witnesses. Somehow that makes it seem less like a romantic trip and more like something they did while they were in Denver on business anyway.)

I suppose if they were married by a justice of the peace probably they were married at our beautiful City and County Building. Not as much fun as a church, but it means I’ll think about them every time I’m there.

Luce Wilford 1930 MarriageDownload

Copyright Problems

Copyright Problems

by Justin Durand

One of the truly alarming things in life is stumbling across something you’ve written that has been re-published by someone else without attribution.

I run into that all the time because I’ve been doing this so long.

A while back, I had someone contact me through Findagrave.com to suggest I add a biography to Katharine (Helvey) Roberson. The text they gave me was word-for-word identical to something I wrote a dozen years ago. Errors and all. I haven’t responded yet. I just can’t figure out how to say it politely.

I’ve been working on scanning my old paper files. The other day I ran across a manuscript history of the Howery family by Shirley Danz. She carefully and considerately cites Virginia Howery throughout the document. Except that it was my research. I sent it to Virginia. Virginia sent it to Shirley. It didn’t have my name on it so Shirley gave the credit to Virginia. Future generations will never know it was mine. It’s discouraging.

But for shear ballsy grabbing, I don’t suppose I could ever beat my husband’s experience. His entire gedcom was downloaded and republished by Steve Graber without even changing the name (Statik). Now, because of the interchange between Geni and MyHeritage, there are hundreds of Mennonite profiles on Geni that cite Steve as the source for the Mennonite obituaries originally extracted by Tim. I’m guessing Steve doesn’t mind taking credit for the body of work he didn’t actually do.

On one hand, I would like to see that my lifetime of work survives me and that future genealogists are able to build on it. But on the other hand, I would like to get credit for the work I’ve done, and perhaps also not get blamed for the mistakes of others.

Update May 13, 2020: As requested, I added that biography of Katharine Roberson to her Findagrave entry a few days ago. Slightly edited.

Hyperborean Apollo

Hyperborean Apollo

by Justin Durand

Yesterday I wrote a bit about Doggerland, and that led to mentioning Hyperborean Apollo, and that led to a bit more research because Apollo is one of my enduring interests.

I have a bit about Hyperborean Apollo at Greco-Roman Lore. primarily taken from Robert Graves, Greek Myths § 161.4.

I think it might be worth quoting Diodorus Siculus’ passage about Hyperborea.

“Now for our part, since we have seen fit to make mention of the regions of Asia which lie to the north, we feel that it will not be foreign to our purpose to discuss the legendary accounts of the Hyperboreans. Of those who have written about the ancient myths, Hecateus and certain others say that in the regions beyond the land of the Celts there lies in the ocean an island no smaller than Sicily. This island, the account continues, is situated in the north and is inhabited by the Hyperboreans, who are called by that name because their home is beyond the point whence the north wind (Boreas) blows; and the island is both fertile and productive of every crop, and since it has an unusually temperate climate it produces two harvests each year. Moreover, the following legend is told concerning it: Leto was born on this island, and for that reason Apollo is honoured among them above all other gods; and the inhabitants are looked upon as priests of Apollo, after a manner, since daily they praise this god continuously in song and honour him exceedingly. And there is also on the island both a magnificent sacred precinct of Apollo and a notable temple which is adorned with many votive offerings and is spherical in shape. Furthermore, a city is there which is sacred to this god, and the majority of its inhabitants are players on the cithara; and these continually play on this instrument in the temple and sing hymns of praise to the god, glorifying his deeds. The Hyperboreans also have a language, we are informed, which is particular to them, and are most friendly disposed towards the Greeks, and especially towards the Athenians and the Delians, who have inherited this good-will from most ancient times. The myth also relates that certain Greeks visited the Hyperboreans and left behind them there costly votive offerings bearing inscriptions in Greek letters. And in the same way Abaris, a Hyperborean, came to Greece in ancient times and renewed the goodwill and kinship of his people to the Delians. They say also that the moon, as viewed from this island, appears to be but a little distance from the earth and to have upon it prominences, like those of the earth, which are visible to the naked eye. The account is also given that the god visits the island every nineteen years, the period in which the return of the stars to the same place in the heavens is accomplished; and for this reason the nineteen-year period is called by the Greeks the ‘year of Meton’. At the time of this appearance of the god he both plays on the cithara and dances continuously the night through from the vernal equinox until the rising of the Pleiades, expressing in this manner his delight in his successes. And the kings of this city and the supervisors of the sacred precinct are called Boreades, since they are descendants of Boreas, and the succession to these positions is always kept in their family.”

Diodorus Siculus, Histories II.47 (C. H. Oldfather transl. (1935))

For the mythologically inclined this is quite an interesting story. Hyperborea, an island behind the north wind, is the home of Apollo’s mother, and its inhabitants are connected to the Athenians. Apollo himself visits the island every 19 years. Other sources say the Hyperboreans sent gifts to Apollo’s temple at Delos. These gifts seem to have been amber; its yellow color made it sacred to the sun god Apollo.

I don’t want to leave the impression I have a particular belief that Hyperborea was Britain, or Doggerland, or the remnants of Doggerland. The trade that brought amber to Delos could have come from anywhere in the north, whether Britain, the North Sea, or the Baltic, although if I’m not mistaken, current thinking favors an eastern route south from from the Baltic.

Update Feb. 11, 2019

I came across this interesting piece from Tom Rowsell at Survive the Jive on YouTube: Real Hyperboreans – Ancient North Eurasians.

This channel is usually too racialist for my taste but I do listen from time to time because he’s well-educated.

Here, he sees some reasons from modern research to possibly rehabilitate the Arctic polar origin myth of the Proto-Indo-Europeans. I wouldn’t rush to judgment on this one, but it’s an interesting possibility.