The theme for Week 10 is “Translation.” Would any of your ancestors have needed someone to translate for them? Have you had to work with records in a language other than your own? No matter the language, it’s a good time to write!
When I think of “Translation,” I think about “folklore.” Not that I had ever worked with a foreign language in my genealogy. I imagine the early generations of my African ancestors who stepped on this continent might have needed translation.
African American storytelling and folktales were brought to America by the enslaved. Some of those stories have lasted from generation to generation. For me, that didn’t happen. I learned about some folklore while reading Alex Haley’s 1976 novel, “Roots: The Saga of an American Family.” My husband and I wanted to do our first child’s traditional Ghana naming ceremony. Which was eight days after birth; take the newborn outside for the first time and name them. Unfortunately, the state of Ohio was not having that.
