Ethnic Identity

Ethnic Identity

Like many Americas today, I fall under several cultural groups. This is due to the multiple cultural groups that my mother and belong to. My mother falls under two cultural groups German and Irish. Her mother was of one cultural group Irish. Her maiden name was Kendrew. My mother's father was also of one cultural group German. His last name was Karl. My mother's grandparents both belonged to one as well. My father on the other hand is from several different cultural groups. French Canadian, Italian, Irish, and Mohawk Indian. His father was French Canadian, Italian and Irish. His last name was Marino. My father's mother however was French Canadian and Mohawk Indian. Her last name was Clyde. The last name Clyde is Mohawk Indian. My father's parents were a mixture of the before mentioned ethnic groups. This would make me French Canadian; Irish; Italian; German; and Mohawk Indian.

When it comes to my genealogy, I have always wanted to look deeper into my grandmothers side of the family. To be associated with the Mohawk Indians would be interesting. However, When my grandmother was just a child her mother and father were killed. She was then placed into a foster home and could never find any relatives on her sided of the family.

If there was a single cultural group that I would associate myself with the most it would be French Canadian. My family settled in a small village in upstate New York. The village was located twenty miles from the Canadian border. I spent most of my life on a farm that bordered the St. Lawrence river. The land became more valuable than the cattle they were raising. So my father sold most of it witch is now developed into water front homes.

It has been explained to me that my grandfathers father was a lumberjack and fur trapper. He would trade his furs with the Native Indians to gain access to their land. He would then harvest trees and float them down the St. Lawrence river. He would then sell the logs in s port somewhere on the river.. The sale of wood was a common practice in the early 1800's. My grandfather who still resides in Ontario, Canada has several pieces of furniture that are hand made by his father and grandfather. When I look at the furniture one can't help to sense of historical background from it. It is amazing to me over a hundred years ago my grate grandfathers made them.

Historical Background

The French were the first Europeans to colonize Canada. The colonies of New France stretched across what today is known as the Maritime provinces, southern Quebec and Ontario, as well as the entire Mississippi River Valley. These colonies were developed to export sugar and furs among other products. The French were very interested in the fur trade and purchased fur from and formed alliances with Native American tribes.(Holbrook)

This area was in great demand due to its waterways. After the defeat of France in the French and Indian Wars, Britain won control of New France, formalized by the Treaty of Paris in 1763. Under British rule, the French Canadians remained a distinct cultural group.

The imperialist era of the late XIXth and early XXth centuries witnessed the rise of several natives, racialist and otherwise unenlightened movements in North America in general, and in Canada in particular.(Wartik)

Throughout Canada, French-Catholic minorities were systematically attacked one after the other in an attempt to make them conform to the White, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant mould. Everywhere, outside of Quebec, minorities, racial, ethnic or linguistic, were hounded. The French-Catholic minorities stood as a symbol, their presence said that difference was acceptable and good, that diversity was welcomed. Their eradication would give to all the same message: conformity was what was desired. Even arguments that rested on the nature of Canada, the protection of the Constitution, and the evidently special position of the French-Catholics as one of the founding people of Canada fell on deaf ears. In New Brunswick, in Manitoba, in the North West and in Ontario their rights were curtailed. If the nationalists were so successful in spreading the idea of an embattled nation, of a nation under siege, and of portraying "les autres" as a threat, it was because it was so patently a reality. Even where more justice should have been expected, such as in the federal government and parliament, French rights were openly disregarded. Only after long and protracted battles was French accepted on the stamps of Canada or on its currency, both symbols of the bicultural and bilingual nature of the country; meanwhile, few French Canadians rose in the civil service or in the army, and discrimination was rampant.(Wartik)

Dozens of articles by ultramontane nationalists followed the progression, or regression, of French communities outside of Quebec. Victories were celebrated, each increase in the number of French Canadians was duly noted. As time passed, and the first generation of emigrants gave rise to a second or a third, losses were lamented and analyzed for the French minorities across the continent. Every new census was the occasion for deploring the heavy losses suffered, the bleeding of the nation to the scourge of assimilation. To a nation very aware of its minority, and fragile status, every loss was a catastrophic loss.(Madson)

So French Canadians counted each other, and eventually the count became depressing nearly everywhere, except in Quebec and in New Brunswick. Numerous speeches were made offering reasons to persevere and ways and means to counter assimilation. If the general threat of assimilation was very real, given the natural demographical and geographical factors at play on the North American continent, the menace was increased by the intolerant attitude of "les autres" as they disregarded and abolished French-Catholic minority school rights in one area after another in the post-Confederation period.(Madson)

Religion

The colony grew slowly, in part because religious minorities were not permitted to settle; New France was to be solely Roman Catholic. Gender does not play any real role in this culture. As French Canadians were increasingly scattered throughout the continent, including in various parts of Canada, they faced the real threat of assimilation.(Madson) The preservation of their cultural identity was aided by the influence of the Catholic Church, the tendency to marry within their own community, and the tradition of having large families.(Wartik)

The Roman Catholic Church has gathered criticisms for numerous reasons. Historically, The Church's response to heresy through