just for fun

Heritage Hunt

Body art is becoming a more socially accepted cultural norm. It doesn’t seem that people flinch so much these days when they see someone with a full arm-sleeve riding public transit or buying a latte. People of all ages are getting inked up, and it’s made a cross over to the mainstream with television shows like LA Ink on TLC.

Tattooing, for me at least, is a very personal experience. I’m not the type to go etching random illustrations into my skin; both of my tattoos have very personal meaning and a lot of thought when into their design before they went on my body.

I’ve been thinking a lot about a new tattoo I would like to get. We have hanging in the front hall of our house a document that has the crest, slogan, and a brief history of how our family name came to be. Given that my family is incredibly important to me, and our 5-member unit is very close, I came up with the idea to get our family crest and motto done on my torso. And with our crest hanging in our house all of the research was already done for me. Pretty cut and dry, no?

Turns out that I’ve run into some issues.

I jumped on the internet at a friend’s house one night to show him my prospective new tattoo and discovered that my family crest may not be my particular crest after all. The crest we have hanging in our house is the Anglo-Saxon version of the last name, but a Germanic version of the crest, which is similar in design but differs widely in colour and lacks a slogan, also exists. I know I have both Anglo-Saxon and Germanic heritage, the trick has been to determine which part of the heritage gave birth to my last name.

Turns out it was the Germanic side, and this has sort of thrown my tattoo idea for a loop. I was really committed to getting a tattoo of the slogan of our family, which in latin is “non nobis tantum nati” (or loosely translated, “We are not born for ourselves alone”). It’s very telling of our family, our priorities and how we operate as a unit. Perfect for encapsulating why I’m a proud member.

But the Germanic version of the crest, the part of my heritage that has given me my last name, does not bear this slogan. It has no slogan, at least from what I can find. I’m at a bit of a crossroads. I am becoming attached to this tattoo idea but obviously don’t want to go put something on my body that, in the end, isn’t truly connected to me.

So, it’s really lucky that I happen to be working on Dundurn’s newest imprint, The Genealogist’s Reference Shelf. Dundurn has partnered with the Ontario Genealogical Society to release a series of books that investigate all aspects of ancestry and how to discover, preserve, verify and even publish your family history.

I’m very sure that I could email my question to one of our fabulous authors with whom I’ve already been working with over the past few weeks. But, come May 14-16, Toronto is going to be brimming with hundreds of genealogists for the Ontario Genealogical Society Conference. Dundurn (and yours truly) will be there. It’s going to be a great change of pace from the other publishing events I’ve been to and a great opportunity to interact with a cross section of our readers.

And well… with so many individuals who make ancestry and family history their focus all in one room, maybe I’ll be able to get the answers I need before I pay a visit to my body artist.

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