People involve their ancestors in every aspect of culture.
Individuals and societies worldwide and throughout history have
incorporated ancestors into rituals public and private, religious
and secular. Societies often organize their aristocracies, tribes,
and other kinship groups around ancestral constructions which are
defined through laws and customs governing marriage, naming,
guardianship, inheritance, and other social practices. Medical
professionals consider ancestral information important to a
patient's diagnosis and to the study of disease; many psychiatrists
consider one's relationship to ancestors important in understanding
the mental and emotional disposition of subjects. Ancestry and
perceptions of ancestry frequently function as a determinant of
personal, ethnic, racial, and national identity. For all its larger
philosophical, medical, psychological, and religious implications,
one fascinating aspect of ancestry is how passionately many people
hold to 'their own' ancestry, and to their own perceptions of the
same. In Ancestors, David Hertzel offers an introductory foray into
the nature of relationships people today have with their ancestors,
and explores the significance of ancestry and ancestral belief in
our modern world. Guided by two questions-"who are your ancestors?"
and "what is your relationship to your ancestors?"-Hertzel
interviewed thirty-five elders and people of prominence within
particular social or intellectual communities. Interviewees were
accomplished in an area related to ancestry, its nature or its
meaning, and included genealogists, geneticists, tribal chiefs and
elders, researchers in some aspect of family or ancestry, family
elders, and experienced practitioners or supervisors of particular
ancestral rituals. Interviewees were selected from a variety of
cultural backgrounds for purposes of contrast, comparison, and
breadth-but they are not spokespeople and were not asked to
'represent' particular belief systems, doctrines, or Peoples.
Rather, the interviewees describe their own personal experiences
and beliefs involving ancestors. From these interviews, Hertzel
identifies common themes to ancestral practices and beliefs, such
as the way we sanctify our ancestors, how we create a living
narrative of our ancestry, and how experiences like suffering and
love are shared across generations and appear to transcend death.
Excerpts from interviews serve as examples throughout his narrative
exploration of the concept of ancestry; a selection of full
interviews are embedded throughout the text and offer glimpses into
the diversity of ways that people think about who they are and
where they come from.
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