Jeangenie

(That rootin tootin hifalutin cowboy is my dad.)

Lately, I've been especially interested in my family's genealogy; I'd like to know more about my family history and where I come from. 

Most of my life, I was under the impression that I was a quarter Mexican, only to find out several years ago that I was merely an eighth. I felt somewhat stripped of a heritage that I had become so attached. I believed something false, and yet it became a part of me. It still is, though, a much smaller part than I previously thought. As time progresses, we become less and less affiliated with our European ancestry, or pre-American history. That is to say, how long will it be before we simply say that we are American? Will there be a time when we are unable to recall our previous cultural connections because we possess so many? If I have children, they will undoubtedly be made up of 5 or more ethnicities. Will they rattle them off as I do? 

My father was born in Montreal and my mother in Detroit. Would that not make me Canadian and American? Not quite, for I admit to being Mexican, French-Canadian, German and English. However, I can only trace my family history back as far as my parents know; I have a much deeper lineage that I am currently unaware of. Would my perceptions alter if I knew that my great-grandmother was Native American? How important is it for us to know where we originate?