Genealogists Are “My Tribe”
I recently saw a reference where a person was saying that they were part of a tribe. Not in the traditional sense of the the meaning tribe, but rather that they had an affiliation with a group of people with a common interest.
Well if that’s the case, genealogists are “my tribe”.
So what makes me say this?
For one thing geniepeeps understand why we do what we do. Those in my tribe understand that you can get up (or still be up) at 2am and finally get that breakthrough with a record that you’ve been searching for for the past seven years. But of course you can’t wake the non-genies in the house to share your excitement, but you can shout it out loud on social media to your geniefriends around the world, and THEY TOTALLY UNDERSTAND.
Fellow genealogists understand that a day out for a drive usually involves visiting a cemetery or two along the way. And that a holiday is normally planned around ancestral places you’d like to visit, or archives that may hold vital records relevant to your research.
They understand the excitement that a certificate brings, and they understand when you get a day (or week) off, that that is RESEARCH TIME. Who cares about the housework, filing, getting the car serviced and so on, research comes first.
But mostly I claim them as “my tribe” because they are my friends and mentors, who are helpful, inspiring and a very welcoming bunch of people.
Wikipedia’s definition of tribe states:
“A tribe is viewed, developmentally or historically, as a social group existing before the development of, or outside, states. A tribe is a group of distinct people, dependent on their land for their livelihood, who are largely self-sufficient, and not integrated into the national society.”
Ok so it might not be technically correct describing my geniefriends as “my tribe”, but I reckon anyone would agree that we are a “group of distinct people”, in one way or another, and I’m proud to have them as my friends. And back in 2013 I even wrote about how wonderfully welcoming they were when I first went to the US.
Genealogists, my friends, my tribe.
6 Responses to “Genealogists Are “My Tribe””
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And what a great tribe we have, love it…
What a great concept. Love belonging to the genie tribe, you meet so many interesting people.
So true Alona.
Wishing you and our tribe a Merry Christmas!
Anna
Great post, Alona. Yes, definitely love the friendships and support that I have found along the way by belonging to the Genie Tribe. Look forward to many more discoveries and friendships in 2017.
I agree with every sentence!
They may not be “dependent on their land for their livelihood” but they are dependent on land records for their sanity!
“Those in my tribe understand that you can get up (or still be up) at 2am and finally get that breakthrough with a record that you’ve been searching for for the past seven years.” —Most people don’t have the patience for our kind of successes. But then our successes last forever and get passed down from generation to generation.
Genies are the best. Definitely my tribe!
Thanks Alona. I’m so very grateful for this tribe of genimates.