Part of our celebrations is about celebrating ourselves (something everyon should do!) and since it's May, my background is Latvian and May also celebrates Latvia reclaiming its independence (1990) today I'm celebrating heritage.
Latvia is a tiny Baltic country (64,500sqm) with a population of just under 2m people. A large part of its history consistes of being under the domination of other countries and from the end of WW2 that country was Russia. My mother fled her homeland during the war and because a refugee when the war ended. My father had been conscripted into the German army (when they pushed into Latvia) and he met my mother at a post-war refugee camp in Germany. Together they came to Australia, an democractic country that was as far away from the communist oppression in their homeland as they could get.
Of course I also grew up with traditional Latvian food. At a family celebration the table would always have pickled herrings and pickled cucumbers (pickled by my mum), smoked eels (soooooo delicious) usually smoked by one of mum's friends, potato salad, dark rye bread, sauerkraut with sausage, and every Latvian's favourite thing - Piragi (bacon buns). While I'm not into pickling my own herrings or cucumbers, I am trying to perfect my Piragi (a work in progress).
Over the years mum would talk about various aspects of her young life, then her life during the war. when an assignment in my writing course called for a memoir, I knew I had to write mum's story. I wanted to know about my heritage, my family history. I wanted my kids to have knowledge of that and to understand what they nana and grandad went through in their youngs lives - and the huge choice they made to start a new life in a new country.I sat down with her over a few months and recorded talks with her then used that information, together with facts from historical research, to write her biography. I had it printed and on the 60th anniversary of her arrival in Australia, we had a family lunch and I have her and my brother and my kids a copy.
I'm lucky to live in a country, and a city, that is extremely multi-cultural so we benefit from different foods and cultural experiences. I love that my parents come from an obscure little country, but one that is rich in traditions which are still being carried on.
It's fascinating finding out about people's backgrounds. What's your family's heritage?
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5 comments:
Interesting post. You have a wonderful heritage to tell your children about. I enjoyed hearing about Lativa, a country I knew nothing about!
Andra, Australia must have a fairly good sized Latvian population. I think that helps keep the old traditions alive. What fun to have those close ties to your heritage.
I grew up being told I was English, Irish and Danish. When DNA testing became more affordable I eagerly did a test (as did a first cousin and one of my granddaughters).
My heritage via DNA is 98% Northern European but I do have .8 North African. Northern European was broken down to English, Irish and a swath of Germanic countries.
The second time I did the DNA testing the English, Irish, Northern European was still there but it showed Swedish! What?!? My grandfather emigrated from Denmark. But then I learned that there was a major emigration of Swedes to Denmark.
And on my mom's side, our genealogy has been traced back to Charlemagne which and includes ancestors fighting with William and conquering England in 1066. Unlike you, we do not have family traditions that go back to the "old country" although I do have a cook book of Rawson Family Recipes that my grandmother used to make...it's been a long time since I've baked or cooked elaborate meals. I seem to have developed an anti-cooking or maybe anti-kitchen gene.
What a lovely and diverse heritage to celebrate. Your description of the food makes my mouth water, and now here you are in Australia. Lucky you. So very nice of you to share your experiences. I keep saying one day I'll get the ancestry kit. It hasn't quite happened yet, but it will.
Hi Andra, sorry I'm chiming in so late!
I enjoyed learning about your Latvian heritage and your brave parents' emigration to Australia. According to family genealogy research, we are Scottish, Irish, German, English and French. I have yet to do a DNA test, but I will do one soon.
I guess you can say my heritage is American.
So interesting, Andra. I am Scottish heritage on both sides of my mom's family, and English and German on my dad's side. My mother's mom's side of the family has a family reunion every 5 years with all the Scottish traditions. They emigrated from Scotland in the last 1700s to New York near the PA border. There are many family historical road markers in that area. I come from the More clan which was small, so they share a tartan with the Grant clan. Our history in America is tied in with the Mohawk Indian Chief, Joseph Brant, who befriended Betty and John More, the first settlers in our family. Brant warned the family when an Indian raid was planned. They escaped with their 8 children and now we number in the 10s of thousands in the US and Canada. Sadly, all the other settlers in the area were killed in the raid. So without Brant, none of us would be here today. A testament to kindness and valuing people who aren't like you. It saved my family's life. A lesson we could all stand to learn today :-)
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