Genealogy, Volume 9, Issue 3 (September 2025) – 38 articles

This study investigates the semiotic and cultural functions of character naming in the Yemeni television series Duroob al-Marjalah (Branching Paths of Manhood) (2024–2025). It applies onomastic theory and Barthesian semiotics to examine how Yemeni screenwriters employ names as narrative and ideological tools. A purposive sample of ten central characters was selected from a Yemeni drama series for qualitative analysis. Each name was examined for linguistic structure, semantic meaning, intertextual associations, and socio-cultural alignment. Semiotic interpretation followed Barthes’ signifier–signified–myth model to decode narrative and cultural symbolism. The findings indicate that character names function as multifaceted semiotic tools, conveying heritage, while occasionally employing stylization for satire or fostering empathy through cultural resonance. However, many lack grounding in Yemeni naming conventions, creating a tension between narrative dramatization and socio-onomastic realism. The results suggest that while Yemeni screenwriters show partial awareness of naming as a cultural and narrative tool, the creative process often privileges thematic resonance over ethnographic accuracy. This research contributes to onomastic theory, Arabic media studies, and semiotic analysis by evidencing how localized naming practices—or their absence—shape identity construction, world-building, and cultural recognition in regional television drama. Full article

This essay highlights Natchez, Mississippi’s Confederate heritage tourism to illustrate interrelationships between memory, history, and imagination, and how performed commemorations critically shape nationalist ideals and beliefs. Memories—and the bodies that pass them—shape the politically charged terrain of imagined nations, which are uncertain and collectively negotiated. To illustrate the contested nature of historical memory and how performing the past reimagines and reshapes the present and future nation, I juxtapose the Confederate Pageant’s nostalgic, rosy-tinted view of the Old South with examples of contemporary Black-centered commemorations and heritage tourism in Natchez. The dissonance and tension between these opposing forces illustrate interrelationships between memory and history, how these are critical to sustaining nationalism, and how performed commemorations of the past—whether historically accurate or imagined—critically shape ideals and beliefs about race and the nation. I use Natchez to undergird broad questions about the nature of memory and history, which are axiomatically contested and fallible. I use examples of Black commemoration in Natchez to illustrate antiracist theories of historiography. Full article

American Indians and Alaska Natives experience disproportionately high cancer diagnoses and death rates. This study aims to elucidate American Indian and Alaska Native understandings of cancer as voiced through poetry. Ten writers submitted poems in response to a call for American Indians and Alaskan Natives to share their perspectives, experiences, and knowledge about cancer through poetry. Poetry submissions were analyzed for emergent themes through an inductive-deductive approach using framework analyses grounded in the Native Wellness Model and Cancer Control Continuum. Four overarching themes, one within each of the four Native Wellness Model constructs (mind, body, spirit, and context) and 17 sub-themes, reveal that cancer is a holistic experience for American Indian and Alaska Native Peoples. Participant knowledge and experiences varied across the Cancer Control Continuum, with survivorship and palliative care most reflected in the poetry. Fewer poems addressed detection, etiology, and prevention. Poetry can serve as a culturally relevant data source to better understand cancer from American Indian and Alaskan Native perspectives, experiences, and knowledge. More holistic approaches to cancer education, prevention, treatment, and research with American Indians and Alaskan Natives could improve efforts to address cancer within this population. Full article

This article examines the migration patterns that shaped the early settlement of Dorchester County, Maryland. Dorchester County is located on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, an area distinctive in terms of its geography, history, and culture. In U.S. history, migration has generally proceeded from eastern areas to western ones and from northern areas to southern ones, a pattern dating back to the earliest colonial settlements. Settlement in Dorchester County proceeded primarily from east to west and south to north, with additional migration streams coming from the north out of Delaware and from the west out of Somerset County. This gave Dorchester County an unusual historical dynamic because of the different socio-cultural and religious backgrounds and settlement patterns from the regions in which those migrants came. The Eastern Shore’s geography, shaped by an extensive coastline and major riverways, contributed to this settlement pattern, for the Chesapeake Bay region, with its complex network of rivers and streams, forms one of the world’s three largest natural estuaries. In terms of genealogy and family history, this mix of settlers importantly shaped the cultural dynamics of the Eastern Shore, leading to complex family histories that blended different cultural, religious, and linguistic influences. Free European-American settlers dominated migration into early Dorchester, but unfree laborers, including slaves and, early on, white indentured servants, came to Dorchester in substantial numbers along these same routes and made important contributions to the cultural development of Dorchester and surrounding areas. In later years, out-migration from the Eastern Shore took settlers of all backgrounds throughout the growing United States and carried the influence of the Eastern Shore to the south and west as well as into the urban areas of the northeast. Full article

Western systems of child protection cannot protect First Nations children. Australia’s current child protection systems were born from a legislated and explicit intention of destroying the culture, language and identity of First Nations children, with the aim of assimilating and eliminating First Nations people. The ongoing overrepresentation of our children in ‘child protection’ systems does not so much reflect inherent risks in our families as it does the systemic failures and harm being imposed on our children and families. To ensure the safety of our children, we need to end the systemic and structural racism within Australia’s child protection systems, empower self-determination and commit to addressing the social, economic and cultural determinants that underpin child safety and protection. To achieve this, we need an effective system of care for our children that is best achieved through First Nations systems of child wellbeing and safety that are leading practice. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (ATSICPP), which recognises our systems of kinship care, is one such mechanism. However, it is currently compromised, undermined and underutilised across all Australian jurisdictions. Self-determination requires placing full control and decision-making over the well-being and safety of our children into our hands. Our systems have evolved over 65,000 years and are guided by strict obligations and cultural protocol, and laws. As such, they provide the strong foundation needed for the care and protection of our children. This paper uses a First Nations, rights-based analysis of literature to interrogate the historical foundations and ongoing impact of Australia’s child protection systems on First Nations children and families. It then centres First Nations systems of knowledge and practice as the foundation for a call to replace our current child protection systems with a First Nations Child Safety and Wellbeing system. Full article

Ethnicity-based public health inequities continue worldwide, reflecting established failures in law, governance, and social justice. International legal instruments, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), obligate states to provide equitable access to healthcare and address structural components of inequality. This article critically evaluates the effectiveness of these frameworks in advancing health equity, adopting a black-letter legal approach integrated with the social determinants of health models to assess whether ratified commitments have translated into quantifiable changes for marginalized ethnic populations. Case studies from Canada, Australia, and the United States—high-capacity health systems with entrenched inequities—portray the gap between normative commitments and practical implementation. Findings demonstrate that while international law has shaped discourse, promoted civil society advocacy, and influenced select policy reforms, weak enforcement, reliance on voluntary compliance, and insufficient accountability mechanisms curb its capability to generate consistent outcome-based change. Recommendations include establishing a framework convention on global health equity, strengthening the WHO’s mandate on racial justice, improving ethnic-disaggregated data reporting, and ingraining affected communities in policymaking. Normative strength is apparent, but operational impact remains dependent on an enforceable framework and sustained political will. Full article

This article examines the current statutory care and protection landscape in Aotearoa New Zealand (Aotearoa), focusing on the operations of Waikato-Tainui, a post-treaty settlement entity operating on behalf of the Waikato tribe (iwi), within this complex colonial context to safeguard and nurture mokopuna (descendants) and whaanau (families). Waikato-Tainui supports indigenous mokopuna within a fundamentally flawed settler-colonial care and protection system while concurrently reimagining an indigenous-led model rooted in ancestral wisdom and knowledge systems. Mokopuna Ora (Thriving descendants) is an indigenous whaanau-led and mokopuna-centred care and protection initiative that has been piloted, tested, researched, evaluated, and expanded over the past eleven years within the current settler colonial system. Drawing from deep empirical ancestral wisdom, the authors reimagine a new approach, building a roadmap for mokopuna and whaanau success. Ki Tua o Ngaku Mokopuna is presented as a cultural practice framework encapsulating Waikato ancestral wisdom and knowledge. While still in its early implementation stages, its development has been generations in the making, belonging to Waikato paa (communal meeting places) and hapuu (sub-tribes). Beyond a tool for frontline staff, this framework offers a vision, measures of success, and standards of excellence to inform theory and practice. This work addresses continuous indigenous resistance against negative colonial impacts, reflecting a shared indigenous experience and system of care and protection. In contemporary Aotearoa, the neo-colonial challenge is exacerbated by the current right-wing coalition Government and its ideological stance. The swift and extensive legislative reforms driven by harmful racist ideology are unprecedented, facilitating the exploitation of people, Papatuuaanuku (the earth mother), and te taiao (the natural world) for corporate gain and profit. Maaori tribes, organisations, sub-tribes, families, and individuals are actively countering these racist ideologies, legislations, strategies, policies, funding decisions, and operational practices. This ongoing colonial violence is met with the strength of ancestral knowledge and wisdom, envisioning a future where mokopuna thrive. The framework represents indigenous love, growth, prosperity, and abundance amidst enduring colonial harm and ideological warfare. Full article

This article examines how Oaxacan chefs from Columbus, Ohio make their home and build their success. Prior scholarship shows how chefs establish home to offer themselves a springboard for future success, how chefs foster home through cooking and enjoying familiar dishes, and that food is only truly ‘at home’ when found outside of its original context. Ethnographic interviews with Oaxacan chefs working in food hall stands, taco trucks, bakeries, and restaurants in Columbus demonstrate how they move and adjust to the city; obtain their eateries; and shape their menus and future goals. Oaxacan chefs in Columbus have cultivated a sense of belonging and established a foothold in the city by employing strategies that combine preservation of cultural heritage and adherence and adjustment to local tastes. Full article

This study examines the way world history is taught in two Arab states of diverse backgrounds and international statuses, i.e., the Syrian Arab Republic before the fall of Bashar al-Assad and the United Arab Emirates. Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) is applied to analyze extracts taken from each country’s history textbooks, highlighting the commonalities and differences between them. More specifically, historical narratives are juxtaposed and various insights into the interplay between state ideology and international relations are provided. Findings reveal the relevance of domestic politics and regional geopolitics in determining Syrian and Emirati views of other Arab peoples, colonialism, the Ottomans, and the Western and non-Western worlds alike. More importantly, the study sheds light on what these societies consider important to be taught as part of their building and indexing of national identity, amidst turbulent times in the entire region. Full article

This article draws upon the findings of a Churchill Fellowship that the author undertook in 2023 exploring how First Nations people and their communities internationally are reclaiming child protection decision making. From visiting Aotearoa (New Zealand), the United States of America, and Canada as well as the experiences of Queensland and Victoria in Australia, the author will highlight the preconditions to change; the processes that First Nations communities and their community-controlled organisations engaged in; the strengths and limitations of these approaches; and what has maintained and supported long-term change. The findings in this article aim to contribute to the key elements for guiding the development of a roadmap for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to engage in their own journey of reclaiming child protection decision making within Australia. Full article

This paper examines inheritance rights within the Albanian diaspora, emphasizing the tension between long-standing traditions and contemporary legal frameworks. It specifically investigates traditional inheritance practices rooted in the Kanun and familial customs, alongside the challenges that arise when these traditions intersect with the laws of host countries where Albanians reside abroad. This study assesses the impact of migration on the preservation of cultural identity and evaluates how the modern legal systems of Kosovo, Albania, and various European and American states address inheritance matters for Albanians living outside their homeland. Furthermore, the paper presents concrete cases of conflicts between tradition and legal frameworks, underscoring the necessity for further harmonization that respects cultural heritage while ensuring legal justice for the Albanian diaspora. Finally, the study provides recommendations for enhancing legal policies and safeguarding inheritance rights to support the maintenance of cultural identity and familial bonds within Albanian communities abroad. Full article

This study critically examines the state of Indigenous education in Taiwan through an interdisciplinary approach that integrates policy analysis, statistical evaluation, and localized case studies. Despite the implementation of progressive legislation, Indigenous students continue to encounter persistent disparities in both secondary and tertiary education. By drawing on national datasets and school-level examples, this paper uncovers systemic mismatches between mainstream educational practices and the linguistic, cultural, and communal realities of Indigenous populations. To contextualize Taiwan’s challenges, this study includes a comparative analysis with Indigenous education in Canada, highlighting both shared obstacles and divergent strategies. The findings indicate that, despite policy reforms and targeted programs in both nations, entrenched inequalities endure, rooted in colonial legacies, insufficient cultural integration, and a lack of community-driven educational initiatives. The article argues for a transformative shift in Taiwan’s education system: one that emphasizes the indigenization of curricula, the inclusion of Indigenous voices in educational policymaking, and greater investment in culturally responsive support mechanisms, particularly at the high school and university levels. In summary, meaningful improvement in Indigenous education requires moving from an assimilationist paradigm to one rooted in cultural respect and self-determination. Full article

Background: This systematic review examines the lived experiences of Black students in UK higher education (HE), focusing on their encounters with racism and racial disadvantage, and how institutional and social factors contribute to these experiences. Methods: We conducted a systematic search across seven databases (Academic Search Complete, Education Abstracts, PsycINFO, Race Relations Abstracts, Scopus, Web of Science, and SocINDEX) in April 2023, with periodic updates. The grey literature, which refers to research and information produced outside of traditional academic publishing and distribution channels, was reviewed. This includes reports, policy briefs, theses, conference proceedings, government documents, and materials from organisations, think tanks, or professional bodies that are not commercially published or peer-reviewed but can still offer valuable insights relevant to the topic. Hand searches were also included. Studies were included if they were peer-reviewed, published between 2012 and 2024, written in English, and focused on the experiences of Black students in UK higher education. Both qualitative and quantitative studies with a clear research design were eligible. Studies were excluded if they lacked methodological rigour, did not focus on the UK HE context, or did not disaggregate Black student experiences. Risk of bias was assessed using standard qualitative appraisal tools. Thematic analysis was used to synthesise findings. Results: Nineteen studies were included in the review. Two main themes emerged: (1) diverse challenges including academic barriers and difficulties with social integration, and (2) the impact of racism and institutional factors, such as microaggressions and biased assessments. These issues contributed to mental fatigue and reduced academic performance. Support systems and a sense of belonging helped mitigate some of the negative effects. Discussion: The evidence was limited by potential bias in reporting and variability in study quality. Findings reveal persistent racial inequalities in UK HE that affect Black students’ well-being and outcomes. Institutional reforms, increased representation, and equity-focused policies are needed. Future research should explore effective interventions to reduce the awarding gap and support Black student success Full article

This paper argues for a conceptualisation of self-determination with respect to Indigenous Peoples’ child protection that is grounded in human rights which are plural, relational, and collective as well as individual. This challenges the idea that human rights are universal and static standards based on a code of enumerated rights with a focus on individual rights. Conceptions of the best interests of the child, permanency in care arrangements, and attachment within colonial institutions such as children’s courts often presume non-Indigenous understandings of family and culture. These child protection concepts, which are often framed as consistent with or even necessary to attain children’s human rights, implicitly embed colonial understandings and values with respect to family and community relations. An acknowledgment of the role of law in structuring relationships is necessary for the human rights of Indigenous children to be upheld. We argue that a relational and distributional conceptualisation of these rights can help to clarify how the law can contribute to strengthening, rather than undermining, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family and community relationships. Full article

Before colonization, Indigenous child protection looked like an interdependent community. Indigenous knowledges and relational actions kept all within its fold safe and well. Colonial dispossession of land, degradation of subsistence rights, boarding schools, ongoing child removal, capitalism, and systems of oppression attempted to disconnect Indigenous peoples from their language, lands, ceremonial practices, stories, dances, songs, family, community, and themselves. However, Indigenous communities have held on, persevered, and have begun to turn the tide of intergenerational trauma through the revival of Indigenous wellness and self-determination. We believe local-based Indigenous relational knowledges can end colonial harm and promote wellbeing for all families and children. Our work builds off an Indigenous Connectedness Framework that recognizes the importance of the interrelated wellbeing of a person, family, community, ancestors/future generations, and the Earth. This framework was adapted based on community feedback to better fit the Nome Eskimo Community (NEC) and Bering Strait regional context. This paper shares results of community focus groups that led to the creation of a NEC Piaġiq (wellness) Framework, and shares intentions for pilot implementation of a wellness curriculum and pilot intervention. We will offer insights and lessons learned. We believe self-determined Indigenous wellbeing efforts can lead to improved outcomes for our sacred children and families for generations to come. Full article

In 2020, Bill C92, or an Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit and Metis Children, Youth and Families, came into force in Canada. The Act historically recognized and affirmed Indigenous jurisdiction over child and family services and established national minimal standards for service delivery. In 2024, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the constitutionality of the Act in an appeal from a Quebec Court of Appeal reference case. The Court stressed all parts of the Act must be viewed as “integrated parts of a unified whole” and required the braiding together of Indigenous laws, state laws and international laws into a “single strong rope.” The Act’s aspirations remain in tension with ongoing challenges in implementation. This article outlines the main provisions of the Act. It then examines the law-making efforts and accomplishments of Indigenous governments exercising jurisdiction using the Act, along with some of the hopes and obstacles encountered through this work. Next, it considers some of the emerging jurisprudence interpreting the Act, and some of the implications this case law has on whether the stated purposes of the Act are being achieved. It concludes by highlighting the ongoing uncertainty and hopes for realizing the full potential and aspirations of the Act. Full article

This article examines how national identity is constructed through religious representations in the poetry of Nikoloz Baratashvili, one of the leading figures of 19th-century Georgian Romanticism. Through a text-centered analysis of four key poems, it explores how a religious memory woven around motifs of sacred silence, divine absence, and sacrificial imagery is transformed into a poetic narrative within a postcolonial context. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Søren Kierkegaard, Paul Ricoeur, Edward Said, and post-Soviet Georgian thinkers, the study interprets Baratashvili’s poetry as an expression of an existential national narrative. It argues that the poet’s poetics articulate both individual and collective trauma and that the nation is reimagined as a metaphysical community. In this regard, the study offers an interdisciplinary contribution focused on how the Georgian national genealogy is constructed poetically, the role of Orthodox cultural symbolism, and the impact of colonial modernity. Full article

After decades of decline, Detroit has begun advocating for immigrant inclusion as a regional revitalization strategy. Yet, some migrants do not share the city’s enthusiasm. Chaldean Iraqis, for instance, tend to underscore their distinctiveness from the city and its residents. Nevertheless, their insistence on difference seems spatially specific. Drawing on ethnographic observations in and around Chaldean community organizations in metro Detroit, as well as a sociological discourse analysis of urban policy documents, this paper traces newcomers and the city’s mutually constitutive nature of identity formation. Moreover, I show how community members strategically link their collective memories from Iraq to those of Southeast Michigan, resulting in highly complex place-identity projects. The carefully curated public narrative, in turn, has real consequences for Detroit’s social fabric, reproducing, and challenging Detroit’s own regional identity. Theoretically, the findings point to the limitations of a one-dimensional, spatially bounded, and temporally delimited notion of identity formation. Empirically, Chaldeans’ identity formation highlights the heterogeneity in newcomers’ identity construction, one that differs from that of other co-nationals. Full article

This essay focuses on the Greek adoptees’ search for identity and on the agrafa, or the “unwritten” territories, into which this search penetrates. The Greek adoptees represent an underresearched case study of the postwar intercountry adoption movement (1950–1975). Creating a narrative of the self is key to the adoptees’ identity formation, but their personal narrative is often undermined by stereotypes and denunciations that stunt its development. The research presented here has been guided by questions that interrogate the verdict-making or “sentencing” associated with the adoptees’ identity-shaping process: their sentencing to subjugation by stock opinions, the denouncing of their alternative viewpoints about “rescue” adoptions, and the verdict of their entrapment in feel-good master narratives. This essay also explores broader research questions pertaining to modes of interrogating “historic” adoptions from Greece. It is concerned with the why rather than with the how or the who of the oldest, post-WWII intercountry adoption flows. In what forums and genres (narrative, visual, journalistic, scholarly) are Greek adoption facts and legacies articulated, mediated, and/or materialized? How do memories, both positive and negative, underpin current projects of self-identification and transformation? What are the adoptees’ preferred outlets to speak about embodied experiences, and are those satisfactory? Based on a mixed methods approach, the essay ties these steps in identity growth to the Adoptee Consciousness Model, illustrating the five phases of consciousness that the adoptees may experience throughout their lives. Full article

The violent dispossession of land in South Africa disrupted more than just homes—it severed Black South Africans from a sacred, ancestral connection to land as a source of identity, belonging, and spiritual dwelling. This article examines how forced removals displaced not only bodies but also histories, memories, and the deep-rooted sense of ikhaya (home). Rooted in the concept of endleleni (being on the road/along the road), this study explores how amaXhosa navigate the in-between journey of landlessness and homecoming. Using indigenous storytelling methodology, it reveals how land is not merely for shelter or sustenance but is intricately tied to birth, the umbilical cord, and death, making its reclamation a fight for existence itself. Full article

This article examines how Afghan refugee resettlement in Muncie, Indiana challenges dominant narratives about both Midwestern homogeneity and refugee victimhood. Through research with Afghan refugees who arrived following the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, I analyze how everyday encounters between refugees and longtime residents reveal complex imperial connections. Drawing on Critical Refugee Studies, I argue that Afghan presence in the American Midwest is not incidental but directly produced by decades of U.S. military intervention. Cultural narratives that portray the Midwest as predominantly white are not only misleading but also fuel dangerous ideologies like nativism and white supremacy, which lead to anti-refugee and immigrant policies and practices that have dire consequences. By centering Afghan refugees within longer histories of imperialism, racialization, and migration, I demonstrate how face-to-face interactions produce unexpected alliances that question previously held ideologies and challenge U.S. empire. This work contributes to understanding how refugee integration collapses boundaries between foreign and domestic, revealing how empire fundamentally shapes citizenship, belonging, and regional identity in America’s heartland. Full article

Historical legacies of enslavement and apartheid structural violence underpin the societal fabric of Cape Town. Walking through the city of Cape Town, colonial reminders and bastions of white supremacy remain evident in statues, street names and the continued spatial apartheid present in the public space. Sites of intergenerational trauma remain scattered through the city, retraced and reclaimed through the efforts of community members, activists, artists and museums. This paper focuses on how race and memory are represented, resisted and challenged within popular culture in Cape Town, South Africa. Through considering museums and music as sites of public memory, this paper highlights how collective memory is being constructed in post-apartheid South Africa in ways that challenge white supremacist and colonial memory. Focusing on two case studies, the Iziko Slave Lodge and Youngsta CPT’s song YVR, this paper shows how colonial and apartheid conceptualisations of race are constantly being contested in post-apartheid popular culture to resist colonial memory and recreate new public memories. Full article

In October 2021 the Swedish government committee of inquiry, the Adoption Commission, was appointed, which presented its final report in June 2025. The Adoption Commission investigated irregular and unethical adoptions to Sweden from the 1950s until today, and it was a part of an ongoing global process of coming to terms with past concerning transnational adoptions. This qualitative media text study examines how the Adoption Commission was perceived by the Swedish adoption world’s three stakeholders, the adoptive parents, the adoption organizations, and the adoptees, between 2021 and 2024 and in relation to transitional justice theories, with a focus on the issues of retributive and restorative justice. Full article

This paper analyzes the historical genealogy of conspiracy theories about a global supergovernment by focusing on one period of American history in which it attained particular visibility. The formation of the United Nations in 1945 and the onset of the Cold War galvanized speculation on the political margins that a shadowy, malevolent international government was seeking world domination by targeting the United States and its political culture. At the same time, mainstream United States foreign policy was marked by a desire to both reshape international institutions to resist Soviet influence while also avoiding any domestic changes that might result from international engagement. This paper suggests that conspiracy theory functioned as a mechanism resolving the vicious circle occasioned by these competing foreign policy priorities. Through a narrative analysis of conspiratorial sentiments in North Dakota Representative Usher L. Burdick’s warnings about the United Nations as a threat to American liberty and sovereignty, this article highlights the continuities between mainstream American exceptionalism and conspiratorial ideas. Full article

The article provides an analysis of the geographic origins of Karaites in four areas where Karaite congregations were commonly found after the Middle Ages, namely, Arabic Middle East (territories of modern Iraq, Syria, Israel, and Egypt), Constantinople/Istanbul and its area, the Crimean Peninsula, and Eastern European territories belonging today to Lithuania and Ukraine. It combines available historical, onomastic, and linguistic data revealing the migrations of Karaites to and inside these regions. For the first two regions, no ambiguity exists about the roots of local Karaites. Their ancestors were Jews who adopted the Karaite version of Judaism. For the Crimean communities, various factors favor the hypothesis about the territories of the Byzantine Empire (which later became Ottoman), and more specifically, Constantinople and its area are the only major source for their development. The Karaite communities in such historical Eastern European provinces as Lithuania (properly speaking), Volhynia, and Red Ruthenia were created after migrations from Crimea to these territories. The article also discusses medieval, cultural, and potentially genetic links between Karaites and Rabbanite Jews in the areas in question. It also addresses one phonological feature, the sibilant confusion, shared by the Galician–Volhynian dialect of the Karaim language and the Lithuanian dialect of Yiddish. Full article

Bring them home, keep them home is research based in New South Wales (NSW) Australia, that aims to understand successful and sustainable reunification for Aboriginal families who have children in out-of-home care (OOHC). This research is led by Aboriginal researchers, and partners with Aboriginal organisations. It is informed by the experiences of 20 Aboriginal parents and family members, and more than 200 practitioners and professionals working in child protection and reunification. This paper traces the evolution of Bring them home, keep them home which is now at the forefront of influence for NSW child protection reforms. Using specific examples, it highlights the role of research advocacy and resistance in challenging and disrupting systems in ways that amplify the voices of Aboriginal families and communities and embeds these voices as the foundation for radical innovation for child reunification approaches. The paper shares lessons being learned and insights for Aboriginal-led research with communities in the pursuit of restorative justice, system change, and self-determination. Providing a framework for liberating Aboriginal families from child abduction systems, this paper seeks to offer a truth-telling and practical contribution to the international efforts of Indigenous resistance to child abduction systems. Full article

With increasing attention on DNA ancestry tests, scholars have explored how these tests inform modern understandings of race. Current research reveals the flaws and misinterpretations that arise when DNA tests, such as those offered by 23andMe and AncestryDNA, are used as a proxy for racial identity. While prominent in popular culture, the legitimacy and implications of these tests remain contested in the scholarly literature. Some researchers have explored how the increased availability of DNA tests affects how multiracial individuals identify and disclose their racial and ethnic identities, though this exploration remains limited. As discourse about mixed race identity and ancestry tests becomes more nuanced, I argue for the utility of using diunital perspectives, an expansive lens that resists either/or thinking, to complicate conversations about ancestry tests and multiraciality. This scholarly essay integrates personal narrative and a genealogical deconstruction of monoracialism to explore the question, “How can DNA tests contribute to the unlearning of monoracialism?” I share two personal vignettes to illustrate how these tests can reveal a preference for discrete racial categories. Drawing from Critical Race Theory, strategic essentialism, and diunital perspectives, I examine how DNA tests intersect with identity, family, and monoracialism, concluding with implications for disrupting monoracial logics. Full article

This article presents a new evaluation and analysis of the five censuses undertaken at the initiative of philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore among the Jewish population of Palestine/the Land of Israel between 1839 and 1875. The main purpose of the censuses was to ascertain the composition and needs of a generally poor Jewish population in order to better provide to its welfare. The information collected concerned basic demographic characteristics, countries of origin—namely along the main divide of Ashkenazi and Sephardi/Mizrahi Jews—and periods of immigration, social composition, and religiosity. By combining the different censuses into an integrated database, the authors are able to show changes intervening over time not only regarding the aggregate population, but also concerning individual and household profiles. The data aggregation allows us to better understanding the material conditions of the Jewish population and to outline with greater accuracy the relationship between socio-cultural communities and socio-economic stratification. The analysis unveiled the patterns of Jewish immigration all along the surveyed period and its variations by size and by countries of origin. These data provide important evidence concerning the overall Jewish presence in the Land of Israel and demonstrate that immigration was a significant factor well before the formal beginning of Aliyah in the early 1880s. No such analysis of the whole set of Montefiore censuses had been performed previously. The findings will prove very useful to historians and social scientists in their further investigation of the area and its populations in the 19th century. Full article