Today is Family Day in parts of Canada. It happens on the third Monday of February and is a statutory holiday.

Genealogy tours are popular nowadays as people research their family tree and venture to the land of their roots. For African-Canadians and Americans this can be challenging. Incomplete records (or no records at all) coupled with the experiences of slavery make it difficult to trace one’s ancestry.

From those being ‘shipped’ over to the Americas to slaves without land ownership and voting rights to the fugitive slaves travelling the Underground Railroad, documentation of who-was-who was very limited. However, one can use some of the following to help find out where they came from:

• census, tax and other government records
• runaway slave notices and/or search and reward notices
• wills and death certificates
• land records or city directories
• Church records
• newspapers
• military records
• slave narratives
• the Book of Negros
• DNA testing

Other Useful Links:

• AfriGeneas ~ African Ancestored Genealogy

• Archives – family history made simple and affordable: African-American Genealogy and Black Canadian history

• African Ancestry – Trace Your DNA. Find Your Roots

• Eleanor’s Links – Links to African-American Genealogy on the Internet