Quote:
Originally Posted by Thunderball
You're right.
I know I don't identify my background as Canadian, mostly because I can trace my background directly from living relatives. I'm a clearly definable half-breed Italian. I don't consider Canadian to be a cultural background or ethnicity, its a nationality.
The only people I know who state their background as Canadian tend to be people with so many cultural backgrounds, they can't even keep it straight... the ones who are 1/8 French, 1/8 English on both sides, 1/4 Welsh, 1/16 Cherokee twice removed, etc.
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I say I'm Canadian primarily because I have 'Upper Canada' Ancestry dating back to the Rebellion days. But then again that's only 1/4 of my ancestry, I'm also 1/4 post-Confederation English, 1/8th Welsh, 1/8th French Canadian (Les Habitants prior to the Plains of Abraham) and 1/4 Ukranian.
In absence of a homogenous founding culture, my family's customs, traditions, and ways of life tend to mirror that of other people of mixed European Heritage commonly found in Canada for more than a handful of generations. Hence Canadian.
Afterall being Italian also can mean being from the northern cities, Sicily, Roman city states, etc. that also have their own distinct nuances to Italian culture. Saying you're Italian can be very similar to me saying I'm Canadian.