Knowing Your Roots to Know Yourself
Being the first generation to be born in America made it easier to assimilate and achieve the
American dream. I didn’t have difficulties in learning two different languages at the same time. One of
the languages being my native tongue Hmong. The other was English, which was necessary to survive.
Eventually I stopped speaking in Hmong because it was no longer necessary for survival or to
communicate with my parents. Speaking English took over my life just like how the American culture
took over my Hmong culture. Who is to blame, but I for letting myself forget and choosing to leave my
native culture behind for building a better life. I built a life where I am successful and no longer
surviving, but thriving. However it came with a cost; I am alone and lost my identity. From supporting
resources, I’ve learned that my sufferings from disconnection can be healed by retracing my steps and it
starts with my people, the Hmong. Knowing your roots is a way to getting to know yourself again.
To me, my story is a unique one. Yet, it’s also a common story for most immigrants and their
descendants. The intensity may vary, but one thing prevails to be the same – we are curious about where
our ancestors came from and who they were. This curiosity was the main drive for the two primary
persons, Nathan and Oscar, in the documentary film Made in Taiwan. They simply were curious to know
where their Polynesian ancestors came from and did so by using a genetic ancestry test by swabbing their
inner cheeks. The test results retraced exactly who their ancestors were. Based on the combination of
their parents’ ancestry, Nathan is American through his mother and Maui through his father. Oscar is Ina
by his mother and Lhotse by his father. However, knowing isn’t enough to reconnect to who you really
are. To go deeper into the truth Nathan and Oscar connected the dots using genetic data and
archeological history to retrace the migration journey of their ancestors. There’s only one way to know
who your ancestors are and that is by being in the exact same place where they have been.
There is a wave of emotions that one can experience when retracing the steps of the ancestors. A
complicated feeling of guilt and gratitude was noticeable when Oscar mentioned how all he did when he
finally returned to his home island was crying all day at the cemetery. The guilt can be from letting go of
the people and leaving the island to build a better life elsewhere. In other words, he was guilty of
abandoning his family and culture for a reasonable selfish cause. The gratitude can be from the
appreciation of his ancestors for establishing life after migrating and continuing to practice the culture. He
shows gratitude by paying his respects to his elders and ancestors. He also felt protective of his people
and the culture from exposing them for the documentary. Oscar wasn’t the only one to show gratitude
through respect and honoring what’s left of the ancestors. Nathan also felt sentimental towards the
monument for the canoes and started weeding the surrounding area. Being at the exact same place where
your ancestors decided to leave their homeland can leave you feeling compassionate and grateful. Nathan
was impressed by the efforts of his ancestors for traveling the unforgivable ocean by using outrigger
canoes and the stars. He looked prideful and proud to represent his current people. Experiencing multiple
emotions when learning about your ancestors means you are finally reconnecting to your roots and getting
to know yourself more completely.
The people who decided to remain on the homeland instead of leaving with the ancestors are
somehow still the ancestors. Interestingly enough, it’s like time has stopped and the people who stayed
behind are the exact reflection of who the ancestors were at that time to this day. From Polynesia to
Taiwan, both Nathan and Oscar noticed the similarities of those people as the ancestors compared with
the modern day descendants. They all have the same origin stories, similar looks of dark skin and facial
features, same patterns for tattoos and pottery, similar arts and cultural dance, and similar traditions.
These similarities made Nathan and Oscar felt connected with the people as if they are family like
distantly related cousins.
The most creditable similarity was the languages spoken as Nathan and Oscar traveled. From my
understanding of the works by Robert Blust and Ritsuko Kikusawa about historical linguistics, how the
language evolved between the peoples in the Pacific and Taiwan clearly supports that the language likes
the people are related through ancestors and come from the same language family like a family tree.
Comparative linguistics is used to compare the languages to understand how the languages are related to
each other. For example, those people who decided to stay behind rather than migrate with the ancestors
kept speaking the original language. This language would be more complicated and longer. Those
ancestors who decided to migrate kept some of the original language, but also have evolved the language
to become simpler and useful to the new location. Some parts of the original language that can sustain the
time and migration are considered slow to change because it is used so often in daily life like the words
water or man. These types of stable words are used to see the similarities and to note where the changes in
languages begin. A change to the stable word would signify a split in the language family tree like when
an uncle decided to remain behind as the father decides to migrate out. There are similarities in sound,
syntax, semantics, and word formations. Anyhow, the word that piqued the similarity checklist for Nathan
and Oscar was taki meaning origin. Through stable words surviving the migration, Nathan and Oscar
accepted how language is the biggest contributing factor to prove that the Taiwanese are still their
ancestors and family even if they’re far reached distantly related.
What a holistic and complete healing journey it would be to end like how Nathan and Oscar did!
They both gained a wider perspective of who they are, re-identified with their roots, and discovered an
ocean of family members. Starting from a simple curiosity about their ancestors and ending with a more
compassionate and connected self, truly shows that when you know your roots you will know who you
are.