Salh tells us that she feels a sense of urgency to archive her family's stories and keep them alive. Does your family or culture have a tradition of oral histories? Why is it important to learn from our elders and earlier generations?

The author introduces the reader to the Somali proverb, "When an elder dies, a library is burned." In The Last Nomad, Salh tells us that she feels a sense of urgency to archive her family's stories and keep them alive. Does your family or culture have a tradition of oral histories? Why is it important to learn from our elders and earlier generations?

My grandparents were born is Sweden and I still have family there. I was raised on family traditions and stories which we have passed on to our son. My 97 year old Aunt has shared much that we cling to. I feel much more "complete" understanding my history and feel blessed by what has been taught and shared.

My maternal great parents and relatives were free Blacks before the reconstruction (they were not slaves). They own land and Irish people help them pay taxes. My paternal side live on a plantation owned by Jewish people in Georgia and move to NC. Due to discrimation, Jim Crow laws, Sun down laws, No mix race marriages, and other injustices they were part of the Black Dispora north. They share stories living in these conditons and what prompted them to go North to NYC. We were raised on family tradition and stories which I have passed to our 2 sons. Plus we have traditions and stories from my husbands Jamaican family where their grandparents were born and raised in Jamaica. Told stories how the men would come through Florida and work as migrant workers (during Jim Crow, a shock to them); then save money to live in Harlem, and women/children came after they were establish. So very rich culture. I feel privileged and grateful for their sacrifices and hard work to give me the opportunities that they were denied and taught me how to cope/deal with oppressive or discriminatory situations and help to make change to improve the lives and relationships for all people in the world. Both sides of the families had longevity, living into 100, 90s or late 80s. Some died early due to that they couldn’t handle the trauma; hard work and alcohol was how they coped.

My family's oral tradition was interrupted by the Holocaust, and parts of it were undoubtedly lost. But my parents made sure to tell us stories they remembered or were part of, so we still have a lot of memories to share. The family still celebrates the Jewish holidays, and we understand that tradition is important. My husband's family has other traditions in which we continue to participate.

I always used to ask my mom to tell me stories from when she was a little girl, and I shared those with my son when he was small. As our family experienced divorce, it was harder to continue doing things the same way they had always been done. We created new traditions that I then shared with my son as well. A couple of years ago, he asked if we could give my mom StoryWorth for Christmas. Fortunately, my mom was really excited to receive this gift. What made it even more special is that my son was able to choose the weekly questions, so the things he really wanted to know were covered. My mom even extended her subscription so that she had more time to spend covering all the topics. She also made a trip to the city where I grew up just to photograph the homes we lived in to include in her book. This will become a treasured family momento that will be passed on to future generations, thus keeping the "library" open.

I suspect my family's experience is pretty common. While, I've always been fascinated by any family stories that come my way, saving them has always been hit or miss. One grandmother liked to tell us stories of her childhood and her mother's childhood (both in the area in which she lived while I was small), and when my poet grandpa died, my dad and I collected his poems in a booklet for the family. On the other side, however, getting any stories at all was difficult. Last year one of my sons gave me StoryWorth, which I used to record as much as I could remember from both sides (and from my own life).

In some ways my family uses oral stories, but not formally. We talk about events of the past, what various family members were like, etc. Oral story telling is great for context, emotion, etc, although I also appreciate having a written record that can be kept in a physical form even if the oral version isn't passed along.

Documenting family stories is important! From earliest times, before alphabets and writing, stories were passed down orally from elders to those in the tribes. Knowing where we originate from gives us a sense of self and purpose.

There are stories and myths in all families, I think. I know that when I die my children won't remember or know some of the stories of my own family from both my mother and father's side. One of the stories was that my grandfather was marching up a road to World War I boot camp and saw a young woman waving to the soldiers. She was standing in front of a men's clothing shop so he took note of the name and promised himself to look her up if he ever got back from war. He did and she became my grandmother. While I'd love to write all these stories down, it is hard to find the time to do so.

These stories give us a sense of self and help us understand family dynamics.

I did not realize how many oral stories my family actually had until my mother passed away. She was the last living family member for her generation. Suddenly, there were tintype photos of people I did not know. I could no longer ask my mother about the penciled notations made by my maternal grandmother (and occasionally a great aunt) in those cloth-bound books of tintypes. It was shocking to realize that some details were lost forever.

I know very little about either side of my family. We were a relatively small family and we lived continents apart from each other for many years so there wasn’t an opportunity to share tales, memories, history, etc. While I have no doubt there is a richness in this type of sharing, I honestly do not feel a loss…you can’t miss what you never had. For me, it has always been enough to have known my parents to have a strong sense of who I am.

In our and future generations family history will be recorded as saved data but for our parents, grandparents, and generations before, there is not much recorded history that is accessible without timely research - if it exists at all. My mother's side of the family is quite well documented as my aunt loved genealogy. My dad's family was Jewish. They left Russia and Latvia prior to the Holocaust so many records do not exist. I loved hearing stories and luckily a few cousins have recorded those oral histories and traditions.

I’ve actually had a book written about my mothers family tree,goes all the way back to Scotland in the 1600’s.in doing research on my dads side I’ve found there is a square in the Czech Republic named after a distant relative. I have a coin in my possession with his name on it.very eye opening, I believe it’s very important!

My family has not had much of a tradition of oral histories. However, I hope to change that.

I completely understand why Salh feels a sense of urgency to get her story out! I'm sure for many families who immigrate to other locations, they have the same fear. Once you are away from your "past life", I suppose you acclimate to your new life and tend to forget about the past.
In my family, we like to recount memories together. I always think it's interesting how we each remember the memory in our own way. While reading this book, I thought of that. How do the other characters remember these moments? Does the mean Saada have any remorse for the way she treated Salh?

My family only gets together at weddings and funerals, so we don’t know that much about one another. I am thankful for discovering some of my extended family members through Facebook and Ancestry.

How hard it is to capture family stories period. I know I regret not asking my parents many things when they were still alive. For those in this group who have parents/grandparents still living, I encourage you strongly to sit down and ask your people for stories.

I recently had a conversation with a group of senior citizens about the lost art of record keeping and journaling. It seems we are all so busy that unless it becomes ingrained in our daily schedule, we do not do it. I am glad my grandma recorded her stories for my family to learn from. I think it is so important to have that written history as well as oral history to help guide us.

I identify with Salh's sense of urgency and desire to keep her family stories alive. My dad was born in Tibet and spent 17 years of his childhood in China. All I have are the stories told to me by my grandparents and the tales that I listened to when my uncles got together and reminisced. I feel a sense of loss that there is very little written down. As the Tibetan people were Nomads and my grandparents were Christian missionaries, they lived a life close to nature and due to extreme altitude and lack of convenient transportation, they rode mules from settlement to settlement, setting up tents along the way. I wish I could remember more of their stories.

We have recently experienced several deaths in the family, particularly of older relatives, and recognize lost opportunities to hear stories, identify individuals in fading pictures, and document medical histories. We have so many avenues of technology, but nothing measures up to hearing stories from those who experienced life in earlier times and different settings.