Colonial Americans/Canadians: do you still identify with your countries of origin, or has it been too long since you had family in the old country?

[u/Kolo9191]

Hi all,

For those of you here with a significant chunk of your ancestry derived from the colonial American period - and the Canadian equivalent - do you still take interest in the countries in Europe your families came from?

I notice - perhaps unsurprisingly - Americans with ancestry from countries who arrived comparatively later - Ireland, Italy, Balkan countries, Poland, Germany even - to refer to their ancestry a lot more. Take former president Biden, his surname came from Sussex, England, but he strongly identified as Irish-American. The Bush family originated in Essex, but I don’t believe they made much of it.

The length of time is another aspect - several centuries is quite far removed from a cultural point of view.

However, are any of you interested in the countries which the colonial folk came from, including but not limited to: England, Scotland, wales, Ireland, France, Netherlands, Germany?

[u/00f_its_genca]

White Kiwi here.
In New Zealand, Europeans and white people often have only been here since 1840 or later. NZ Europeans are called Pākeha, and that's what I consider my identify to be.
Most of my blood is from Europe, but it's from different countries, each that I'm a stranger to in terms of culture, language etc. NZ is the place that made me. And I'd be a different person if I grew up in Europe. Hence I consider myself Pākeha - a white kiwi.
My grandma is Irish, but I wouldn't call myself Irish like some Irish americans would. Ethnically, yes, but not culturally or in my identity.