Capturing the Cultural Heritage of Your Family

"Welcome to The Legacy Project Podcast, where we explore the art of storytelling and the incredible power of preserving your lived experience. I’m your host, Don Fessenden, and today we’re diving into a vital and often overlooked topic—capturing the cultural heritage of your family.

Our cultural roots are more than just background details—they’re the rhythm of our stories. They shape the way we speak, eat, celebrate, mourn, and connect. Whether your family heritage is rich with traditions passed down through generations or you’re working to rediscover it yourself, recording your cultural history is one of the most meaningful gifts you can leave for future generations.

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Transcript

Don: 0:12

"Welcome to The Legacy Project Podcast, where we explore the art of storytelling and the incredible power of preserving your life's experience. I’m your host, Don Fessenden, and today we’re diving into a vital and often overlooked topic: capturing the cultural heritage of your family. Our cultural roots are more than just background details: they’re the rhythm of our stories. They shape the way we speak, eat, celebrate, mourn, and connect. Whether your family heritage is rich with traditions passed down through generations or you’re working to rediscover it yourself, recording your cultural history is one of the most meaningful gifts you can leave for future generations. In this episode, we’ll talk about why cultural identity is a powerful storytelling element, how to capture it with authenticity, and how to pass it on so it doesn’t fade with time. Let’s dive in.""Your cultural heritage is the lens through which much of your family story unfolds. It might be defined by language, religion, food, celebrations, music, or values passed down over time. These are not just details: they're living threads in the fabric of your identity. I’ve worked with many storytellers who’ve said,'I never thought my background was interesting enough to write about.' But here’s the truth: your culture is your fingerprint. It’s unique, and it’s powerful. When you capture your heritage in writing, you're preserving more than a personal memory. You're preserving a shared history: a history that can easily be lost in a generation if it isn’t recorded. Cultural identity connects past, present, and future. It anchors us, and it teaches those who come after us where they come from.""Cultural heritage isn’t always found in history books. More often, it’s in the everyday moments: the stories told around the dinner table, the food made on holidays, the songs hummed in the kitchen, the languages blended together during a conversation. One storyteller I worked with shared a memory of making tamales with her grandmother every December. The smell of masa, the laughter, the arguments over how much spice to use: it was more than cooking. It was a ritual. It was culture in action. You don’t have to start with grand traditions. Start small. Ask yourself: What were the holidays like in my home growing up? What music was played? What stories were told? What languages, sayings, or customs shaped how my family communicated? Even if your family’s traditions have faded or been lost over time, your search for them: your curiosity and desire to reconnect: is a powerful story in itself.""If you want to capture the cultural heritage of your family, start by listening. Talk to your elders. Ask about traditions, origins, migrations, and the stories behind them. Some powerful questions to ask include: What traditions did your parents or grandparents bring from their homeland? Are there family recipes that have been passed down for generations? What values were most important in your household growing up? What were weddings, funerals, or holidays like in your childhood? Did your family experience cultural discrimination or pride in their identity? How did they respond? When you give space for these stories, people open up. You’ll often uncover wisdom, struggle, resilience: and beauty. Sometimes you’ll even hear stories that no one has told before.""Culture is not static: it evolves over time. And that’s important to capture, too. Maybe your family blended traditions from multiple cultures. Maybe you’re the first in your family to grow up in a different country or speak a different language. Maybe you’ve redefined your connection to culture in your own way. This is all part of your story. It’s okay to write about the tension, the loss, and even the reclamation of culture. I’ve spoken with people who felt disconnected from their roots because of immigration, assimilation, or generational silence. But through storytelling, they began to rebuild the bridge back to who they are. Cultural heritage doesn’t have to be perfect or complete to be powerful. Even the act of searching, questioning, and rediscovering is part of the legacy you leave.""Now let’s talk about how to preserve what you’ve discovered. Cultural heritage deserves to be documented in a way that future generations can see, hear, and feel. Here are a few creative ways to do it: Create a cultural memoir that weaves together personal stories with cultural background. Re-cord family recipes alongside the memories and people associated with them. Collect photographs, songs, and heirlooms and write the stories behind them. Create a family cultural map: tracing where your ancestors came from and how your traditions evolved. Write letters to future generations explaining why certain traditions matter and how to carry them forward. One storyteller I know created a digital scrapbook that included family photos, favorite meals, old passports, and voice recordings of her grandparents singing traditional songs. It became a treasure trove of cultural identity that her children now cherish.""As we wrap up today’s episode, I want to leave you with this: your culture is not something to be tucked away in the past: it’s alive in you, right now. You are the bridge between those who came before you and those who are still to come. By capturing your family’s cultural heritage, you honor that bridge. You preserve the stories, the flavors, the wisdom, and the soul of your ancestors: and you pass it on. If today’s episode inspired you, I encourage you to start small. Write down a tradition. Re-cord a conversation with a loved one. Recreate a dish and write the story behind it. And if you’re looking for tools to help guide your legacy writing journey, check out my book, The Legacy Project: A Guide to Sharing Your Story. Thank you for joining me today on The Legacy Project Podcast. Your culture matters. Your voice matters. Start writing, start sharing, and leave your mark. I’ll see you next time."