In the last posting I described living on the cusp between Appalachia and the power brokers of the nation’s capital. Although my rural neighbors did not grow up in the heart of Appalachia, they are far closer to that culture than folks who live only a dozen miles east of here. I will describe a few of the qualities I have observed in the last quarter century of living here.
The roots of my neighbors burrow deeply into this land. It’s not easy for this vagabond hermit (who has resided in half a dozen states) to relate to those who live in the same locale where their ancestors settled. Many in this community have traveled no more than a day’s journey away. Since their formal education level is limited, their knowledge base tends to be very local and commonsensical, rather than cosmopolitan and broad. They have taught me that there is a significant difference between having a formal education and being intelligent—a point usually missed by “sophisticated” mainstream folks, who often label someone who’s not savvy about the urbane world as ignorant.
In contrast, I often find my neighbors quite savvy—they have a solid understanding of how to lead a successful life in their environment and they shrewdly conduct their business with each other and with outsiders. In my first few years here I sometimes found myself on the short end of a bargain with one of them—not quite knowing how I got maneuvered there. Even though I felt bested in a bargain, I never felt cheated. It seemed more a case of one of them deciding to teach me a lesson for my own development or to ensure that I’d treat them with appropriate respect in the future. They also understand that, in a small community, you will face your neighbor tomorrow, so it doesn’t make sense to treat them too badly.
People who live in a culture that teaches them to strive for more status and power (read D.C. again) tend to demean more laid-back cultures. Similarly, people who live a more easy-going lifestyle see the frenetic activity of urban power people as ridiculous and stressful. I have found my neighbors to be relaxed folks who are open and friendly. There’s always time to stop and chat. In fact, it’s a higher priority than rushing off to do business. When I first moved out here I was taken aback when I’d come upon two pickup trucks pausing side by side on a back road, the drivers engaged in conversation—and continuing to yak for a few minutes after I pulled up behind one of them. It took me awhile to shake off my metropolitan impatience and not be bothered.
Another related custom I very much appreciated when I became a resident was to have the driver of an oncoming vehicle—especially pickups—wave at me as we passed. On these occasions you usually get a “one-finger” wave, wherein an index finger on the steering wheel gets lifted and wobbled in greeting. When I first moved here I drove a beloved old Fiat convertible. I would get an occasional wave, but just as many curious stares. When I sold the car and got my own pickup, however, the frequency of the waves dramatically increased. I even sometimes felt mistaken for a native!
I’ve never regretted leaving the fast-paced city life and the lucrative job it gave me, to live on the eastern edge of Appalachia. It felt like coming home.
Showing posts with label Appalachia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Appalachia. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Appa-LATCH-ee-yuh—Part 1
For about three decades I have lived on the cusp between two dramatically different cultures. An hour and a half to the east is Washington, D.C and 90 minutes to the west is the heartland of Appalachia. To the east, the powerful; to the west, the manipulated. Towards the coast, the money; towards the mountains, poverty. To one side, chic; to the other, hick.
These two cultures have little in common and are even rather suspicious of each other. Since those in power control both the recording of history and the current news, Appalachian culture has had a reputation in the media for being poor, ignorant, and violent. Occupying the middle ground, I can be a little more objective and have a different perspective. Furthermore, I once lived in the D.C. area, so I got fairly familiar with that urban culture—familiar enough to have fled it 25 years ago (so maybe I’m not that objective).
Appalachia covers parts of as many as 13 states and extends over the southern range of the Appalachian Mountains—which run from northern Georgia to Newfoundland. The heart of Appalachia is usually considered to be eastern Tennessee and Kentucky, southwest Virginia, and all of West Virginia. I live on the western slope of the Shenandoah Valley, just to the east of Appalachia.
The Appalachian Mountains acquired their name from the Spaniards, who sent expeditions into America’s interior from Florida in the 16th century. They encountered an Indian tribe in northern Florida that they called Apalachee and later ascribed to the territory farther north.
When European colonists first settled the eastern seaboard they considered the Appalachian Mountains to be a forbidding barrier to the west, which contained equally forbidding savages. These flatlanders from Europe were happy to stick near the coast and stay clear of the wild and wooly mountains. As more Europeans migrated to America, however, they began to press westward into those mountains. Most of them still feared the hills, but the Scots Irish among them were already quite at home in mountains and they happily settled in “them thar hills.” (Interestingly, the mountains of Great Britain from whence they came were once the very northern tip of the Appalachian range, 350 million years ago, when America and Europe were joined. So, in a way, these folks were simply moving down their own mountain range.)
The Scots Irish had previously been regarded in Great Britain as a lower class people, so we can see the seeds of modern-day American prejudice against the people of Appalachia. These Scots Irish folks were rugged, self-sufficient people. Mountain people have always had more autonomy than flatlanders. They know they live in remote areas, far from “civilization,” and that’s just fine with them. Their mountainous land has always been regarded as less desirable and accessible than coastal land, so mountaineers have experienced fewer intrusions. Many an invading army has met its match in attempting to attack mountain people (think of Afghanistan).
As the European immigrants settled into their Appalachian Mountains, their culture deviated more and more from Americans to the east—and often that was just fine by them. The friction between the two cultures occasionally broke out in conflict, as issues of taxes and governance arose. The lowlanders dominated state legislatures and hogged an unfair proportion of tax money. By the early 1800s many areas of Appalachia were agitating for secession. In fact, before the Civil War, Tennessee state senator Andrew Johnson (later US president) initiated legislation to create the state of Frankland, which would have covered eastern Tennessee, as well as parts of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. When the Civil War began, the western part of Virginia did break away, later to become the heart of Appalachia.
In the last 150 years the reputation of Appalachia has not improved in the minds of most Americans. Despite the fact that the region is rich in natural resources (coal and wood), those assets have been removed by outside robber barons, who used the area’s cheap labor, but allowed few of the economic benefits to be enjoyed by residents. As a result, the economic and educational divide between Appalachia and the rest of the country has inexorably widened. Roosevelt’s New Deal initiatives brought attention to the region, as well as some improvements, but the people of Appalachia still lag behind, and the stereotypical viewpoint of Americans remains.
Some qualities of my near-Appalachian neighbors next time…
These two cultures have little in common and are even rather suspicious of each other. Since those in power control both the recording of history and the current news, Appalachian culture has had a reputation in the media for being poor, ignorant, and violent. Occupying the middle ground, I can be a little more objective and have a different perspective. Furthermore, I once lived in the D.C. area, so I got fairly familiar with that urban culture—familiar enough to have fled it 25 years ago (so maybe I’m not that objective).
Appalachia covers parts of as many as 13 states and extends over the southern range of the Appalachian Mountains—which run from northern Georgia to Newfoundland. The heart of Appalachia is usually considered to be eastern Tennessee and Kentucky, southwest Virginia, and all of West Virginia. I live on the western slope of the Shenandoah Valley, just to the east of Appalachia.
The Appalachian Mountains acquired their name from the Spaniards, who sent expeditions into America’s interior from Florida in the 16th century. They encountered an Indian tribe in northern Florida that they called Apalachee and later ascribed to the territory farther north.
When European colonists first settled the eastern seaboard they considered the Appalachian Mountains to be a forbidding barrier to the west, which contained equally forbidding savages. These flatlanders from Europe were happy to stick near the coast and stay clear of the wild and wooly mountains. As more Europeans migrated to America, however, they began to press westward into those mountains. Most of them still feared the hills, but the Scots Irish among them were already quite at home in mountains and they happily settled in “them thar hills.” (Interestingly, the mountains of Great Britain from whence they came were once the very northern tip of the Appalachian range, 350 million years ago, when America and Europe were joined. So, in a way, these folks were simply moving down their own mountain range.)
The Scots Irish had previously been regarded in Great Britain as a lower class people, so we can see the seeds of modern-day American prejudice against the people of Appalachia. These Scots Irish folks were rugged, self-sufficient people. Mountain people have always had more autonomy than flatlanders. They know they live in remote areas, far from “civilization,” and that’s just fine with them. Their mountainous land has always been regarded as less desirable and accessible than coastal land, so mountaineers have experienced fewer intrusions. Many an invading army has met its match in attempting to attack mountain people (think of Afghanistan).
As the European immigrants settled into their Appalachian Mountains, their culture deviated more and more from Americans to the east—and often that was just fine by them. The friction between the two cultures occasionally broke out in conflict, as issues of taxes and governance arose. The lowlanders dominated state legislatures and hogged an unfair proportion of tax money. By the early 1800s many areas of Appalachia were agitating for secession. In fact, before the Civil War, Tennessee state senator Andrew Johnson (later US president) initiated legislation to create the state of Frankland, which would have covered eastern Tennessee, as well as parts of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. When the Civil War began, the western part of Virginia did break away, later to become the heart of Appalachia.
In the last 150 years the reputation of Appalachia has not improved in the minds of most Americans. Despite the fact that the region is rich in natural resources (coal and wood), those assets have been removed by outside robber barons, who used the area’s cheap labor, but allowed few of the economic benefits to be enjoyed by residents. As a result, the economic and educational divide between Appalachia and the rest of the country has inexorably widened. Roosevelt’s New Deal initiatives brought attention to the region, as well as some improvements, but the people of Appalachia still lag behind, and the stereotypical viewpoint of Americans remains.
Some qualities of my near-Appalachian neighbors next time…
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