Summary: Understanding Appalachian Culture

When people think Appalachia, they think of West Virginia, but the Appalachian Mountains stretch far from West Virginia and the people living in their hills have a shared cultural heritage that is evident no matter what state they are a part of.

On October 27, Robert Gipe gave a reading from his graphic novel, Trampoline. In the introduction given by Marianne Worthington from the University of the Cumberlands, she emphasized the importance of telling Appalachian stories for themselves. After years of outside authors stereotyping Appalachian culture in their work and these messages being spread, many authors in the region are beginning to reclaim Appalachian stories, telling them for their real work. In fact, Worthington even described Gipe as a protector of Appalachian culture and language. Another important part of Gipe’s graphic novel that Worthington emphasized was the importance of the female narrator, Dawn Jewell, as one in the long tradition of Appalachian female characters. In Gipe’s reading, Dawn certainly has an interesting home life and personality. Dawn’s mother is a drug addict and her father has also left the family. Dawn has a bitter tone and a dark sense of humor. This is particularly seen in an example of her working in the copy shop

The Great Smoky Mountains are one of a kind mountains. I was on the top of one of mountains; the view was breathtaking and was an amazing to see. I relate to Dellarobia’s awe from the mountains and countryside. Appalachia is a mainly rural area, with distinct people and landforms. There is diversity in this area. In some places, technology thrives. In others however, are lacking up to date technology. From one perspective, this is understandable. Every town is different and may not have every object the next town has. These places are isolated from industrial cities; many jobs in this area include farming, coal mining, and lumbering. However, looking at this from another angle, this is unfair to the areas without up to date technology. These areas could be in poverty and may not be able to afford everything new. This novel gives us an example of this with the Turnbow family and their

Where there are various regions there are bound to be a variety of people with alternate cultures, beliefs, and ways of life. The cultures found with the Appalachia are unique in their own ways and represent a body of individuals who found their way to such an area. Land that is included within the Southern Appalachia can be best described by Horace Kephart as he does so in his book The Southern Highlander and His Homeland to include: “the four western counties of Maryland; the Blue Ridge Valley, and Allegheny Ridge counties of Virginia; all of West Virginia; eastern Tennessee; eastern Kentucky; western North Carolina; the four northwestern counties of South Carolina; northern Georgia; and northeastern Alabama.” (22-24) With so much

Daugneaux, Christine B. Appalachia: A Separate Place, A Unique People. Parsons: McLain Printing Company, 1981. Print.

In Uneven Ground, the author Ronald D. Eller narrates the economic, political, and social change of Appalachia after World War II. He writes “persistent unemployment and poverty set Appalachia off as a social and economic problem area long before social critic Michael Harrington drew attention to the region as part of the “other America” in 1962.”(pp.2) Some of the structural problems stated by Eller include problems of land abuse, political corruption, economic shortsightedness, and the loss of community and culture; personally view the economic myopia as being the most daunting.

His name is Wautheeweela. It means Bright Horn, referring to horns on a deer. He is ten years old, and ready to make his journey to prove his manhood. He and other boys from his Shawnee tribe have been physically toughened and taught to be independent since an age of around six. In winters, they have had to break the ice to jump into the freezing river to continue their daily routine of learning to survive with Nature and its elements. Now will be his test of endurance. He is sent into the woods with a bow and arrow and told not to come back until he had shot something to eat. His face is blackened with charcoal, a sign to all who saw him that he is on his quest and cannot be helped. He would

The people of Appalachia are often characterized as ignorant, lazy, uneducated, drug addicted, and incestuous. Many believe that this impoverished area is full of hicks, hillbillies, and rednecks, but when examining the truths one might find an enriched culture with generous people who are hardworking, artistic, and family oriented with a strong religious faith.

Appalachia is a culture based upon the ancient traditions and customs that have made its way through the years. Appalachia is a descriptive term referring to things in the Appalachian region. The style of dance or music would be a prime example of things in that particular region. The culture of the people began as really poor people who went West to survive on their own and avoid tax and toleration of the Eastern States. People who are from there or native to the region are generally close-knit, and fiercely defensive of friends and family and skeptical of outsiders. Yet, despite the lack of educational education, they had a lot of pride for who they were and their mark in history. According to popular beliefs on Appalachia, many people are led to believe that Appalachia is a poor and uneducated region.

After obtaining my recent degree in Anthropology from the University of Georgia and securing a job as a campaign assistant for a candidate running for U.S. senate, I have been assigned the task to help my candidate write the best family values policy platform he can. To accomplish this goal, I have interviewed one participant, nineteen-year-old Brandon, about his kinship system. This will help me gather information on the social issues of a family and family values. To give you a quick introduction, Brandon is my boyfriend and someone who I have known for almost a year. I am quite familiar with his family. Brandon grew up in a single-parent home after his parents divorced when he was six. They are not alone here; in 2012, there were 11.2 million single-parent households documented (BOOK pg 366). In this home, he was raised primarily by his mother, and lived there along with his older sister Chrissy Dale. Brandon has a bilateral descent group, meaning the relationships in his family are recognized through both his mother and fathers’ sides of the family (LECTURE). His kinship system is also homogamic, meaning all of the couples in his family married from inside their social group. (LECTURE). Brandon is not my participant’s real name, but will be used for the sake of this project for ethical reasons. In this report, I plan to make known step by step Brandon’s family and who inhabits it, what occupational patterns they have, what residence patterns they follow, and how

The mountains of central Appalachia have always been known for, almost exclusively, the booming coal deposits that inhabit it, as well as the controversy that comes with the industry. The controversy that involves the wildlife, ecosystems, and residents of the area is one with fine lines, gray areas, and more than simply a good and evil side. The mountains of Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee are also home to some of the most extensive biodiversity in our country, as well as rich cultural heritage that extends to the earliest years of our nation. Everything that makes central Appalachia unique and identifiable is exactly what they might be in jeopardy of losing.

Shannon, Havens, Mateyoke-Scrivner, & Walker, (2009) reviewed the various types of substances used by women going into treatment who were of the rural Appalachian and non-Appalachian areas of Kentucky. Shannon et al. sampled 2,786 women who were going into treatment in Kentucky. The state of Kentucky sponsored the drug abuse program. The participants were evaluated for their use of opiates, alcohol, stimulants, cocaine, sedatives, and tranquilizers over 12 months as well as lifetime use. Findings showed that rural Appalachian women going into drug treatment had higher use of opiates than non-Appalachian women did.

Most of us have learnt about the Trail of Tears as an event in American history, but not many of us have ever explored why the removal of the Indians to the West was more than an issue of mere land ownership. Here, the meaning and importance of land to the original Cherokee Nation of the Southeastern United States is investigated. American land was seen as a way for white settlers to profit, but the Cherokee held the land within their hearts. Their removal meant much more to them than just the loss of a material world. Historical events, documentations by the Cherokee, and maps showing the loss of Cherokee land work together to give a true Cherokee

The Native Americans of the southeast live in a variety of environments. The environments range from the southern Appalachian Mountains, to the Mississippi River valley, to the Louisiana and Alabama swamps, and the Florida wetlands. These environments were bountiful with various species of plant and animal life, enabling the Native American peoples to flourish. “Most of the Native Americans adopted large-scale agriculture after 900 A.D, and some also developed large towns and highly centralized social and political structures.” In the first half of the 1600s Europeans encountered these native peoples. Both cultures encountered new plants, animals, and diseases. However, the Indians received more diseases compared to the few new diseases

The Appalachian region is one of the most valuable areas of the United States. It is rich in many natural aspects and is home to some of the hardest working citizens in this country. Unfortunately, Appalachia is also home to a variety of harsh social problems including severe drug abuse and a gripping poverty facing a large portion of Appalachian citizens. The two of these issues seem to go hand in hand in many cases, so the solution of one could also lead to the solution of the other. Appalachians have always had a history of handling their own problems, these drastic social problems are no different.