Summary: Understanding Appalachian Culture

In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson declared an unconditional war on poverty in the United States and the most photographed area was the Appalachia region. Many of the photographs intentional or not, became a visual definition of the Appalachia region. The images have drawn from the poorest areas and people to gain support for the war on poverty, but came to represent the entirety of the region. The point of the Looking at Appalachia project is to explore the diversity of Appalachia and to establish a visual counter point. (Home - Looking at Appalachia.) The three images I am going to analyze are challenge some of the stereotypes put on the Appalachia region. I believe my images challenge the stereotype that all Appalachian people do is work hard, go to church, and don’t have time for anything besides those two things.

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 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

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.

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.

Being known as the region synonymous with destitution and home to some of the pauperized counties in the country, Appalachia has always been hidden from or sort of isolated from the rest of the world because of their geographic location. The people of Appalachia are often seen as unintelligent and less civilized than other Americans as they were less developed and not exposed to the commercial world. Because of

The person we will become is shaped from the time we are born. Every experience we have has an effect on us. It can be argued that the experiences we have as children have the greatest effect on how we behave later in life. No two people encounter the exact same things throughout their life. Experiences are dictated by the people you live with, the events that occur in your life, and where you grow up. The Appalachian mountain region has been considered to be a different world from mainstream America since the first settlers arrived from the borderlands of Scotland, Ireland, and England. Several scholars have examined the Appalachian region to assess behavior due to mental health issues. Several studies have found that a higher number of

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.

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

The Appalachian Region stretches from the northern part of New York, through Pennsylvanyia, all of West Virginia, the West side of Kentucky, Mississippi, and the southern parts of Maryland, S.Carolina, N. Carolina, and Alabama. The immigrants who settled in the Appalachian Region were made-up of three main ethinic backgrounds; Scot-Irish, English, and German. “Appalachian people are considered a separate culture, made up of many unique backgrounds—Native Americans, Irish, English and Scotch, and then a third descendants of German and Polish immigrants—all blended together across the region”(“Appalachian Culture”, 2015). The immigrants came to the Appalachian Region either in search of land at cheaper prices or to get away from the Quacker Leaders. The Appalachian Region has proven to create a hard way of life for those who settled the region. “The people who settled in the Appalachian region were known as hearty people who lived in an often difficult environment”(“What is Unique”, 2015). Those who live in the Appalachian Region today may not face the same challenges as his or her ancestors who settled the region, but there is no doubt the Appalachians still brings a set of challenges. However, no matter the challenges there is one thing those who live in Appalachia share, tradition. It is these traditions that assisted the first settlers, our ancestors, in living life and are still getting present day Appalachians through.

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.

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.

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

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

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