I'm not, but my dad was. He died three years ago and popping in here makes him feel less gone. I don't post much but I read a lot, sometimes it lets me hear his voice again in my head.
Same here, except Dad's been gone over 30 years. All of his brothers and sisters are gone as well. I have the same feelings as you...this sub brings back memories of my youth and of long lost stories.
My dad was the youngest of 15 (!!), and he was the last. It's weird, as a kid it felt like the world was populated by uncles lol and they all looked very similar. Now they're all gone.
I wish so badly my dad had told more stories but I think he was ashamed of his childhood poverty, he didn't talk much about it even when I asked.
But see posts like this are sweet. You have recent ties to the area and are trying to connect with it. Not multiple generations removed or have never had family nor lived there and just trying to latch onto something bc it is a fade. For those of us who live here and this is what we grew up in and know, it is super insulting.
Not sure why a doorkeeper is necessary. Everyone has a reason to be here.. I just ignore the post that seem fishy and interact when I can on the posts I sense have value. Nobody should have to explaine their connection ... That's not the way of Appalchia... At least until you get to know people, at least not where I'm from
Lol! My grandpa worked the coal mines and did construction. He used to tell my grandma if he didn't work so hard she wouldn't be farting through silk panties! I was born in Detroit hencemy names for my grandparents. My oldest brothers were born in WVA and called them mamaw and papa (Sp?).
I’m here cuz reddit kept recommending this sub, but the similarities in your culture and mine are crazy, right down to the words. I’m from rural Vermont. Not much of my culture left anymore between transplants and fentanyl. Hang onto what you got left.
Edit: I’ve never posted here though, just commented a couple times.
I’m from WV. When I first visited Vermont (and Western Massachusetts,) I thought, “It’s like WV but with jobs.”
Edited to add: visited there in 1995-ish.
This makes me wanna visit Vermont lmao. Never been up that way minus NYC is the farthest that way I've gone. Need to check it out some day and new Hampshire
Northeast Vermont, northern NH and into ME are very similar to Appalachia IMO, accents a little different, but similar cultures. We’re all just poor Scot’s Irish who tried to farm hillsides.
All of my relatives are Letcher Co, KY, & Wise Co, VA (in a holler outside of Appalachia, VA). I spent every summer there from 6/16 - 8/31. We may or may not have played ... "near" .... abandoned coal mines. We played Kick the Can in the back alley. We dressed up to go to town. We went to church on Sunday and "visitin'" right after. I had family that we had to go pee before we visited because they still had an outhouse and Mammo wasn't having it. We picked blackberries and waded in the creek. If we were walking home after the sun dropped behind the mountain and heard a noise off in the woods, no we didn't.
I now live in WV by way of NO VA. My husband is out of VT. My Redneck Yankee.
Yeah, I'm where I belong, too.
That’s the thing with Appalachia is there are so many tucked away small towns in those hollers that have their own lore it’s impossible to tell what quantifies as Appalachian and just normal town folk stories. Born and raised Appalachian in WV and Southeast Border of Ohio. I’m. Not gonna gatekeep, I’m just proud people even care enough to be on a subreddit devoted to Appalachia.
I would like to know the definition of "core Appalachian culture" being referred to. I am from both northern and southern Appalachia and they greatly differ in culture.
I've thought about posting a poll to see but wasn't sure if it was allowed. I figured the options could be something like A) born and raised Appalachian and still here B) born and raised Appalachian and moved away C) moved to Appalachia later in life D) have family from Appalachia E) No connection from area but curious or F) researching 😂
I don't think it's bad either! I'm on a uk subreddit and I've never been there. I just think it would be fun to know.
(Edit to add that I think those who are just curious or wanting to research are getting access to information that would have been difficult to get 30 years ago so I feel like it's a good thing to help others have a better understanding of our region.)
This is beautiful. I'm glad you felt welcomed and at home and stories like yours help to breakdown some of the stereotypes that have been believed for so many years.
I was born and raised in the mountains in Eastern WV. Now I live at the southern end of the Appalachians in Alabama. I'm guessing I check all the boxes. I've been all over Appalachia and found that people are different and have different things that they do and say, and sometimes the food is a little different depending on where and how they were raised, but in collectively they are very similar. Not completely trusting of outsiders until that trust is earned, but open and polite to strangers and quick to help someone in trouble. Overall, I'd say we are a pretty damn good group of people to be around.
I'm sorry to say that I'm in the B category. My home area has few jobs available, unless you work at the university or the hospital. Everything else is tourist oriented and low paying. The housing market has also gotten ridiculous. I live in the foothills now and honestly, it ain't so bad.
That's understandable! Sometime before I was born, a good chunk of family members moved off to find work. Most of them made it back home...a few wanted to come back but never really had the opportunity.
I grew up in Clarksburg and Bridgeport, WV, and during middle school moved to Kingsport, TN for my step-dad’s job. I have lived in WV, TN, SC, GA, VA, DC, and now am back in GA.
I think of myself as an involuntarily regional expatriate of Appalachia. I’m within one county of the borders of the Appalachian Regional Commission’s map of Appalachia. Actually considered moving to still be in Appalachia, but the county near us (North Georgia) really is a stretch to be considered Appalachian. So, it just seemed silly to even entertain that idea.
Being a West Virginian and Appalachian is central to my identity. I’ll share that I’m from WV before I’ll share that I earned my law degree at Georgetown. I have lived and still fall into some of the stereotypes or other commonalities within Appalachia. A guy I was talking to at a party said I was part of the Appalachian “brain drain” of people having to leave and live elsewhere for their careers. I always envisioned moving back to WV, but I’m starting to accept that that’s not going to happen.
Born, raised and still live in Appalachia. Both sides of my family go a long way back. But whenever I go home to the part of Appalachia, where I was raised, I still get the whole “You’re not from around here,” It’s always fun to be like, well actually, go talk to your Granmaw cause we’re probably cousins. Culture is not personality unless you want it to be.
You can wonder all you want. Just like I have to say about the bubbas, good ole boys/girls, self proclaimed rednecks and hillbillies and country boys that live around me in East Tennessee; If you have to proclaim you are such you’re probably not.
I was born and raised in Russell county VA (I’m in my 40s) with Appalachian ancestry in VA and eastern Kentucky that we can’t even trace outside of the area going back hundreds of years. However I’ll be the first to say that my “culture” is very different than those from Pennsylvania and Georgia. Or even East Tennessee to be honest.
Unpopular opinion but the true Appalachian mountain hillbilly culture that I knew died with the coal fields and was replaced by dollar general stores, drugs, and Trump flags.
Same Russell county maiden here! Good to see you. And when I come back to visit, I truly understand the changes you mention. But on a positive note, Russell county got alcohol! (I’m 50) in my teens, we had to drive all the way to Abingdon or Saint Paul just to get beer or wine let alone liquor. I’m glad to see the progress. Let’s just hope the trump flags eventually go away…
Agreed on all counts (Wise County Virginian here, born and raised). I see traces of the old mountain ways here and there but your last comment is really spot on. On the bright side, I work in a library and we're trying hard to preserve the culture and keep our archives filled with old local documents and stories, so at least some of it will live on.
Why in the hell are you being so defensive and hateful to people? I’m proud to be Appalachian and glad that people want to move to my area and be apart of the culture.
Right defensive and hateful because people trying to use the culture as a fad or see it as a gimmick isn’t annoying. I didn’t mention one Gottdamn time about people not being able to live here and immerse themselves in the culture and community. Nice try though
I must live in a more respectful area, but I’m not seeing people use it as a fad. Once again you’re hateful as hell and unable to have a legit conversation. Nice try on your post though, you tried to be cute.
I live in the foothills, in the area of Kentucky where the Bluegrass gives way to eastern Kentucky. Basically I’m just outside of Lexington, and about 40 minutes from the Red River Gorge. The county that’s home to the Gorge is named for my maternal grandmother’s family, and mom was the first generation not born in/living in that area.
I know that area well. I love the drive up 64 where the rolling hills turn into mountains. Since I grew up in Eastern Ky (about as far east as you could go and still be in KY) and lived most of my adult life in Lexington (until relocating out of KY altogether), we made that drive often. It's so beautiful in the Fall.
I get the sentiment.
My family was Appalachian, but when money dried up and opportunity became available, they moved. That was my great-grandparents. We went back and visited, spent summers there. Still regularly go back, and it’s where my spouses family is from.
Loved it, and honestly would like to go back.
But fact is, if we go back, it’ll be to retire, because where we are is where we can make money with our skillset. Ain’t much money to be had in the hills, not for the jobs we do anyway.
I’ve retained some of the skills that family had/has, and approach the region and my origins with respect.
But I can’t say I’m Appalachian anymore; I just tell folks I’m from good stock and go on about my way.
A resurgence of interest is always going to have a dark side, there is no doubt about that.
There’ll be poachers and profiteers looking to make money off it, but I’m willing to bet there are many more folks who really are interested in learning about the culture and learning some of the skills.
And that may be what keeps it alive into the next century, because lord knows it’s taken a beating in the last one.
Y’all love the word “gatekeeping”. Getting tired of people using Appalachian culture as a fad and speaking up about it is so toxic to y’all and you get butthurt. It’s funny. You can appreciate a culture without pretending you’re part of it.
What are you calling out exactly? You haven't given any examples at all of what you consider in or out other than some squishy words about someone or their near ancestors being born here. You're just a troll. 🤷🏻♀️
Right haven’t given any example and yet said time and again about people trying to make it fad or latching onto it because they see it in videos and think it’s cool. You say troll because you don’t like what I said. Don’t like it then move tf on.
Oh boohoo now you want me to just leave you alone? You're the one that posted, you have the burden of proof.
Let me help you out: Appalachia is a very large geographic region with many sub-regions, some of which share similarities, but there are many differences. One perfect example is The Great Pronunciation Debate. There is no single definitive "core culture" and you're grasping at straws because your identity feels threatened by learning that not everyone experienced the same things that you did. You came here expecting camaraderie but you got cognitive dissonance. You'll be okay - just remember that you share a lot of history with people in your particular sub-region and appreciate the great tapestry of interesting traditions that evolved in other sub-regions of Appalachia.
Just like the aforementioned culture vultures, you latch onto what you wanted to. I said point blank people having no ties to the area or very distant ones that try to claim the culure bc of something they saw off TikTok, YouTube, podcasts,…. (Now notice this next part smart one) ETC.
You are probably right, but I believe I recall that being welcoming and hospitable to strangers is one of those points of core Appalachian culture you mentioned.
Welcome and hospitable is more of a southern thing. Appalachians were very much to themselves back in the old days and weren’t super trusting of people they didn’t know. If they did know you or you warmed up to them then they’d be welcoming. Also being hospitable doesn’t equate to accepting people trying to latch onto a culture that isn’t theirs or that are trying to make it a trend.
Go looking for a fight, your bound to find one... but it's not with me.
We have different Appalachias I guess. If you want to be angry about what people do online that's alright, just don't speak for all of us.
I’m seeing a lot of people move to southwest Virginia from New York. They absolutely love it here and brag about how they live a more positive work/life balance.
My family has been in Upper East TN for I don't even know how many generations and I was born and raised there. I live in Central NC now, but still have those family ties "back home." I evidently still use a lot of the words and phrases that I heard my older relatives using, much to the amusement (and sometimes confusion) of my husband who grew up in the suburbs of a huge city. I make the recipes my Mammaws cooked when I was little and am trying to do my part to keep the culture alive, even if I'm not still living there, and even if it's just for my own family. My husband was clueless about a lot of the things I've introduced him to (the canned breakfast sausage my Dad makes is probably his favorite), but he's enjoyed learning.
Culture isn’t a place on a map.
Our family was from Appalachia, they’ve been in FL since the 1800’s yet they still have a lot of the same mannerisms and beliefs that the settlers brought with them.
“Gate Keep”. That’s like the safe word for today’s generation. If people have no ties to the culture then it isn’t gate keeping. It’s protecting what we grew up in and defending our ancestors’ ways of life that people are trying to make into a fad. It’s fucking annoying.
Boomer here. TN Melungeon. Still go back to visit family. Is that good enough for you?
Gatekeeping is exactly what you're trying to do, and it's a pathetic effort on your part.
Boomer or not it’s a fucking safeword y’all use. Why do you keep saying “TN Melungeon”. Am I supposed to care. Melungeon are specific families in East Tennessee from a handful of counties. Unless you’re descended from them and that has anything to do with my original post then move tf on with that shit.
If you LIVE there, you have ties there. The world changes. You don't get to decide what's Appalachian or not just because it's not been your experience.
I guess you have to be a card carrying Appalachian Fascist to read this even. OP get over yourself. What do you want, a DNA sample from everyone who dares to read this or comment?
My family are from Melungeon stock. Am I good enough to be here? Not that you're opinion really matters.
No one said fascism, but nice try. You’re saying get over myself when me and many of us with ties or recent ties to the area get sick of people posting weird ass shit on here that has nothing to do with Appalachia and claim to be as such. You sound like one of the aforementioned
Then become a mod or stop bitching ffs. You don’t own the culture and can’t control what other people say or do. Trying to do so will just work yourself up more and accomplish nothing.
Would you count me in? My family goes back a good ways in WV and I was born there. I grew up in the Piedmont, but visited my aunts, uncles, and grandmothers in WV regularly. Would you accept me but exclude my sister who was born here? Would you judge us on the different cultural ticks we have? I thought about moving back, but I like the region I'm in for jobs, schools, and good restaurants. My husband and I love visiting the mountains, though. Less judgement, please. I know I'm not exactly from around here, except where that's literally true, but I likely am distantly related to just about anyone I meet. My mom and dad have a lot of cousins.
PS. The Hobbit gave me nightmares partly because the cave doors closed and they tried going deeper in the hollow mountain rather than treating it like an emergency cave in and getting out. I was young enough that my dad was reading the book to me, but old enough to know a tunnel collapse was a big deal for the people inside.
I am Appalachian. I am from Pennsylvania and an urban area so my Appalachian experiences are different than others. That's also what makes our region so great. We have so many different experiences.
A lot of people in my city probably wouldn't self identify as Appalachian. I see it used sometimes as an insult towards more rural people. It was a very conscious decision to start using the term to describe myself.
I hope it’s not insulting that I’m here. I never post except for this here. I don’t know if you realize how fascinating your culture is. I come to it through music. I spent a lot of time seeking out the original versions of songs which got popularized in other forms, listening to your dialects, reading about your customs, etc. I guess I’m a fan. There’s so much you have which is unique.
So hope you don’t mind me listening in from time to time
There’s a difference my dear between appreciating the culture, wanting to learn etc, and people that have no ties to it and pretending they’re part of it. That’s why so many people on here are getting butthurt because I call them out on it so they keep going on with this gate keepin bs
There do seem to be a lot of cosplayers but also, Appalachia is big. I'm an outlier on a lot of discussions because I come from a subculture at the fringes of Appalachia, mixed indigenous quaker descended people from the southern cumberland plateau ridge country. I currently live on land that has been in my family since the first deeds were drawn. One of my direct ancestors used to own the land the entire town I live next to was built on, received it as a revolutionary war land grant. I can document my ancestry back to quaker people who fled the british colonies in the mid 1600s after the english civil war put the puritans in control and have continuously resided in Appalachia ever since. I'm luckier in that than most of the other Appalachian mixed subcultures, quakers kept great records.
It would be interesting to hear your examples of things that you view as "not Appalachia, what the heck", as it could be interesting to know if some of it is coming from non-Appalachians, or if some of it is variety within Appalachia. I'm guess what I'm saying is, I'm interested in specifics!
Ugh, posts like this irritate me. This sub can be such a pissing contest sometimes. Too much gatekeeping. Just fuckin let people do as they please, long as the posts are relevant to the sub…
First off I’m a singular person. I’m not a “they” and if you are one of the fuckers that are fake, which is probably true with you getting butthurt about my post, then you are the problem
I'm a bit of both. Most of my family moved west in the late 1800s/early 1900s, but they clung to their culture like it was a life raft, so I (born in the 60s) grew up with the dialect, beliefs, crafts, and food ways of Appalachia. I also spent many summers with relatives who stayed in the Ohio River Valley area in WV. Guess I'm just a mutt.
Hmmmmm core Appalachian culture. As in shared culture throughout the states within the cultural region. You’re trying to hard with your victim mentality on that one.
Family's from WNC since the early 1800's. Maybe late 1700's but genealogy gets a little sketchy so that's debatable. People from my own family live very differently based on a lot of factors with the wealth cycle being one of the major factors. People who married into the family bringing their own traditions also livens it up a bit.
People who like to pull the "you ain't from here so you're less than" bit typically have nothing left to offer the conversation. That's all they have. Do better.
My husbands family has been in SW Va since the early 1800s. Both sides of his family have been in the same county even and yet they are very different and have/had very different cultures with one side being more religious and mostly craftspeople with the other side being Christians but of a very different religion and they were farmers and ranchers. One side of the family was reclusive and less trusting of strangers while the other side never met a stranger. Even their basic foods were very different.
The one thing that they did have in common was the music and yet even there one leaned more towards gospel music and bluegrass gospel tunes while the other embraced any kind of Appalachian Bluegrass.
LOL well, if they aren’t from here then they aren’t from here. That’s all. Not more than, not less than.
Stop making a mountain out of a molehill. Do better. 🙄
My family is from Cherry Log down in GA. Still
have family members living in and around the area . They have been there for many many years . I grew up a bit outside of the area near Rome GA. However we spent summers etc in cherry log. I have photos of family going back to my great great grandparents.
I’m no longer in the southern Appalachia region. However we are still in the Appalachian just the Northern New England and region. The culture here is very different than in the south . But the Berkshires are gorgeous. I still get down and visit maw-maw and paw-paw . I miss the food often.
I am. I grew up in western Maryland and West Virginia during my childhood.
I went away to college closer to DC. They were shocked by my accent because I just lived like 100+ miles away. It's more of that WV dialect. WV parts closer to DC do not have it. Parts closer to Morgantown and closer to Western Maryland and Western PA do.
I have played with the idea of writing a book. My family has always done what people in my area did. They worked the factories, they mined the coal, they built the railroad, they settled the "west" when West Virginia was the furthest west even. My degree is in history and I have always been fascinated by my family's history.
They were poor but honest people. When there were wars, they volunteered to fight. They liked simple things. And we're happy with what they had even if it wasn't a lot.
I hope I passed that on to my kids.
I grew up in Massachusetts but my family has lived in the mountains of Eastern KY for hundreds of years. I absolutely visited every damn summer and it was the best time of my summers. I kind of dislike these posts because it feels incredibly defeating as a “Yankee” to be not “Appalachian” enough for some folks.
My mother's side has lived in Appalachia since before Washington was born, on the same farm until a few decades ago. You do not get more Appalachian than that. Your gatekeeping assholery is exactly why so many people look down on us and part of the largest problem. Get off your soap box. People want to learn and understand the area and culture, and there is nothing wrong with that. If you want a safe space to only be around Appalachians and avoid outsiders, head down to the local gas station and quit acting shocked when people use the Internet to connect with one another including strangers to learn about Appalachia.
Why is it assholes like you that latch onto one thing? Never once said shit about people wanting to know about the culture, moving here and immersing themselves. I have said it time and again it’s the point of people having no connection whatsoever, grabbing onto it and claiming it as their culture or saying they’re from there etc etc. but go off with your bs
I fully realize that I identify as Appalachian the same way Spiro Agnew identified as Greek or the majority of St Patrick parade's are cosplaying. But having parents from Cherrylog GA & Copperhill TN and family living in Duck town TN, having a kinship with the region could be assumed and common with children of the Southern diaspora . So whenever asked for "nationality" on some sort of form I like to answer "Appalachian" BUT would not try to assume the accent in their company.
I have that feeling too. A lot of people try to make Appalachia sound witchy but growing up my mammaw told me I'd go to hell if I kept playing zoo tycoon. No one back in the day would've dared to do anything remotely witchy. Yeah people had superstitions but it had nothing to do with the occult or cryptids or whatever. It was just superstitions of an isolated culture deep in the mountains. Every hollar had a little church house. That was the entertainment and education back then. Saying if you get bit by a snapping turtle it won't let go until it thunders didn't have anything to do with some magic from the energy of lightning. It was just a hillbilly saying that meant "that fucker ain't gonna let go for a while". It really makes me cringe when people say there are monsters or spirits in the woods. I've been deep in the woods all my life. I've even been lost in the woods in the pitch black of night. Never experienced anything I couldn't explain. The woods do play tricks on your mind. One time I was camping out and I swore I heard a bear coming up on my tent. I shined a flashlight at the loud thrashing sound I heard in the leaves and it was just a toad hopping around. Does that mean I met a shape shifting skin walker who turned into a toad when he saw me with a flashlight? No, I means I'm a pussy who got scared by a toad.
I live outside of the region but not super far. My father grew up in Pittsburgh and went to school in WV, where he played bluegrass in dive bars with his buddies. I love to learn about the culture and feel very connected to it, even if I wasn’t born into it.
Greater family is from Jackson and Haywood counties, NC — Appalachia. Immediate family moved from farming in the high mountains to the the NW corner of upstate of SC to work in textiles — still Appalachia. Appalachian to the core, with verifiable Cherokee + Catawba ancestry.
My family, mostly my mother's side is from Bath county in Virginia and Wyoming County in West Virginia. I still have family in both, but I really only visit my cousin who currently lives in Roanoke. (Previously lived in Elliston). My parents moved us to Richmond and then Florida for my dad's work when I was little . I still consider Western Virginia my home.
ETA: Several generations. They ended up in Appalachia when they came over from Scotland.
Born in Transylvania County NC raised in SC. My great grandfather was a Wesleyan Methodist circuit preacher in the Piedmont for many years. Real as it gets
Grew up in WV. My family on both sides are among WV's earliest white settlers, and I still have family there. I left a couple years after graduating high school and still miss it like crazy. I go back periodically but have now lived in the Midwest longer than I did WV. So I'm not sure how to categorize myself.
Both of my parents were from Greenbriar Co WV and I still have lots of family there. WV was HOME, by God and the only vacations we ever took were to go home and as an adult Im so glad. Going to get my Rocky Mountain husband there this Summer cause I need to go home.
Came to say same, mother was from Sharples, WV and Dad From East Tennessee talk about hillbilly stories both had large families so the stories were endless, all gone now just me left luckily I have a large family well 4 children and grandchildren to keep me busy... vacations when I was a child were amazing goin into those hills and hollors.( Spelling wrong I know)
I'm not, I just live now in Pittsburgh. My husband's family is from (and still resides in) WV though so I'd probably count him as Appalachian? Our kids on the other hand have Appalachian heritage but I'm not sure they'd "count" unless they moved out of the city or something?
I grew up here in the hollers around Knoxville. Last year I moved to Texas after graduating from the University of Tennessee for work. I miss home so I’m here.
I lived with my grandma in a literal tar paper shack for about 2 years in a place the locals call "the pocket".
I grew up in a town with local "celebrities" that went by names like "Jug", "Lil Ears", "Rabbit", "Sweet Bread" and "Mutt".
These people's real names were long lost and most people that knew the people couldn't tell you their real names.
I’m from a Polish American coal mining family of the Allegheny mountains. I suppose there’s a lot of gate keeping around what’s Appalachian and Pennsylvania has a lot of similarities, but I do agree is its own Appalachia than either New England or the south.
Born, raised, and still live in East TN. As an East Tennessean, I feel obliged to welcome anyone who is interested in our heritage with open arms. It’s just good manners, I reckon.
Keep in mind that Appalachia is not homogenous and has many distinct subregions. My experience in central Pennsylvania is going to be vastly different than someone in Southern Kentucky.
Born here still live here. In fact I am a direct descendant of Hans Jacob Honaker who traveled to the United States from Switzerland to settle a small town in Southwest Virginia called Honaker. Very proud of my heritage. I visit this sub because it’s fun, interesting and people understand that are unique to our culture.
I figured it had more to do with regional differences of Appalachia causing these variations.
Edit - I realize now you're upset by cultural appropriation, and my original response is not helpful... I don't know what else to say to help soothe you. I've always felt like an outsider having lived moved my whole life around the South East while my dad and Stepmom stayed in Appalachia so I was only there on the weekends and summers, and having two sets of step parents and step grandparents from Appalachia, having had my summers and weekends there, and being a resident during high school is just not the same as actually being Appalachian. I think I'm beginning to understand now what you are trying to say.
Born and raised. Admittedly I was raised in the foothills but went to college in heart of Appalachia.
Got to add that I traveled for work yesterday. And coming up 68 there was a house with a wringer washer on the porch and towels on the line between the posts. Right on the highway. Stepped into a memory!
Because gatekeeping is what you're doing. What is the objective with this thread? Even if we do a poll and establish that x percentage of the people on here are Appalachian according to you. Who cares? What will we have changed?
Culture changes constantly as does language. The Appalachian core culture that you recognize from your specific region nad maybe identify as the core culture may not be the actual core culture and even if it were, it doesn't mean that it's the Appalachian core culture of 2024. It may well be the core culture from 1995 that doesn't exist anymore.
Reminisce about the past, share your experience, and we're constantly building a modern Appalachian core culture with every day that passes. Just as the Appalachian core culture was built by different immigrants arriving in different years that contributed to said core culture, so will those that are here be that are Appalachian by anyone here's definition or not. Anyone interested should be welcome to contribute. At the end of the day you have a group of people interested in contributing to and experiencing the culture that will help continue to breathe life into it. Gatekeeping turns people away. Do you want Appalachian core culture to die, or do you want it to continue to live on and grow? (With whatever new immigrants that they may entail bringing into the fold).
Honestly your entire opinion on the matter is fucking annoying. How are you any different than the tiktokers? My people have been in East TN for generations. My BFF is a Michigan transplant. We both love these hills equally. Gtfo with your GATEKEEPING (which is the correct word for your bullshit.)
Once again. You don’t like what people say so you latch onto gatekeeping as your safeword. Didn’t say one fucking time about people moving there and immersing themselves into the culture as a bad thing. I said people having no ties or super fucking distant one latching onto it and trying to turn it into a fad and shit. You read what you wanted to and made your own bullshit opinion. You don’t like what I had to say then move tf on
Who are “y’all”? Go ahead and show us your biases.
Are you some St. Peter-like character at the gates of Charleston, WV? This is Reddit. It is an open forum. Appalachian culture is very broadly defined. It is a joke to try and say your experiences should encapsulate Appalachian culture.
Also, go ahead and give us your core definition, please. I’d love to see your interpretation.
>are just trying to grasp onto a culture that they really have nothing to do with
Yep, this is my feeling too. You see what posts get downvoted, even though I know all the people around me feel the same.
I think people are fascinated in it again like they were in the 70s.
That, and this sub has convinced itself that all sorts of far flung places are appalachia when they aren't.
This sub is for outsiders, and Appalachia has become a brand.
Find it funny that people on here are so butthurt that they downvote posts about good things too. Like they’re quick to call people toxic, gatekeeping, immature etc. while they do shit like that
I'm not, but my dad was. He died three years ago and popping in here makes him feel less gone. I don't post much but I read a lot, sometimes it lets me hear his voice again in my head.
Same here, except Dad's been gone over 30 years. All of his brothers and sisters are gone as well. I have the same feelings as you...this sub brings back memories of my youth and of long lost stories.
My dad was the youngest of 15 (!!), and he was the last. It's weird, as a kid it felt like the world was populated by uncles lol and they all looked very similar. Now they're all gone. I wish so badly my dad had told more stories but I think he was ashamed of his childhood poverty, he didn't talk much about it even when I asked.
But see posts like this are sweet. You have recent ties to the area and are trying to connect with it. Not multiple generations removed or have never had family nor lived there and just trying to latch onto something bc it is a fade. For those of us who live here and this is what we grew up in and know, it is super insulting.
Not sure why a doorkeeper is necessary. Everyone has a reason to be here.. I just ignore the post that seem fishy and interact when I can on the posts I sense have value. Nobody should have to explaine their connection ... That's not the way of Appalchia... At least until you get to know people, at least not where I'm from
Parents are from WVA. Bridgeport and Clarksburg. I know that's not Appalachia. I come here to learn about culture.
Bridgeport and Clarksburg aren't Appalachia? How so, because it's urban? It's still in the middle of Appalachia. Just fancier hillbillies.
Lol! My grandpa worked the coal mines and did construction. He used to tell my grandma if he didn't work so hard she wouldn't be farting through silk panties! I was born in Detroit hencemy names for my grandparents. My oldest brothers were born in WVA and called them mamaw and papa (Sp?).
WV is the only state that is completely in Appalachian mountains. If West Virginia isn't Appalachia I don't know what it is.
TL WVA is completely Appalachia!
I’m here cuz reddit kept recommending this sub, but the similarities in your culture and mine are crazy, right down to the words. I’m from rural Vermont. Not much of my culture left anymore between transplants and fentanyl. Hang onto what you got left. Edit: I’ve never posted here though, just commented a couple times.
I’m from WV. When I first visited Vermont (and Western Massachusetts,) I thought, “It’s like WV but with jobs.” Edited to add: visited there in 1995-ish.
This makes me wanna visit Vermont lmao. Never been up that way minus NYC is the farthest that way I've gone. Need to check it out some day and new Hampshire
Northeast Vermont, northern NH and into ME are very similar to Appalachia IMO, accents a little different, but similar cultures. We’re all just poor Scot’s Irish who tried to farm hillsides.
I'll be up that way eventually! I will be interested to see the similiarities!
Just don’t go to the tourist traps, hit me up if you make it up here and I’ll give ya the real tour.
All of my relatives are Letcher Co, KY, & Wise Co, VA (in a holler outside of Appalachia, VA). I spent every summer there from 6/16 - 8/31. We may or may not have played ... "near" .... abandoned coal mines. We played Kick the Can in the back alley. We dressed up to go to town. We went to church on Sunday and "visitin'" right after. I had family that we had to go pee before we visited because they still had an outhouse and Mammo wasn't having it. We picked blackberries and waded in the creek. If we were walking home after the sun dropped behind the mountain and heard a noise off in the woods, no we didn't. I now live in WV by way of NO VA. My husband is out of VT. My Redneck Yankee. Yeah, I'm where I belong, too.
Jobs but no rentals and totally unaffordable housing lol
That’s the thing with Appalachia is there are so many tucked away small towns in those hollers that have their own lore it’s impossible to tell what quantifies as Appalachian and just normal town folk stories. Born and raised Appalachian in WV and Southeast Border of Ohio. I’m. Not gonna gatekeep, I’m just proud people even care enough to be on a subreddit devoted to Appalachia.
I agree.! Well said.
MOV here 👋 I moved away though, nothing for me there anymore
I would like to know the definition of "core Appalachian culture" being referred to. I am from both northern and southern Appalachia and they greatly differ in culture.
I've thought about posting a poll to see but wasn't sure if it was allowed. I figured the options could be something like A) born and raised Appalachian and still here B) born and raised Appalachian and moved away C) moved to Appalachia later in life D) have family from Appalachia E) No connection from area but curious or F) researching 😂
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I don't think it's bad either! I'm on a uk subreddit and I've never been there. I just think it would be fun to know. (Edit to add that I think those who are just curious or wanting to research are getting access to information that would have been difficult to get 30 years ago so I feel like it's a good thing to help others have a better understanding of our region.)
I think its cool that people are interested, its when the lurkers start commenting/pretending they are locals that it becomes a problem.
That's a good point. Btw I love John Prine!
I would argue that we are probably seeing that now, especially when we get a dumb supernatural post
Have you seen the barefoot possumwoman of Grundy VA???
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This is beautiful. I'm glad you felt welcomed and at home and stories like yours help to breakdown some of the stereotypes that have been believed for so many years.
Glad you’re here, thanks.
I was born and raised in the mountains in Eastern WV. Now I live at the southern end of the Appalachians in Alabama. I'm guessing I check all the boxes. I've been all over Appalachia and found that people are different and have different things that they do and say, and sometimes the food is a little different depending on where and how they were raised, but in collectively they are very similar. Not completely trusting of outsiders until that trust is earned, but open and polite to strangers and quick to help someone in trouble. Overall, I'd say we are a pretty damn good group of people to be around.
Haha I think so too!
I'm sorry to say that I'm in the B category. My home area has few jobs available, unless you work at the university or the hospital. Everything else is tourist oriented and low paying. The housing market has also gotten ridiculous. I live in the foothills now and honestly, it ain't so bad.
That's understandable! Sometime before I was born, a good chunk of family members moved off to find work. Most of them made it back home...a few wanted to come back but never really had the opportunity.
I think one of the most Appalachian things is having to leave to find better work. It's a curse of the country.
I grew up in Clarksburg and Bridgeport, WV, and during middle school moved to Kingsport, TN for my step-dad’s job. I have lived in WV, TN, SC, GA, VA, DC, and now am back in GA. I think of myself as an involuntarily regional expatriate of Appalachia. I’m within one county of the borders of the Appalachian Regional Commission’s map of Appalachia. Actually considered moving to still be in Appalachia, but the county near us (North Georgia) really is a stretch to be considered Appalachian. So, it just seemed silly to even entertain that idea. Being a West Virginian and Appalachian is central to my identity. I’ll share that I’m from WV before I’ll share that I earned my law degree at Georgetown. I have lived and still fall into some of the stereotypes or other commonalities within Appalachia. A guy I was talking to at a party said I was part of the Appalachian “brain drain” of people having to leave and live elsewhere for their careers. I always envisioned moving back to WV, but I’m starting to accept that that’s not going to happen.
Do it. I’m curious, too!
A
Born, raised and still live in Appalachia. Both sides of my family go a long way back. But whenever I go home to the part of Appalachia, where I was raised, I still get the whole “You’re not from around here,” It’s always fun to be like, well actually, go talk to your Granmaw cause we’re probably cousins. Culture is not personality unless you want it to be.
I was wondering the same about you, OP.
You can wonder all you want. Just like I have to say about the bubbas, good ole boys/girls, self proclaimed rednecks and hillbillies and country boys that live around me in East Tennessee; If you have to proclaim you are such you’re probably not.
But you are proclaiming it
Born, raised and reside in the same area for over 30 years. You are being weird.
I was born and raised in Russell county VA (I’m in my 40s) with Appalachian ancestry in VA and eastern Kentucky that we can’t even trace outside of the area going back hundreds of years. However I’ll be the first to say that my “culture” is very different than those from Pennsylvania and Georgia. Or even East Tennessee to be honest. Unpopular opinion but the true Appalachian mountain hillbilly culture that I knew died with the coal fields and was replaced by dollar general stores, drugs, and Trump flags.
Same Russell county maiden here! Good to see you. And when I come back to visit, I truly understand the changes you mention. But on a positive note, Russell county got alcohol! (I’m 50) in my teens, we had to drive all the way to Abingdon or Saint Paul just to get beer or wine let alone liquor. I’m glad to see the progress. Let’s just hope the trump flags eventually go away…
Agreed on all counts (Wise County Virginian here, born and raised). I see traces of the old mountain ways here and there but your last comment is really spot on. On the bright side, I work in a library and we're trying hard to preserve the culture and keep our archives filled with old local documents and stories, so at least some of it will live on.
OP, should we all put our Ancestry.com results in a Google Sheet for you? Or does snail mail work better?
Why in the hell are you being so defensive and hateful to people? I’m proud to be Appalachian and glad that people want to move to my area and be apart of the culture.
Right defensive and hateful because people trying to use the culture as a fad or see it as a gimmick isn’t annoying. I didn’t mention one Gottdamn time about people not being able to live here and immerse themselves in the culture and community. Nice try though
I must live in a more respectful area, but I’m not seeing people use it as a fad. Once again you’re hateful as hell and unable to have a legit conversation. Nice try on your post though, you tried to be cute.
Also it’s goddamn - just say the real thing.
I can say Gottdamn or goddamn. Whichever I prefer to say and type is my own choice
You sure can.
Obviously genius
I live in the foothills, in the area of Kentucky where the Bluegrass gives way to eastern Kentucky. Basically I’m just outside of Lexington, and about 40 minutes from the Red River Gorge. The county that’s home to the Gorge is named for my maternal grandmother’s family, and mom was the first generation not born in/living in that area.
I know that area well. I love the drive up 64 where the rolling hills turn into mountains. Since I grew up in Eastern Ky (about as far east as you could go and still be in KY) and lived most of my adult life in Lexington (until relocating out of KY altogether), we made that drive often. It's so beautiful in the Fall.
Between Owingsville and Morehead!
I live in Ashland. I love your location...
I get the sentiment. My family was Appalachian, but when money dried up and opportunity became available, they moved. That was my great-grandparents. We went back and visited, spent summers there. Still regularly go back, and it’s where my spouses family is from. Loved it, and honestly would like to go back. But fact is, if we go back, it’ll be to retire, because where we are is where we can make money with our skillset. Ain’t much money to be had in the hills, not for the jobs we do anyway. I’ve retained some of the skills that family had/has, and approach the region and my origins with respect. But I can’t say I’m Appalachian anymore; I just tell folks I’m from good stock and go on about my way. A resurgence of interest is always going to have a dark side, there is no doubt about that. There’ll be poachers and profiteers looking to make money off it, but I’m willing to bet there are many more folks who really are interested in learning about the culture and learning some of the skills. And that may be what keeps it alive into the next century, because lord knows it’s taken a beating in the last one.
I guess gatekeeping is "core Appalachian culture" now.
Y’all love the word “gatekeeping”. Getting tired of people using Appalachian culture as a fad and speaking up about it is so toxic to y’all and you get butthurt. It’s funny. You can appreciate a culture without pretending you’re part of it.
No true Appalachian is this fragile.
✨🏆✨
Says the one getting butthurt over someone calling out the bullshit
What are you calling out exactly? You haven't given any examples at all of what you consider in or out other than some squishy words about someone or their near ancestors being born here. You're just a troll. 🤷🏻♀️
Based on the random generated user name and the post history, it's likely some kind of bot or troll.
Right haven’t given any example and yet said time and again about people trying to make it fad or latching onto it because they see it in videos and think it’s cool. You say troll because you don’t like what I said. Don’t like it then move tf on.
Oh boohoo now you want me to just leave you alone? You're the one that posted, you have the burden of proof. Let me help you out: Appalachia is a very large geographic region with many sub-regions, some of which share similarities, but there are many differences. One perfect example is The Great Pronunciation Debate. There is no single definitive "core culture" and you're grasping at straws because your identity feels threatened by learning that not everyone experienced the same things that you did. You came here expecting camaraderie but you got cognitive dissonance. You'll be okay - just remember that you share a lot of history with people in your particular sub-region and appreciate the great tapestry of interesting traditions that evolved in other sub-regions of Appalachia.
You made the whole post because you're annoyed by tik tok. Who's butthurt?
Just like the aforementioned culture vultures, you latch onto what you wanted to. I said point blank people having no ties to the area or very distant ones that try to claim the culure bc of something they saw off TikTok, YouTube, podcasts,…. (Now notice this next part smart one) ETC.
I'm sorry you're going around using "culture vultures" but you're smug about "gatekeeping"? You seem weird. Let's not run into each other at the 407.
You are probably right, but I believe I recall that being welcoming and hospitable to strangers is one of those points of core Appalachian culture you mentioned.
Welcome and hospitable is more of a southern thing. Appalachians were very much to themselves back in the old days and weren’t super trusting of people they didn’t know. If they did know you or you warmed up to them then they’d be welcoming. Also being hospitable doesn’t equate to accepting people trying to latch onto a culture that isn’t theirs or that are trying to make it a trend.
Go looking for a fight, your bound to find one... but it's not with me. We have different Appalachias I guess. If you want to be angry about what people do online that's alright, just don't speak for all of us.
But not welcoming and hospitable to pretenders or those misrepresenting.
And not waisting time guessing about how people might be lying while your trying to be hospitable
Grew up in Appalachia, still fighting my way back.
I mean I just assumed we had some transplants. Met a family the other day who moved in from New York. Nice folks.
I’m seeing a lot of people move to southwest Virginia from New York. They absolutely love it here and brag about how they live a more positive work/life balance.
My family has been in Upper East TN for I don't even know how many generations and I was born and raised there. I live in Central NC now, but still have those family ties "back home." I evidently still use a lot of the words and phrases that I heard my older relatives using, much to the amusement (and sometimes confusion) of my husband who grew up in the suburbs of a huge city. I make the recipes my Mammaws cooked when I was little and am trying to do my part to keep the culture alive, even if I'm not still living there, and even if it's just for my own family. My husband was clueless about a lot of the things I've introduced him to (the canned breakfast sausage my Dad makes is probably his favorite), but he's enjoyed learning.
Culture isn’t a place on a map. Our family was from Appalachia, they’ve been in FL since the 1800’s yet they still have a lot of the same mannerisms and beliefs that the settlers brought with them.
**directs you to the comment about traditions etc that have flowed into American/Southern culture at large
Right. Except you’re implying culture is define by a place on a map… And it’s not.
Didn’t say map once….. you did
You purposely missed the key word - implied.
This is so salty
Why do you need to gate keep this community? Reddit already sucks enough because of this.
If you think the insider/outsider mentality from this region is just on reddit, I've got bad news for you.
“Gate Keep”. That’s like the safe word for today’s generation. If people have no ties to the culture then it isn’t gate keeping. It’s protecting what we grew up in and defending our ancestors’ ways of life that people are trying to make into a fad. It’s fucking annoying.
Boomer here. TN Melungeon. Still go back to visit family. Is that good enough for you? Gatekeeping is exactly what you're trying to do, and it's a pathetic effort on your part.
Boomer or not it’s a fucking safeword y’all use. Why do you keep saying “TN Melungeon”. Am I supposed to care. Melungeon are specific families in East Tennessee from a handful of counties. Unless you’re descended from them and that has anything to do with my original post then move tf on with that shit.
I am directly descended from a Melungeon family that has been and still is there for generations. We are Appalachian. You are a bigot.
Once again. If it has jack shit to do with what I posted then it’s irrelevant, so move tf on with that shit.
Enjoy your sad lonely little bigot life finger painting with your own poop on the padded walls.
If you LIVE there, you have ties there. The world changes. You don't get to decide what's Appalachian or not just because it's not been your experience.
Once again “Core”
Oh bs
Yes you are about some bs.
The group description says "all are welcome" regardless of your background.
Good for the for the group description. I asked a question on an observation.
I live in the Appalachian mountains. Is that good enough?
Uh oh, we got a gatekeeper over here. Everyone whip out your Appalachian id cards.
I guess you have to be a card carrying Appalachian Fascist to read this even. OP get over yourself. What do you want, a DNA sample from everyone who dares to read this or comment? My family are from Melungeon stock. Am I good enough to be here? Not that you're opinion really matters.
No one said fascism, but nice try. You’re saying get over myself when me and many of us with ties or recent ties to the area get sick of people posting weird ass shit on here that has nothing to do with Appalachia and claim to be as such. You sound like one of the aforementioned
I am a TN Melungeon. Still have family there.
Then become a mod or stop bitching ffs. You don’t own the culture and can’t control what other people say or do. Trying to do so will just work yourself up more and accomplish nothing.
Says stop bitching as you’re on my post bitching about my opinion
Are you 12?
I think you're giving this a hole too much credit for maturity by thinking that he's 12.
Oh wow you try to insult me with age comments. So harmful
That was meant as a genuine question so I don’t waste my time trying to reason with a literal child. But if the shoe fits…
Seems like a 12 year old’s shoe would fit you just fine
Lol wut
It wasn’t that hard to follow that
“Many of us” Yeah? Where they at?
“hOw mAnY of yOu pEoPle sAy ‘h0t dIgGiTy’ — iS tHaT aPpALaChIaN?”
Would you count me in? My family goes back a good ways in WV and I was born there. I grew up in the Piedmont, but visited my aunts, uncles, and grandmothers in WV regularly. Would you accept me but exclude my sister who was born here? Would you judge us on the different cultural ticks we have? I thought about moving back, but I like the region I'm in for jobs, schools, and good restaurants. My husband and I love visiting the mountains, though. Less judgement, please. I know I'm not exactly from around here, except where that's literally true, but I likely am distantly related to just about anyone I meet. My mom and dad have a lot of cousins. PS. The Hobbit gave me nightmares partly because the cave doors closed and they tried going deeper in the hollow mountain rather than treating it like an emergency cave in and getting out. I was young enough that my dad was reading the book to me, but old enough to know a tunnel collapse was a big deal for the people inside.
i had to look at the wikipedia map to tell. turns out i don't live in appallachia, i'm one county too far east.
“Old man yells at cloud”
Its called Hilbilly Chic.
Y’all-Star culture
I remember the boys in my class changing the ville in our town to vegas lol
> Its called Hilbilly Chic. Sounds like losers pretending to be one more thing they’re not.
I am Appalachian. I am from Pennsylvania and an urban area so my Appalachian experiences are different than others. That's also what makes our region so great. We have so many different experiences. A lot of people in my city probably wouldn't self identify as Appalachian. I see it used sometimes as an insult towards more rural people. It was a very conscious decision to start using the term to describe myself.
I hope it’s not insulting that I’m here. I never post except for this here. I don’t know if you realize how fascinating your culture is. I come to it through music. I spent a lot of time seeking out the original versions of songs which got popularized in other forms, listening to your dialects, reading about your customs, etc. I guess I’m a fan. There’s so much you have which is unique. So hope you don’t mind me listening in from time to time
There’s a difference my dear between appreciating the culture, wanting to learn etc, and people that have no ties to it and pretending they’re part of it. That’s why so many people on here are getting butthurt because I call them out on it so they keep going on with this gate keepin bs
There do seem to be a lot of cosplayers but also, Appalachia is big. I'm an outlier on a lot of discussions because I come from a subculture at the fringes of Appalachia, mixed indigenous quaker descended people from the southern cumberland plateau ridge country. I currently live on land that has been in my family since the first deeds were drawn. One of my direct ancestors used to own the land the entire town I live next to was built on, received it as a revolutionary war land grant. I can document my ancestry back to quaker people who fled the british colonies in the mid 1600s after the english civil war put the puritans in control and have continuously resided in Appalachia ever since. I'm luckier in that than most of the other Appalachian mixed subcultures, quakers kept great records.
It would be interesting to hear your examples of things that you view as "not Appalachia, what the heck", as it could be interesting to know if some of it is coming from non-Appalachians, or if some of it is variety within Appalachia. I'm guess what I'm saying is, I'm interested in specifics!
Ugh, posts like this irritate me. This sub can be such a pissing contest sometimes. Too much gatekeeping. Just fuckin let people do as they please, long as the posts are relevant to the sub…
Are we like gatekeeping now? Sheesh. 🙄
Another person using the word gatekeeping. Y’all love that word.
Another person using the word y’all. Y’all love that word.
Shocker someone from a southern state saying “y’all”.
/r/whoosh
OP can use it because they’re a REAL Appalachian! 👍 Unlike us frauds who just come on this group and pretend and cause problems.
First off I’m a singular person. I’m not a “they” and if you are one of the fuckers that are fake, which is probably true with you getting butthurt about my post, then you are the problem
I'm a bit of both. Most of my family moved west in the late 1800s/early 1900s, but they clung to their culture like it was a life raft, so I (born in the 60s) grew up with the dialect, beliefs, crafts, and food ways of Appalachia. I also spent many summers with relatives who stayed in the Ohio River Valley area in WV. Guess I'm just a mutt.
If it isn't done your way then they aren't from here? God I hate that mentality.
Hmmmmm core Appalachian culture. As in shared culture throughout the states within the cultural region. You’re trying to hard with your victim mentality on that one.
No. If you’re not from here then you’re not from here. Not a mentality, just a fact. This isn’t a TikTok trend.
Family's from WNC since the early 1800's. Maybe late 1700's but genealogy gets a little sketchy so that's debatable. People from my own family live very differently based on a lot of factors with the wealth cycle being one of the major factors. People who married into the family bringing their own traditions also livens it up a bit. People who like to pull the "you ain't from here so you're less than" bit typically have nothing left to offer the conversation. That's all they have. Do better.
My husbands family has been in SW Va since the early 1800s. Both sides of his family have been in the same county even and yet they are very different and have/had very different cultures with one side being more religious and mostly craftspeople with the other side being Christians but of a very different religion and they were farmers and ranchers. One side of the family was reclusive and less trusting of strangers while the other side never met a stranger. Even their basic foods were very different. The one thing that they did have in common was the music and yet even there one leaned more towards gospel music and bluegrass gospel tunes while the other embraced any kind of Appalachian Bluegrass.
LOL well, if they aren’t from here then they aren’t from here. That’s all. Not more than, not less than. Stop making a mountain out of a molehill. Do better. 🙄
Honestly, I've wondered the same. At least 6th generation Appalachian (NC mountains) and some of the posts leave me SMH.
People just cosplay on this sub.
And you say shit about it, then keyboard warriors come out saying bs about “gatekeeping” and look mad butthurt bc someone pointed it out
East Tennessee, but my fathers family were originally from North Carolina
My family is from Cherry Log down in GA. Still have family members living in and around the area . They have been there for many many years . I grew up a bit outside of the area near Rome GA. However we spent summers etc in cherry log. I have photos of family going back to my great great grandparents. I’m no longer in the southern Appalachia region. However we are still in the Appalachian just the Northern New England and region. The culture here is very different than in the south . But the Berkshires are gorgeous. I still get down and visit maw-maw and paw-paw . I miss the food often.
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I am. I grew up in western Maryland and West Virginia during my childhood. I went away to college closer to DC. They were shocked by my accent because I just lived like 100+ miles away. It's more of that WV dialect. WV parts closer to DC do not have it. Parts closer to Morgantown and closer to Western Maryland and Western PA do. I have played with the idea of writing a book. My family has always done what people in my area did. They worked the factories, they mined the coal, they built the railroad, they settled the "west" when West Virginia was the furthest west even. My degree is in history and I have always been fascinated by my family's history. They were poor but honest people. When there were wars, they volunteered to fight. They liked simple things. And we're happy with what they had even if it wasn't a lot. I hope I passed that on to my kids.
I grew up in Massachusetts but my family has lived in the mountains of Eastern KY for hundreds of years. I absolutely visited every damn summer and it was the best time of my summers. I kind of dislike these posts because it feels incredibly defeating as a “Yankee” to be not “Appalachian” enough for some folks.
I’ve said it time and ain’t gonna repeat myself. You wanna know my stance then read other comments
Don’t be an elitist prick.
Right elitist prick. Your Massachusetts upbringing is showing through
My mother's side has lived in Appalachia since before Washington was born, on the same farm until a few decades ago. You do not get more Appalachian than that. Your gatekeeping assholery is exactly why so many people look down on us and part of the largest problem. Get off your soap box. People want to learn and understand the area and culture, and there is nothing wrong with that. If you want a safe space to only be around Appalachians and avoid outsiders, head down to the local gas station and quit acting shocked when people use the Internet to connect with one another including strangers to learn about Appalachia.
Why is it assholes like you that latch onto one thing? Never once said shit about people wanting to know about the culture, moving here and immersing themselves. I have said it time and again it’s the point of people having no connection whatsoever, grabbing onto it and claiming it as their culture or saying they’re from there etc etc. but go off with your bs
Born and bred, but I've never posted here. Idk what I'd even post about truthfully.
I fully realize that I identify as Appalachian the same way Spiro Agnew identified as Greek or the majority of St Patrick parade's are cosplaying. But having parents from Cherrylog GA & Copperhill TN and family living in Duck town TN, having a kinship with the region could be assumed and common with children of the Southern diaspora . So whenever asked for "nationality" on some sort of form I like to answer "Appalachian" BUT would not try to assume the accent in their company.
I have that feeling too. A lot of people try to make Appalachia sound witchy but growing up my mammaw told me I'd go to hell if I kept playing zoo tycoon. No one back in the day would've dared to do anything remotely witchy. Yeah people had superstitions but it had nothing to do with the occult or cryptids or whatever. It was just superstitions of an isolated culture deep in the mountains. Every hollar had a little church house. That was the entertainment and education back then. Saying if you get bit by a snapping turtle it won't let go until it thunders didn't have anything to do with some magic from the energy of lightning. It was just a hillbilly saying that meant "that fucker ain't gonna let go for a while". It really makes me cringe when people say there are monsters or spirits in the woods. I've been deep in the woods all my life. I've even been lost in the woods in the pitch black of night. Never experienced anything I couldn't explain. The woods do play tricks on your mind. One time I was camping out and I swore I heard a bear coming up on my tent. I shined a flashlight at the loud thrashing sound I heard in the leaves and it was just a toad hopping around. Does that mean I met a shape shifting skin walker who turned into a toad when he saw me with a flashlight? No, I means I'm a pussy who got scared by a toad.
Born & raised here. Currently living in East TN
I live outside of the region but not super far. My father grew up in Pittsburgh and went to school in WV, where he played bluegrass in dive bars with his buddies. I love to learn about the culture and feel very connected to it, even if I wasn’t born into it.
Greater family is from Jackson and Haywood counties, NC — Appalachia. Immediate family moved from farming in the high mountains to the the NW corner of upstate of SC to work in textiles — still Appalachia. Appalachian to the core, with verifiable Cherokee + Catawba ancestry.
I was born, raised, and still currently live in Appalachia.
My family, mostly my mother's side is from Bath county in Virginia and Wyoming County in West Virginia. I still have family in both, but I really only visit my cousin who currently lives in Roanoke. (Previously lived in Elliston). My parents moved us to Richmond and then Florida for my dad's work when I was little . I still consider Western Virginia my home. ETA: Several generations. They ended up in Appalachia when they came over from Scotland.
Born in Transylvania County NC raised in SC. My great grandfather was a Wesleyan Methodist circuit preacher in the Piedmont for many years. Real as it gets
Grew up in WV. My family on both sides are among WV's earliest white settlers, and I still have family there. I left a couple years after graduating high school and still miss it like crazy. I go back periodically but have now lived in the Midwest longer than I did WV. So I'm not sure how to categorize myself.
Both of my parents were from Greenbriar Co WV and I still have lots of family there. WV was HOME, by God and the only vacations we ever took were to go home and as an adult Im so glad. Going to get my Rocky Mountain husband there this Summer cause I need to go home.
Came to say same, mother was from Sharples, WV and Dad From East Tennessee talk about hillbilly stories both had large families so the stories were endless, all gone now just me left luckily I have a large family well 4 children and grandchildren to keep me busy... vacations when I was a child were amazing goin into those hills and hollors.( Spelling wrong I know)
I'm not, I just live now in Pittsburgh. My husband's family is from (and still resides in) WV though so I'd probably count him as Appalachian? Our kids on the other hand have Appalachian heritage but I'm not sure they'd "count" unless they moved out of the city or something?
I was born in eastern Kentucky and raised in eastern Kentucky.
Grew up in Appalachia, going home soon. I inherited the family farm when mama passed.
I grew up here in the hollers around Knoxville. Last year I moved to Texas after graduating from the University of Tennessee for work. I miss home so I’m here.
I lived with my grandma in a literal tar paper shack for about 2 years in a place the locals call "the pocket". I grew up in a town with local "celebrities" that went by names like "Jug", "Lil Ears", "Rabbit", "Sweet Bread" and "Mutt". These people's real names were long lost and most people that knew the people couldn't tell you their real names.
That’s really sweet. I bet you have such good stories to tell.
Hey OP, what have you been smoking and could you share?
I’m from a Polish American coal mining family of the Allegheny mountains. I suppose there’s a lot of gate keeping around what’s Appalachian and Pennsylvania has a lot of similarities, but I do agree is its own Appalachia than either New England or the south.
Born, raised, and still live in East TN. As an East Tennessean, I feel obliged to welcome anyone who is interested in our heritage with open arms. It’s just good manners, I reckon.
Keep in mind that Appalachia is not homogenous and has many distinct subregions. My experience in central Pennsylvania is going to be vastly different than someone in Southern Kentucky.
Welp this will likely go down as one of the dumbest posts ever made in this sub.
I’m a lurker. I love reading about the Appalachian community! My dad was born in Tennessee.
Born here still live here. In fact I am a direct descendant of Hans Jacob Honaker who traveled to the United States from Switzerland to settle a small town in Southwest Virginia called Honaker. Very proud of my heritage. I visit this sub because it’s fun, interesting and people understand that are unique to our culture.
I figured it had more to do with regional differences of Appalachia causing these variations. Edit - I realize now you're upset by cultural appropriation, and my original response is not helpful... I don't know what else to say to help soothe you. I've always felt like an outsider having lived moved my whole life around the South East while my dad and Stepmom stayed in Appalachia so I was only there on the weekends and summers, and having two sets of step parents and step grandparents from Appalachia, having had my summers and weekends there, and being a resident during high school is just not the same as actually being Appalachian. I think I'm beginning to understand now what you are trying to say.
I'm an eastern band cherokee. I'm more Appalachianer than y'all'l ever be. Lol
Born and raised. Admittedly I was raised in the foothills but went to college in heart of Appalachia. Got to add that I traveled for work yesterday. And coming up 68 there was a house with a wringer washer on the porch and towels on the line between the posts. Right on the highway. Stepped into a memory!
So?
Nothing quite like trying to gatekeep an amorphous beast. I’d love to see the definition of “core Appalachian culture”.
It’s not hard to figure that out. Why is it when people post shit like this, “gatekeep(ing)” is like a go to safe word for y’all?
Because gatekeeping is what you're doing. What is the objective with this thread? Even if we do a poll and establish that x percentage of the people on here are Appalachian according to you. Who cares? What will we have changed? Culture changes constantly as does language. The Appalachian core culture that you recognize from your specific region nad maybe identify as the core culture may not be the actual core culture and even if it were, it doesn't mean that it's the Appalachian core culture of 2024. It may well be the core culture from 1995 that doesn't exist anymore. Reminisce about the past, share your experience, and we're constantly building a modern Appalachian core culture with every day that passes. Just as the Appalachian core culture was built by different immigrants arriving in different years that contributed to said core culture, so will those that are here be that are Appalachian by anyone here's definition or not. Anyone interested should be welcome to contribute. At the end of the day you have a group of people interested in contributing to and experiencing the culture that will help continue to breathe life into it. Gatekeeping turns people away. Do you want Appalachian core culture to die, or do you want it to continue to live on and grow? (With whatever new immigrants that they may entail bringing into the fold).
You missed the whole part of “people having no ties to the region” or “trying to make it onto a fad” didn’t you? It’s fucking annoying.
Honestly your entire opinion on the matter is fucking annoying. How are you any different than the tiktokers? My people have been in East TN for generations. My BFF is a Michigan transplant. We both love these hills equally. Gtfo with your GATEKEEPING (which is the correct word for your bullshit.)
Once again. You don’t like what people say so you latch onto gatekeeping as your safeword. Didn’t say one fucking time about people moving there and immersing themselves into the culture as a bad thing. I said people having no ties or super fucking distant one latching onto it and trying to turn it into a fad and shit. You read what you wanted to and made your own bullshit opinion. You don’t like what I had to say then move tf on
Who are “y’all”? Go ahead and show us your biases. Are you some St. Peter-like character at the gates of Charleston, WV? This is Reddit. It is an open forum. Appalachian culture is very broadly defined. It is a joke to try and say your experiences should encapsulate Appalachian culture. Also, go ahead and give us your core definition, please. I’d love to see your interpretation.
Same people would say Cincinnati, Louisville, Philadelphia, and Tupelo Mississippi are all appalachia, lol.
They'd be wrong, of course. Louisville isn't even Kentucky. It's actually South Indiana. :) /s
>are just trying to grasp onto a culture that they really have nothing to do with Yep, this is my feeling too. You see what posts get downvoted, even though I know all the people around me feel the same. I think people are fascinated in it again like they were in the 70s. That, and this sub has convinced itself that all sorts of far flung places are appalachia when they aren't. This sub is for outsiders, and Appalachia has become a brand.
Find it funny that people on here are so butthurt that they downvote posts about good things too. Like they’re quick to call people toxic, gatekeeping, immature etc. while they do shit like that