I thought of another one of my tribes, and really my principal tribe, which is Appalachian, and I thought we might do some culture notes here. Remember, I'm not a bigot, but I have my prejudices and I am no picture of political-correctness. Still, it seems like a good thing to talk about. I was raised in a white, American, middle-class suburban world, but I wasn't a good fit there. As I talked about in an earlier post, I hung with the Puerto Ricans in Middle School, and I'm still proud of my Puerto Rican tribe. Still, I also have an Appalachian identity I think, which may revise some of my earlier statements - but oh swell.
I've done a lot of research on Appalachian life. I have a group of family members - distantly removed on my mother's-mother's side, called the Bucks. The Bucks - this is real - fled to Appalachia during the Whiskey Rebellion, which occurred just after the institution of the U.S. Federal Constitution. The Bucks' family were whiskey distillers, and the government had instituted laws to control and tax the production of whiskey that they took rather great offense to - as most whiskey producers did at the time. Most of those whiskey distillers were in Kentucky, and those who weren't killed in the conflict either decided to comply or fled to the hills.
The Bucks I derive from moved down from the hills and home-steaded in Illinois. They still produce some batches of whiskey and rye for themselves. "Whiskey and rye," is a corn-based sour-mash whiskey that has some handfuls of rye seeds thrown into the ferment. Rye produces ergot-compounds when it ferments, which makes whiskey and rye a bit more than a whiskey treat. It makes it a powerful hallucinogenic draught.
Consequently, the whole Buck family is out of their minds. I went to a family reunion at the Vet Club with my mother one year, and they were hiding the stash of whiskey and rye and smoking cartons of non-filter government issue cigarettes - the kind that say "Cigarettes" in black plain-font on the side. There was also a family member who knew how to make real red-velvet cake with cream-icing. The icing probably contained some lard, and was fabulous even though it tasted like government-issue cigarettes. The clouds of smoke were so heavy that I ate some dirty wings and velvet cake and left in less than an hour, but the experience was one not to be missed. I avoided the whiskey and rye.
Further, the Bucks may be out of their minds and smoke non-filters by the carton, but they live for years beyond the average age of a middle-class suburbanite. Many of them live well into their 90's. When I first saw, "Grumpy Old Men," and the old man is sitting on the bench proclaiming, "Those idiot doctors! I eat bacon and eggs fried in bacon-grease for breakfast, a bacon-sandwich fried in bacon-grease for lunch, and I drink my dinner, and I've outlived 10 of those doctors!" - that is Appalachia. It sums up every word of the Appalachian tribe. When I saw that scene, I nearly fell on the floor thinking of Daddy Buck, the scandal of Penfield, Illinois, stashing his whiskey and rye and stolen cigarettes and probably eating lard and bacon grease when he did't drink his meal. Daddy Buck lived to be somewhere around 93.
Like most Appalachians, the Bucks are of Scotch-Irish descent, and other than the drinking stories - they told a lot of traditional Appalachian folktales that go back to that Scotch-Irish syncretism and living in the hills. I was not able to catch too much more than the drinking stories, but I do remember the sort of atmosphere. Some of the interest I've taken in folk-music, like that "old-grass," I talked about, is derived or directly comes from the history of that Scotch-Irish meld.
Life in the foothills of Appalachia is not easy, and what I'm going to tell you may shock you, but for most of history, some similar pattern was lived by nearly all of humanity. The center of most communities in Appalachia is Baptistry. It is a very strict form of Baptistry. There is no infant baptism allowed. When a young man or woman - who survives - gets to be about 13 or 14, they talk to the minister, and they are asked if they feel called to be Christian. If they do, then they are baptized and given a new baptismal name. Saying no means exile from the community, and this is nearly entirely absolute.
Most people are commonly referred to by some nickname, "Peg," or "Sue," or "Bud," or "Hank," but your second name is considered your actual name. Also, this is no "rinse-and-repeat," form of Baptistry. Baptism is the central piece of Appalachian life, other than marriage, and a second baptism will lead to exile or sometimes - death.
If you are a member of the community, you show up at Church, at the risk of fantastic persecution. The minister is the head of the community, and the local government generally meets and acts through the Church. There will be one Church, and one minister, and sometimes a minister-in-training. There will be some local law authority, and they will have uniforms made by the community or purchased somewhere - but they generally drive around in jalopy's. Generally the only people that will have access to a car will be the minister and the local law enforcement.
Women have a lot of power in Appalachian communities, but they are so constantly pregnant that those who live to be married don't live much longer. Divorce is also heavily persecuted, and legal-separation status is not an option. It is real that if a woman were to walk out of a marriage in Appalachia and not exit the community - sure they will persecute her to death. However, the other philosophy is that if the woman walked out - then you as a man were irresponsible for your home, and you are going to be the one who pays - big time. You better steal a jalopy or have the endurance to run to more civilized land, or you are going to be very - very sorry.
Since women die so frequently in childbirth, the men will take a wife after she dies, and this cycle continues. A man who manages to live to advanced age may have 20 or more children, and they will be farmed out into the community. If you asked a man from this culture about the practice, he might say, "I shor' do miss my first wife. No good man forgets his first wun'."
People live from a vegetable garden, some light livestock, and some hunting and gathering. They make most of what they need, but they usually buy the materials from a place that sells industrial goods. They are constantly hungry.
The other thing is that people of Appalachia are incredibly hospitable and kind if they feel you can be trusted. If you enter such a community - I do not advise it - then even though you would always be an outsider, if they felt you could be trusted they would go out of their way to make sure you survived. However, most people who are not born into this culture arrive on the run from the law. The American government does not control Appalachia well, and most people know that, and a criminal intent is not a good intent to take to the hills.
The community will wait for some nastiness to develop, then persecute the person, and then they take care of them - in a different manner. The most common solution is to beat the person near to death and drop them somewhere where they will be found by the civilized. There are other much more nasty solutions, though the reality is that they are rarely practiced.
Two other problems are when a community is poisoned - usually by syphilis. An already savage life becomes a riot of leprous individuals killing each other, and the end result is the destruction of the entire community. Another thing is that in Appalachian tradition, you do not go up into the higher parts of the Appalachian mountains. The Appalachian mountains are not much more than large hills. They are very old mountain formations. Appalachians do tell tall-tales - I love to tell tall-tales - but one of the more reality-based traditions seems to be, "the hill people."
Apparently there are people who live high up on the Appalachian mountains, and the sightings of them - according to Appalachians - are of people of total madness and deformity. The trope is, "You go up any further and you don't come down." Appalachians are insular, and I understand - utter shock and horror - but many people will live the way of life rather than move to civilization. Some of that is upbringing, and some of it is that the lifestyle does have some value. "Don't rise above your raisin's," is another common Appalachian trope.
The only person who can read in the community is usually the minister. There is one book allowed in the entire community - usually - and it is almost always the King James Bible. It can be okay to visit Appalachia - I haven't - but you can be in danger if you bring any books there other than the Bible, and probably if it isn't only that version, "up thar' into thar' hills."
Because the American government has so much trouble controlling Appalachia, the government may never be able to prosecute your killer or even find your body if things get hostile. Appalachians don't mind a visit, but don't go alone, and be respectful. Further, it is really better to stay away, and I've moved to do so over the years - although to, "find my rutt's" (there is no such diphthong in English) would be a great experience for me.
I'll be back. I might try the metal article, or I might talk about Classical civilizations, as I've studied that stuffin' as well over the years. We'll see. I need a break and some food-age. LOL!
