NR - Re: Regional Identity

[Leslie Miller]

My sister Kat said:
<I think our devotion to regional identity 
 has created the perception that we (the region) want to be 
separate from the whole (or at least that's what I hear from *many* 
of my friends in other regions).>

In the many years that I've been playing, there has always been a 
division of sorts between the North and the rest of the kingdom.  
Sometimes it has been more defined, sometimes less.  It is part of 
the history of Ansteorra, and I don't think it's going to go away.  
The North could stop holding events and only travel south, and I 
dare say there would *still* be a perception that the north is 
somehow different than everyone else and wants to do its own 
thing.

Poor Brad Leah, put in the administrative region with all of 
Oklahoma.  The Red River is a very real physical (and 
psychological) barrier; and just as Texas as a state will shout 
superiority over the state of Oklahoma (the butt of many jokes 
across the country, I will point out), so too will this bias translate 
into the SCA, whether we want to admit it or not.  Oh, we may try 
to deny it on many different grounds, but you'll have to work pretty 
hard to convince me it's not there at all. 

The fact is, we have a regional identity whether we want one or not. 
 We are "The North."   I am a "northern peer."  We are "northern 
groups."  We have "northern events."  Hawkins is a "northern don."  

Does this terminology sound familiar?  Sure it does.   Is it going to 
go away if more of us start travelling south?  Hell no.  It was around 
even before we formed administrative regions. 

What defines our regional identity is a matter of debate.  It is also, 
perhaps, something that we can choose to create for ourselves, 
positive or negative, rather than leaving it up to random perceptions 
on the part of the rest of the kingdom.  I think that's what Hawkins 
is getting at, and I think it is worthy of pursuit.

Do we want to be separate from the whole (ie. split from 
Ansteorra)?  I dare say the majority of people in the north would 
answer that with a resounding "no!"  If that were not the case, I 
think we would already be a principality, or well on our way there.  
While I am, and always have been, in favor of forming a principality, 
I have never supported that idea with the thought of eventually 
splitting off from Ansteorra.  

However, since I am a "northern" peer (whether I like it or not) I'd 
like to see us make being "northern" something in which I take 
great pride.  You know, I'm not afraid of being different, and I'm not 
afraid of change.  I'm not afraid of having a unique identity and 
being proud of it.  I could easily live with being a member of the 
neatest shire in the coolest region (or principality) of the most 
awesome kingdom in the known world.  

In point of fact, I already do.

Gunhilda







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