Traditional and Sustainable Life Practices of Southern Appalachian Women Amanda Dardanella ...

67 Pages·2016·1.89 MB·English

Traditional and Sustainable Life Practices of Southern Appalachian Women

Amanda Dardanella Brown

Submitted to the faculty of the College of Graduate Studies of
Middle Tennessee State University
In partial fulfillment of the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY
December 2016

Thesis Committee:
Dr. Vicky MacLean, Chair
Dr. Meredith Dye
Dr. Angela Mertig
To my grandmother, Carrol Northrup, who educated me in the ways of my
heritage, while supporting and encouraging me throughout my scholastic career.
“No one can ever take away what you know, baby.”

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my mentor and thesis chair, Dr. Vicky MacLean, for helping
me to become a better student, feminist, and professional. I would also like to
thank Dr. Meredith Dye, who encouraged me to pursue my interest in sub-
cultural sociology. Also, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Angela
Mertig, whose suggestions and feedback undoubtedly made my thesis a well-
rounded project. I must also express my appreciation for the participants in my
study, who graciously shared not only their stories, but their homes, food, and a
glimpse into their private lives. Lastly, I would like to thank Dr. Lachelle Norris,
who not only provided me with multiple contacts for interviews, but served as
both instructor and mentor during my undergraduate degree and has now
become a dearest friend.

“Maybe stories are just data with a soul…” – Brené Brown

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ABSTRACT
This study examines the lives of seven Southern Appalachian women residing in
the state of Tennessee who practice traditional or environmentally sustainable
techniques as a part of their livelihood. Using abbreviated life history interviews I
explore how participants use traditional and sustainable practices as a form of
self-identification and agency. Detailed narrative accounts explore notions of
ecofeminism, agency, and heritage, critically examining how participants
identified themselves, their practice, and their place within the region through
changing historical and social contexts.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Appendices ………………………………………………………………. vii
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………. .1
Literature Review ………………………………………………………………... .2
Defining Appalachia ………………………………………………………2
Gender in Appalachia……………………………………………………..6
Sustainable, Traditional, and Folk Practices………………………….. 11
Methodology ……………………………………………………………………... 15
Research Design…………………………………………………………. 15
Recruitment and Data Collection ………………………………………. 19
Data Analysis …………………………………………………………..... 20
Findings…………………………………………………………………………… 22
Heritage …………………………………………………………………... 22
Agency ……………………………………………………………………. 26
Environment ……………………………………………………………… 30
Gender ……………………………………………………………………. 35

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Discussion………………………………………………………………………… 40
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………….. 44
References ……………………………………………………………………….. 46
Appendices ………………………………………………………………………. 50

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LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix A. IRB Approval Letter ………………………………………………. .51
Appendix B. Photographs ………………………………………………………. 53
Appendix C. Interview Questions ……………………………………………….59

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1

INTRODUCTION
Appalachian women in the United States have a distinct disadvantage
compared to U.S. women at large, due to socioeconomic factors, geographic
isolation, and widespread misperceptions of the region. Additionally, women who
choose to practice sustainable or traditional techniques, which are common in
Appalachia, may be even less understood, often regarded as “old fashioned” or
“backwards” by outsiders to the community. Traditional practices, which are more
often than not also sustainable, include but are not limited to: hunting, fishing, or
trapping game; growing, harvesting, or preserving food; making clothes, quilt, or
food ware; cultivation of plants for housing, smoking, curing, or medicinal
purposes; any type of folk art, including weaving, basket weaving, glass blowing,
embroidery or knitting, painting; and reclaiming forest waste. These practices
have historically been a vital source of survival for members of the region. With
nation-wide “grass roots” sustainable movements becoming popular, it is
pertinent to gain knowledge of women who have practiced these techniques
before their more recent and renewed admiration.
My study addresses the questions: 1) How do women use their craft to
identify with the culture of the region? 2) How (if at all) is “femininity” expressed
through sustainable crafts? and 3) Can practicing sustainable techniques offer
women in the region agency either through economic gains or the transmission
of knowledge to other women? One objective of this research is to illuminate the
heritage of women who perform “grass roots traditional” or “sustainable”
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practices before the practices become so commercialized that their stories are
lost. A qualitative, feminist approach to the study allows for an in-depth view of
the lived experience of these women, potentially helping to demystify a rich
cultural background embodied by individuals within the region.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Defining Appalachia
The Appalachian region of the United States has two distinct, diverging
identities. One romanticized version includes rich cultural heritage, folklore about
its expansive forest – the largest temperate deciduous forest in the world, in fact
– admiration of the natural beauty found in creeks, waterfalls, mountains, and
hollows, and a tinge of mysticism regarding its pioneer inhabitants. The other,
details impoverished, uneducated rural peoples, trapped by the very nature
outsiders would admire, and dependent on government aid for a meager survival
where the only entertainment is alcohol and amphetamines. In both narratives,
the true realities of the people are lost, as is the natural environment they live in
and its directive to either serve outsiders or be tamed and exploited by them.
The Appalachian region is defined geographically by the Appalachian
Mountain Range that runs Northeast to South, and is one of the oldest mountain
ranges on the Earth. Culturally speaking, Appalachia spans across ten states,
and is defined by its history, plant and animal life, culture, and migrant ancestry
(Marcadel 2014). Appalachia has been a region of certain political and
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environmental interests. Once initiatives were enacted to have indigenous
peoples removed, settlers soon discovered the plethora of natural commodities
including timber, coal, metals and precious stones, land rich for agriculture, and
more recently, natural gas. Between the 1870’s and 1920’s the railroad began
winding its way through the mountains, and what could be considered the first
environmental backlash arose from locals. This political stance perhaps did not
initiate from care of the environment, but rather from the dislocation of peoples in
the name of capitalist progress under the guise of “eminent domain.” Arguably,
environmental concerns did arise from coal and mineral stripping, beginning in
the 1930’s where water resources were polluted, acres and acres of timber
stripped, and sometimes entire mountain tops were removed. In congruence with
the War on Poverty, peoples protesting the degradation of their lands and
destruction of their homes were, as is often the case to be explained later,
labeled by outsiders as backward “hillbillies” their sit-ins and destruction of
mining equipment deeming them violent individuals who desired to live in ruin
and reject progress and modernity (Howell 2002:5-10). Indeed a recent definition
of Appalachia by Trudy Marcadel in the Salem Press Encyclopedia (2014)
describes it as such:
For many in the United States, Appalachia—Southern Appalachia,
in particular—represents cultural and economic backwardness,
poverty, and violence. In popular culture, the region and its
inhabitants often bring up images of hillbillies and moonshiners.
Most historians and activists today argue that the region has been
particularly subject to stereotyping, misunderstanding, and
economic and environmental depredation.