NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665

February 12, 1998

Plains Folk: North DaWhat?

Tom Isern, Professor of History
North Dakota State University

©1997 Plains Folk

The Great Plains identity, as described by geographer James Shortridge, was the subject of a previous Plains Folk column. Shortridge has written how for too long people on the plains have been defined according to the expectations of people elsewhere, and only recently have begun to say for themselves who they are.

Now, people in North Dakota often assert that their state has the most negative image of all, but that's not necessarily so. Robert Bader's book on the Kansas identity—"Hayseeds, Moralizers, and Methodists"—shows that state's image has been adverse, also. Oklahomans have complained for years about the ugly portrait of their state sketched by John Steinbeck. Southern states in general, too, complain of negative stereotypes applied to them unfairly. All that said, North Dakota and the plains in general win no beauty contests in the popular imagination.

Now a scholar in the middle of North Dakota is looking more specifically at the identity and image of the Flickertail State. Perry Hornbacher, at Bismarck State College, says, "North Dakota's image has always been an area of consternation for those living in the state." Like Shortridge, he recognizes the influence of "outsiders" in creating this image.

Eric Severeid, of Velva, North Dakota, and CBS News, is often quoted for his remark that North Dakota is "a large rectangular blank spot in the nation's mind." North Dakotans have a regular catalog of such slights that they cite, including:

• The habit of Montanans of telling North Dakota jokes (which makes you wonder what those folks in Montana are so insecure about).
• The infamous Buffalo Commons thesis, stated by Deborah and Frank Popper in their article in "Planning" magazine in 1987, then argued in public meetings up and down the plains (the outcry from the plains serving better to publicize their work than any press agent ever could)
• The notorious Rand McNally atlas of 1989 that left out North Dakota.
• That article by John Margolis in the "New York Times Magazine" in 1995, where he asked, "Is the State of North Dakota necessary?"
• The wisecrack by President Clinton, about the same time, asking if North Dakota and South Dakota were redundant. (That prompted a good-natured reply to the President from Governor Schafer listing the virtues of the state .)

And how about that "X Files" episode where Mulder and Scully came to North Dakota? I mean, I would follow Agent Scully anywhere, but an assumption of the script writers was that if you wanted to hide an alien UFO somewhere no one would find it, put it in North Dakota. (North Dakota, incidentally, has a claim to rival that of Roswell, New Mexico, as a center for early UFO consciousness, but that's another subject.)

If you're from North Dakota, you may have public or private slights to add to the list. Or, you may have evidence to cite of a positive image of the state. Perry says he is looking for any sort of references to North Dakota in "atypical historical documents" of American culture such as cartoons, television shows, popular books, and movies. (Remember how everybody hated "Fargo" until it got all those Oscar nominations, and then the folks in Fargo celebrated Oscar night by setting up a wood chipper on Broadway?)

Perry would be happy to hear from you about leads to documents touching on the image of North Dakota; your experiences with people's perceptions of the Flickertail State; or your own image of it. You can write Perry Hornbacher at Bismark State College, Bismarck ND 58501, or e-mail him at: Hornbach@gwmail.nodak.edu

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Source: Tom Isern (701) 231-8339

Editor: Barry Brissman (701) 231-7866