Native and Semi Native Bumper Stickers LOL (Pueblo, Sheridan: transplants, home)

[colorado04]

I HAVE to ask ...what is with all the bumper stickers ???? of all the places I have lived NEVER have I seen so many people feel the need to stick stickers on their car trying to tell the world they are a native of a state actually i havent seen any other state with them.....and what is with semi native haha ........people who cares? There is obviously and underlying message there Im just not sure what it is lol

[Broncoholic77]

I think it's because there are soooo many transplants here.
I'm a 41 year old native, and I can tell you that there are very few.

...and no I don't have a bumper sticker

[reginhild]

Who is native - the person born in Colorado who moved away for 15 years and has been back for a year or the person who has lived here the last 10 years but was born elsewhere?

[treedonkey]

Actually, I think many Canadian resident are even worse -- with those giant Maple Leaf stickers and patches affixed to everything they own.

But in any case, I totally agree that it's ridiculous for anyone to feel smug or somehow superior simply because they were born in a particular place. For example, I was born In Hawaii, but I moved away when I was 6 months old. Am I gonna go over there and plaster big 'Native Power' logos all over myself? NO

Furthermore, I've had family here in CO (Pueblo) for generations. As far as I can tell from hounding my Grandmother about it, since the 1700's... Probably long before any of these 'native' braggarts have. However, my Father's Father, moved away at age 22 because there was a World War on... One thing led to another, and here I am, 67 years later, returning to the state which my entire family called home for over 200 years until happenstance and the world scene dictated otherwise.

So tell me....

Am I a transplant, or a re-plant? Am I native of Hawaii, or some other place? Do I belong here? Do you? I think the answer to all those question is really just a matter of semantics -- and timing. To assume otherwise is really just narrow-minded bigotry.



With all of that said, what's the point? Those who don't inherently agree with it will likely just gloss over it and continue one with the same repugnant attitude.

[Terytee]

It's just a pride thing. Like Broncoholic noted, there aren't that many Native Coloradoans around....everyone's a transplant.

As I understand, there are also some long-standing interstate rivalries. Coloradoans don't like the thought of Californians taking over....I also understand there's a Texas/Colorado rivalry, no?

A semi-native is someone who's not from Colorado originally, but has been in-state for many years. Treedonkey...you're a semi-native.....er....I think.

I know Texans take a great deal of pride in their state and "Native Texan" bumper stickers and license plates are pretty common when driving through the Lone Star state. It's all harmless. I'm a military kid, so I have no "hometown"....no bumper stickers for us.

[treedonkey]

I'm a military brat too, so maybe that's why I don't understand the 'Native' thing at all. I'm just a guy who likes living here and plans to stay around a while. IMO, if people are threatened by the possibility of Californians or anyone else 'taking over' their state, then they're pretty insecure.

In any case, I'd be willing to bet that I litter less, support the local arts and parks more, and treat my neighbors with greater respect than a lot of folks who consider themselves 'natives'.

[SheridanL]

I AM A NATIVE AND, I TAKE PRIDE IN THAT FACT!!! SO THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay well, maybe NOT......I was born in Oklahoma then,...lived in Kansas AND, came here at 3 years old! Nevermind.......I guess I'm just a transplant..
BUT,...my sons were born here sooooo,.... they are NATIVES.....right???
No wait,....one is in Rhode Island and one is in Hawaii ( both are working).
I guess they are Natives but living/working elsewhere...I am completely confused!!!
Whatever!!

[vfrpilot]

Here's a rather rude bumper sticker I have over my desk. I used to see them with Arizona instead of CA also. I guess you can be proud of where you live or were born, but personally don't put a lot meaning to it. I try to judge on character, not where your parents happen to be when the time came.

[treedonkey]

Originally Posted by SheridanL

I AM A NATIVE AND, I TAKE PRIDE IN THAT FACT!!! SO THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay well, maybe NOT......I was born in Oklahoma then,...lived in Kansas AND, came here at 3 years old! Nevermind.......I guess I'm just a transplant..
BUT,...my sons were born here sooooo,.... they are NATIVES.....right???
No wait,....one is in Rhode Island and one is in Hawaii ( both are working).
I guess they are Natives but living/working elsewhere...I am completely confused!!!
Whatever!!

I think this illustrates my point perfectly. Really, what is a native? Many people would say it's if you were born BORN and RAISED in a certain area. If I was born in a moving van on the road and did not roll across the CO border until age 1-week, am I a non-Native, since I was not BORN here. Or, let's say I was born here, but I moved away for one year while I was growing up and then moved back, am I a non-native because I was not entirely RAISED here?

Many would concede that such brief amounts of time are mere technicalities that would not invalidate one's status as a 'native'. But let's just up those time periods a bit to, say, not arriving in this state until you were 3, or 5, or 10 -- or lets say you moved away and did not come back until after several years. Then would you be a native? What is the statute of limitations on time spent out of state?

The point is, it's all a matter of judgment and opinion. Only the more prideful folks will even bother to make a big deal out of their native status or the non-native status of others.

In my opinion, the only ones that should be calling themselves 'natives' are the ones stuck on a reservation, trying to live some semblance of the lives their ancestors lived before all the European transplants came along and took over. But even they no doubt arrived here at some point from some other locale, making them transplants as well. So maybe the bears, wolves, elk and foxes and other indigenous species are the only real natives here, and they are the only ones who have the right to put big obnoxious stickers on their antlers or tails or wherever, telling everyone else to leave. But, of course they would not do that because they're happy to live in the only way that they know and let us be.

I am a native of planet Earth, martians GO HOME!

[dtotheatothevtothee]

Alaska is the same way