COLUMN: It's Just a Country State of Mind: Back home in Indiana

For those of us who have lived in Indiana for most of our lives, we are used to being called "Hoosiers." Most of us just accept the name, no questions asked. We commonly associate the name with the IU athletic teams, the "Hurrying Hoosiers." But collectively, for all of us that make our homes here in Indiana, we are considered Hoosiers.

So just what is a Hoosier?

Over the years, I have often been asked this question by my friends who live out of state. I haven't always had a ready answer for them. The most common explanation that's quick to come to my mind is, "A Hoosier is a person who is a native of Indiana."

But where did the name come from? I've often heard the terms "Hoosier hospitality," "Hoosier traditions," and many more.

And I have heard different versions of how the name came to be, but I am not sure that anybody really knows.

The meaning of the term has often been the cause of great controversy in many conversations, and the origin has been disputed by some local history buffs.

The most widely accepted story that I could find goes back to the early Indiana pioneers. It seems that they used to greet one another from their log cabin doors by shouting out, "Who's yere."

Another story was about a contractor by the name of Samuel Hoosier who preferred hiring men from Indiana. They became known as Hoosier's men or Hoosiers.

Still yet another account is about early settlers that were vicious fighters that fought like European soldiers of the time. They were known to "hush" any opponent, henceforth, the name Hoosiers.

Other stories claim that the word came from a Native American word, "hoosa," which meant maize.

The name even came up in the Indiana legislature when Rep. J.D. Prescott introduced a bill to officially recognize Harry Hoosier as the inspiration for the Hoosier name. Harry Hoosier was a black minister who became a well-known preacher in the 1770s. The bill did not pass.

I think all these theories are well and good, but none of them felt right to me. I decided that being a Hoosier must be something so special as to defy explanation. I think that small-town Indiana is like no other place on earth. You must live here for a while to get it. It's a place where people know your name, and if they don't, they wave at you like they have known you for years.

When I think of Indiana, several words come to mind: Tradition. Self-sufficiency. Hard-working. Friendly. The people here are just different.

It's like certain jokes are only understood if you are Hoosier. It's an understanding between people. The air is of a certain quality, the people more so. I think it's something that you just know on the inside and that comes with years of living here.

A few years ago, I lived out of state for a few months. I got rather homesick, and before long, I moved back home to Indiana. While I was gone, I really missed my Hoosier roots. I was sort of a displaced Hoosier if you will. It just goes to show, you can take the girl out of Indiana, but you can't take Indiana out of the girl. Once a Hoosier, always a Hoosier.

A Hoosier is someone who was born here, who lives here and loves it. Indiana is a place to feel at home. It's my home. I am a Hoosier, and I am proud of it.

The lyrics to a song written in 1917 by Ballard MacDonald and composed by James F. Hanley, "(Back Home Again in) Indiana," seem to say it best:

Chorus:
Back home again in Indiana,
and it seems that I can see
The gleaming candlelight still shining bright,
Thru the Sycamores for me.
The new mown hay sends all its fragrance
From the fields I used to roam.
When I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash,
Then I long for my Indiana home.

If you know, you know. From one Hoosier to another, it's good to be at home in Indiana.

Susan