This Land is My Land: Oklahoma's Changing Vernacular Regions

Abstract

Over 1000 long-term local residents responded to a survey of Oklahoma's vernacular regions. They indicated that their local regions had changed names over time. A majority of respondents in more than 40 of Oklahoma's 77 counties recall that their localities were called "Indian Territory" or some more specific variation on that theme in the past. Because "Indian Territory" was a term produced by the Federal government, this suggests that the central government exercised substantial control over the toponymy of that time. Other institutions currently dominate the state's toponymic process. Respondents in almost one-half of Oklahoma's counties refer to their local regions with names generated by the state's Department of Tourism and Recreation. Residents in a small number of multi-county regions employ terms derived from their local cultural and economic histories, and others inagroup of single-county regions use extremely localized terms. As a result, it appears that Oklahoma's state bureaucracy has become the dominant toponymic force among local residents, displacing the once-powerful Federal government. Interestingly, Oklahomans now recognize more locally-defined regions than they did in the past as well.