Do You Believe That This Makes You the Truest of True Minnesotans?
What do you believe makes someone a "true" Minnesotan? Is it the way they dress? The way they talk? As in "yah", "you-betcha" or "ope" to rattle off a couple. Maybe it's the long o's or a's that a Minnesotan uses. Perhaps it's the ability to adapt to weather that is twenty below zero or more? Truthfully, I'm not fully sure.
According to the Oxford Language Dictionary a Minnesotan is defined as,
noun - a native or inhabitant of the US state of Minnesota "the waiter's wife was a Minnesotan"
By that definition it really means that anyone who lives here or is a resident is a Minnesotan. But does that make you a TRUE Minnesotan. That's the real question here and the reason I am asking it, is because I'm trying to determine if I really am or not a 'true' Minnesotan after seeing this map on reddit. So I pose the question, are you only a 'true' Minnesotan if you are born and raised here?
The reason I ask is because in this map it shows that 67.6% of residents in Minnesota were actually born in Minnesota and it made me wonder does that make a person a 'true' Minnesotan? Or a 'true' Floridian, North Dakotan and so on and so forth.
Side note: In the map you'll also see there are 11 states total that have a higher percentage than us, which really isn't bad out of a total of 50 states when you think about it. So quick shout out to the state of Louisiana that has the highest percentage of residents born in their state, with a whopping 78.1% born, raised and living there.
Back to the real point...I ask again. Does being born and raised in Minnesota make a person more of a true Minnesotan than those that were only raised here or who now live here? I feel there could be many arguments regarding it one way or the other. My dad and I have even had this discussion. Technically, I was born in Fargo, North Dakota, because it was the closet town with a hospital to where we lived in Minnesota. So does that make me a Minnesotan, North Dakotan or maybe both? Even though I was born there, I was raised in Minnesota starting at about two or three days of age.
Now here I sit at a fork in the road... am I a true Minnesotan or not? Are you questioning it now too after reading this? This is where I am at, in my heart I believe that yes I am a Minnesotan through and through. It's the state I love and always will. It's the state I have known my whole life and was raised in, the state I live in now and with that I shall continue to call myself a Minnesotan through and through..."true" or not true that is yet to be determined!
Northern Exposure! 'Northern Lights' Photos from MN
Labor Day Weekend Northern Lights as Seen in Minnesota
Minnesota Area Codes as Work Shoes
Minnesota Area Codes as Work Shoes
15 Signs You Might Be a Minnesota Grandma
15 Signs You Might Be a Minnesota Grandma