Shetland's cultural diversity and integration

[vailron]

anyway how does one define a shetlander. mr makao was designated a shetlander despite the fact he was not born here, hence all the fuss about his de[portation. i know folk who have lived here over 30 years and are still not considered shetlanders. so just what is a shetlander???

[trout]

so just what is a shetlander???

 

That is a question. There are no definitive answers laid out anywhere officially and so it would appear to be entirely subjective depending on an individuals opinions. Hence the "term" has such wide ranging and often polar connotations.

 

Perhaps it could be attributable to some of the points brought up by Styumpie, Salmon, Stoichkov, shetlander, Pleepsie, Rasmie, and technobob etc.?

 

What associations would you give to the term?

[Mcdilly-Willy]

I consider myself a shetlander, born here, never lived anywhere else. My mother is a shetlander through and through (well, back a few generations), my father was originally born in a town just outside Liverpool, he moved here when he was a young teenager, went to the anderson and met my mother, and the rest is history as they say (he still lives here).

 

He considers himself to be a shetlander. Is he a shetlander? also am I? I mean I don't speak like a "shetlander"...

[technobob]

I think I would have to wait until I had lived over half my life here before I even contemplated claiming that title for myself (and that would make me 78!!!)... However, my youngest (wasn't quite 2 when we moved up) speaks the dialect like a native, and I can barely understand a word he says when he is with his friends. So I think he will be considered one way before me...

 

However, I do consider and refer to Shetland as home, rather than where I grew up, namely Portsmouth... and now that we have bought a house, I don't see us moving back down south again...

[Stoichkov]

I think it is a difficult one, i do think that Shetland's identity is quite distinct and therefore someone moving into the isles from their teens and upwards (perhaps even lower) would probably never consider themselves a 'Shetlander' even if they lived here all their life. They would however consider Shetland as their 'home.' I know many people that fall into this catagory and although they[/b][/i] may not consider themselves shetlanders, that does not mean to say that others (including myself) don't consider them and their families to not be shetlanders.

To me a Shetlander is someone who is born and bred here or lived here for the majority of their life and has been a part of the local community and shared in the culture.

I know a lot of people who are regarded/would regard themselves, Scottish or English as opposed to Shetland, but i still find these people to be different to the Scots and English i have encountered south, and i believe it is a Shetland influence whether they like it or not!

[NewMagnie]

so just what is a shetlander???

 

People who live in Shetland.

[shetlander]

 

I can mix well, but as an almost non-drinker in an environment that arguably has a drink culture, it can be difficult to fit in.

 

 

Although you imply that it’s fairly inconsequential to your own, largely positive experience of Shetland as an incomer, its sad (but in no way surprising to me) that you sometimes feel that you don’t fit-in because you're not a big drinker. For all I know, some folk may have good reason to give you a wide berth but in presuming they don’t, and that you’re a reasonable, sociable sort, just goes to prove that ‘non conformity’ with the stereotype of what comprises ‘normal’ behaviour in Shetland can lead to the kind of non-acceptance or isolation I was getting at in my earlier post.

[BigMouth]

The irony of being a rare drinker in Shetland is that I have been told that when people see me sat there with an orange juice in front of me one of the thought patterns that they have is that I am a recovering alcoholic!

 

I have to say though that my drinking history has been an odd one. In the Army I complained about a lack of promotion. I was told that it was because I did not join in. That was so far from the truth as to be laughable so I pointed out every single time that I joined in and in return it was pointed out to me that I didn't go into the bar and drink with the lads. As far as I was just spending my money on other more important things.

 

Not being the sort of person who takes half measures I made sure that I was first in the bar and last out every night for the next six months. I spent most of that time seriously drunk and a complete and utter pain in the neck. I was seen to be one of the lads now and was promoted. I then stopped drinking again. It is sad that to be accepted I had to become a p***head, but it happens in all walks of life.

 

The one piece of advice that bears repeating was given to me by a soothmoother who was leaving the following day on the boat because they hadn't fit in here was, "to fit in you need to join one of the squads, the pub squad or the God squad". I have thusfar avoided both.

[Rasmie]

A Shetlander?

 

1. the most obvious - born and bred in Shetland (including those born in hospital in Aberdeen without their prior consent)

2. Born away but with a Shetland parent

3. Someone who had lived here most of their lives and most importantly regards themselves and/or wants to be a Shetlander. Especially those wot “talk like a nativeâ€

4. And then just as important there are “honourary†Shetlanders – people who have come here and made their lives here and have fully embraced the way of life. Perhaps we need to have some sort of naturalisation ceremony for these.

I could name a few who have been invaluable to us and of whom I regard as highly as ony o’ wir ain.

To be a Shetlander you must regard other Brits as different but equal and realise that Scotland is indeed a different place – though familiar and friendly – after all a mans a man for a’ that

[judgeknott]

Bigmoth said

The one piece of advice that bears repeating was given to me by a soothmoother who was leaving the following day on the boat because they hadn't fit in here was, "to fit in you need to join one of the squads, the pub squad or the God squad". I have thusfar avoided both.

 

It is joked? that in some communities on half is all to hell wi' drink and other hald all to hell wi' religion. LOL

 

However one thinks it should be 10% of each as 80% of the population (the silent majority) indulge in neither -

my own guess at percentages of course - you see i don't really know but i feel that we can't get all 25,000 of us into the Lounge on a Friday night - although it often feels like it.

[vailron]

so i have been here for 30 years now, and i am nearing my 50th birthday, so does that make me a shetlander????

[trout]

so i have been here for 30 years now, and i am nearing my 50th birthday, so does that make me a shetlander????

 

Well, vailron, that as I have said before is a question. What answer are you looking for?

 

I personally would like to think that the answer would be fitting if an individual and or a family had managed to integrate and become a productive part of whichever micro and or macro communities they had been brought up and or settled in. That would include everyone across the board and could be applied to any area and or localised terminology for a "local".

 

Hazarding a guess, but, a yes/no answer on an Internet forum to an anonymous being in this context without truely knowing who they are would probably not constitute for much, no?

[junior]

I think Rasmie got it right when he said

 

Someone who had lived here most of their lives and most importantly regards themselves and/or wants to be a Shetlander. Especially those wot “talk like a nativeâ€

 

It is more important how you view yourself, than how others view you. If you feel part of Shetland, then you are part of it.

 

Although I'm not sure that anyone who didn't grow up in the islands can ever really get the accent.

 

[anon]

[mod]thread titled "Migrant Workers and the European Union" merged with "Shetland's cultural diversity and integration" at this point - 29/03/2008[/mod]

[mod]thread name changed from - look after our own - to be more descriptive of the content[/mod]

 

Whatever is happening in Shetland today.

We are not racist, but feel we should look after our own first.

we know for a fact this is not happening, as foreigners are getting jobs over our own,

also a council job, a (grass cutter) came in the Shetland times.

Guess who got the job-not one of our own but a council worker from down south,who will have to be rehoused here.

We do not think this is fair.

please,please look after your own first.

They will all disappear and we will be left to pick up the peices.

Come on Shetlanders, stand against this injustice.

Anon.

[Mag]

We Shetlanders have a long history of stravaegin all over the world. You meet Shetlanders where ever you travel; Australia, New Zealand and Canada are bursting with the descendants of Shetlanders who went there to make a better life for themselves when Shetland was poor and life here was very hard. I hope these Shetlanders were treated fairly, the same as everyone else, in their adopted countries. And I hope that Shetlanders still living here can continue to build a Shetland community to be proud of by welcoming new blood and treating incomers fairly, the same as everyone else.