[tallrick]

LOL I am going to wear something like that, I have family going back to the 1800's in Florida!

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by tallrick

LOL I am going to wear something like that, I have family going back to the 1800's in Florida!

Me too! I think most people mean anyone who was born in a state and still lives in that state when referring to a "native" of an area.

[Granny Sue]

A native Floridian is someone who was BORN in Florida.
If you were born somewhere else, you would be native of THERE.
You might have ancestors native of here.

I am a native of Illinois but have lived here for 25 yrs. So am not a native of Florida.

[CG&D93]

I've always considered myself a native Floridian. Born in South Miami and raised in the fabulous Florida Keys. I've lived in different places all over the world but I've always said 'currently I live in XYZ, but I'm a native of Florida'. And without ever having thought about it, I DO have native American ancestry from Florida but didn't that think that mattered in my 'nativeness'. Like my made up word.

I can't get a picture of it, but I've got a t-shirt that promotes the Conch Republic.

[sunrico90]

Now they have hooted sweatshirt....next week they are adding the Camo pattern...

[riveree]

native |?n?tiv| noun a person born in a specified place or associated with a place by birth, whether subsequently resident there or not : a native of Montreal | an eighteen-year-old Brooklyn native. • a local inhabitant : New York in the summer was too hot even for the natives. • dated often offensive one of the original inhabitants of a country, esp. a nonwhite as regarded by European colonists or travelers. • an animal or plant indigenous to a place : the marigold is a native of southern Europe.

[Cougar31]

the word "native American" refers to people who were in this continent before the settlers accosted.

[skinny]

The Southern blacks haven't gone anywhere the OP was right. When you see somebody drive by in a old Chevy on enormous rims with a mouth full of permanent gold teeth and dreadlocks, thats a native Floridian. To me, you're a native of wherever you were raised at because that place will have played the biggest role in influencing who you are. It doesn't necessarily make a difference where you were born.

[DeoGratias]

Where you grew up at is the biggest cultural influence, but it's not necessarily the place to which you are native.

My mother was born in Michigan, moved to Florida at age 4, and left in her late teens. She doesn't even remember living in Michigan, but she's still a native Michigander.

[kevinkagy]

Native Floridians for me is someone who was born and raised here, and has lived here for the majority of their lives.