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Membership:Membership in the Southern Indian Department is on a yearly basis. There are two types of membership: Individual and Family. The fee for Individual Membership is $25, and Family Membership is $35. Annual fees are due and payable on January 1st. Fees are late as of 01 March. Unless you have contacted the Board of Directors or have other special circumstances, dues not paid by the 15 March grace period will result in your membership being dropped and you must start over with the probationary process. Active duty members deployed overseas on January 1 are waived the dues for that year. Under "Special circumstances" dues can be waived by a vote of the Unit Officers. For an application, please click here (Page will open in a new window. Close it to return to the site.) Before you fill out the application, there are a few things you should know about membership in the Southern Indian Department. 1. You must be at least 18 years old to join the Southern Indian Department. Persons under 18 are allowed to participate in events with the Southern Indian Department if their parent or guardian is a member of the Southern Indian Department, holds a family membership, and is present at the event. 2. Generally speaking, persons under the age of 16 are not allowed to carry firearms at events regardless of permissions given by their parents or guardian (This is due to Historic Site safety regulations and is outside of our control.) 3. Membership is open to all persons regardless of race, religion, sex, or ancestry. This is, however, a depiction of a particular group of people during a particular period and members must portray a persona consistent with those groups during that particular time and place. 4. When you initially apply for membership in the Southern Indian Department you will be accepted as a Probationary Member. While in this status a. You must attend at least 3 events with the Unit as a Probationary Member before you can be considered for full membership status. This gives both you and the Unit's membership time to evaluate the "relationship" and see if we are a good fit. b. Upon acceptance as a Probationary Member, the applicant will be paired with a “mentor” in the form of a “Full Member” who, if needed, will act as councilor and provide assistance to the Probationary Member in developing his kit and persona. Probationary members will be provided with a copy of the Unit's Basic Kit guidelines for the persona he wishes to adopt and any other documentation we have that might be useful in developing an appropriate portrayal. A Probationary Member is expected to outfit themselves with the Basic Kit within a year to be considered for full membership. Extra time may be given, upon approval of the Unit Officers, in the case of special circumstances. Determination will be made on a case-by-case basis. c. Probationary members are not permitted to sponsor guest participants at scheduled events however they may ask their "mentor" to do so. It will be up to the "mentor" to decide whether or not to sponsor the individual. d. A Probationary member may ask to be moved to Full Membership status at any point after the attendance requirement has been met. The Full Members of the Unit will advise the Unit Officers who will make the final determination. 5. As a Full Member you should: a. Continually work to improve your persona. This includes updating your clothing/equipment as necessary to reflect new knowledge gained through research. b. Work as a member of the team, under the appointed leadership to provide the best possible interpretation/experience for the public at events. c. Divisive issues of the 21st century have no place here. Therefore, members must be prepared to "leave at the gate" all discussion of potentially contentious subjects such as politics, religion, or current events. d. Mutual respect and courtesy between all members is important for the smooth functioning of the Unit. No member will be allowed to engage in physical or verbal abuse of another member of the Unit or of the public. e. Since one of the stated purposes of the Organization is to recruit and develop new reenactors, members who have attained “full membership” status may, from time to time, be asked to act as Mentors for probationary members. It is expected that you will provide them guidance with developing their kit and persona. This does not mean that their persona will necessarily be of the tribe/persona that you portray. The operative word here is “guidance” f. Reenacting persona of the 18th century often involves participation in physically demanding activities under unpleasant weather conditions. Those who have health conditions that could cause "issues" are requested to please make the Unit Leaders at an event aware of the situation. This information will be held in confidence but is necessary for your health and safety. 6. Finally, this is a "family-friendly" unit. Sexual and other forms of harassment, inappropriate language, dress, or activities will not be tolerated at events. This holds true both during "public hours" as well as after the public is gone. If you have any questions about what is "inappropriate" please contact one of the Unit Officers to discuss.
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Copyright 2004-2007-Southern Indian Department |
