Indiana’s U.S. Senators have sent a bipartisan letter to the federal office responsible for printing government documents, asking that the word “Hoosiers” be the official word to describe Indiana natives.
According to a style manual from the U.S. Government Publishing Office, those who live in Indiana are “Indianans.” That office produces and prints documents for all three branches of the federal government.
Senators Dan Coats (R-IN) and Joe Donnelly (D-IN) sent a letter Tuesday, urging the use of “Hoosiers” instead.
The senators say newspapers in the state have been using the term since 1826. They also quote a poem from Richmond poet John Finley that they say normalized the term. The poem is called “The Hoosier’s Nest.”