La Llorona

“La Llorona is the story of a mom whose kids died… and I think it’s like her kids died, and she sent them down the river and was crying and killed herself because her kids died … and like her spirit resides by that riverbank in Mexico and apparently people can hear her cries, and “crying” in Spanish is “llorar” which is where the name “la Llorona” comes from:“the crier.” So yeah apparently people just hear her crying by the river. That’s all I really know. I have just heard it a couple times briefly from some of my older cousins and aunts over the years so I don’t really know too much about it.”

Background information: When I interviewed the informant about this story, I had already known a little bit of background information since we had covered this story during class and had to read up on it. It was very interesting to note how someone from whose culture this story stems hears about it personally and through he family members, and how she has come up with a general sense of the story, even though it may not be entirely accurate or detailed. I interviewed her in person because she lives across the hall from me.