Author Archives: Napoleon Martinez

The Washington Pavilion Maintenance Ghost

Background: My informant was young Caucasian man who was born and raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He currently attends the University of Sioux Falls for Biology and History.

Main Piece: This story originates from the youth of Sioux Falls during the early 2000s. Washington High School used to be near downtown Sioux Falls. However, in 1992, a new school area was build near Sertoma Avenue on the east side of town where new developments were being built. As such, the old high school was going to be rebuilt as an Arts pavilion, where today it is used for the local science museum, local play/musical productions, and even movies. It is called the Washington Pavilion. However, in the early 2000s, many kids and young adults began discussing the story of the maintenance worker that supposedly died during the time of renovation. They say he worked on the elevators and potentially fell down the shaft while working. Because of this, they say that his ghost haunts the elevator at any given time of day. Considering how large the pavilion is, it is very easy for you to get lost, or find yourself in long empty hallways. The informant doesn’t really believe in it, but it was fun for him to talk about during his middle school days. It is in their opinion that this is mainly just to freak people out in the elevator. They said that elevators are a place where people are already vulnerable, because they can fail at any time and kill the occupants.

Performance Context: According to my informant, the informant’s mom was an aficionado of the occult, so she would tell her son (the informant) stories like this.

My Thoughts: I think it is interesting because elevators are another scene as the informant mentions that are of vulnerability. It is similar to the bathroom in the horror genre at large as a place that symbolically is confined and intimate. In an elevator, the occupants have very little control over the mechanism and it is often the source of inspiration for many different horror genres. The easiest example that comes to mine is the film Devil, which tells the story of a group of people who are trapped within an elevator as one by one they are killed, making them believe that it is one of the members inside. In the end, however, it turns out the Devil themselves is acting out the crime. Even so, the idea that you could be stuck in a small confined space with little control of the situation and the horror stories that you hear about people who get stuck in elevators in terrifying for many, including myself.

The Curse of the Nuno Sa Punso

Background: My informant was a Filipino immigrant who came to America when she was 12. She was born and raised in Manila before coming to America, her father seeking out new opportunities. She then got married and moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota and currently works as a Denial Analyst for the Sanford Health Network, the largest hospital network in the Siouxland area.

Main Piece: There are superstitious tales in the Philippines about beds of mushrooms and the mounds that they can be found on. It is that that creatures live there called the Nuno Sa Punso, a form of Duwende (dwarf). The Nuno Sa Punso live in the mound, and if you come across these beds of mushrooms, you have to say “excuse me” and “no disrespect to you all” (tabi tabi po). More accurately, it means something like “I mean no harm, please step aside, let me pass” although it is a bit hard to translate exactly. You must avoid stepping on it because if you make one angry, it will give you bad luck and spit on you. If you step on it or harm it in any way it will use its spit to grant a curse. If you are cursed you will get an incurable lesion type of condition that can only be healed by the Faith Healers. You may also vomit blood.

The Faith Healers will usually warp the affected area in some form of leaves and oil while saying a prayer that asks for foregiveness from the dwarf you made mad. This is the only way the lesion will go away through time.

According to the informant, this kind of folklore is a major part of Filipino society and often talked about because Filipinios are a very highly superstitious people. It was fairly common for her to hear about stories like this, especially involving spirits.

Performance Context: According to my informant, the story was told (in her belief) to teach children to respect the spirits as well as to get them to come home before 6pm, when it gets dark. This is a story that is told to all children and so it is very widespread. It is known by most Filipinos. The informant said “Each region has a folktale to avoid so you know not to make the spirits angry.”

My Thoughts: I think it is interesting because it shows a certain commonality in storytelling to teach children respect and also to ward them from staying out or straying too far into the unknown through the use of mythical creatures. I think that their “curse” is quite severe, and really would be something that would scare children. I wonder if it is somehow derived from some medical fact or otherwise medical incident long ago that was explained through spirits.

The 1973 Gitchie Manitou Murders

Background: My informant was young Caucasian man who was born and raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He currently attends the University of Sioux Falls for Biology and History.

Main Piece: My informant told me about the famous 1973 Gitchie Manitou Murders. This story is the story of a young group of teenagers who went to Gitchie Manitou State Preserve in Lyon Country, Iowa. The teenagers were all killed, save for one, who was raped and provided testimony to put the alleged behind bars for life. Back in 1973, these teenagers from Sioux Falls, went camping at Gitchie Manitou, when they were approached by a group of three men who proceeded to kill them using shotguns from their trucks. They then kidnapped one of the girls, brought her to their farm and raped her before driving her home. All the while, they were impersonating themselves as narcotics officers claiming that this was within their rights as officers. Later, a real trooper drove the young woman around until she identified the farm and the truck they had been using. This has spawned a novel by her called “Gitchie Girl” that was released in 2016. It is still a hot topic amongst teenagers and has spawned numerous stories about the ghosts of those that died on that fateful night.

Performance Context: According to my informant, this story is common hearsay, mostly because it is something that was horrific that happened in the town’s history.

My Thoughts: I think it is interesting because it tells us that our ghost stories don’t just come from past crimes, they also come from various historical events that happen even as recent as in the early 70s. We continue to make folklore and even find ways to reflect on the dead through stories about their potential spirits. Although most people will dismiss it, it is probably told very often to children who are camping late at night, as this happened during a camping incident.

Spook Road

Background: My informant was young Caucasian man who was born and raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He currently attends the University of Sioux Falls for Biology and History.

Main Piece: My informant made me aware of a historical location known as Spook Road, that exists just outside of the small town of Brandon, SD. Brandon is a suburb of the Sioux Falls Metropolitan area. In this area, there is a county road that is known as Spook Road to local residents. This is because there are many accounts of supernatural events occuring within this location. The most famous has to do with a ritual that many young people take, especially during Halloween. The idea is that there once was a girl there who hung herself on a bridge. What one is supposed to do is, during the middle of the night, you and your friends get in a car and drive down spook road between the main road and the highway. On the way through, you should pass over a series of bridges. You should count the bridges as you cross them going on way, turn around, and then do the same on the way back.  You should count 5 bridges on your way, one-way. However, it is said that if on your way back, you count 4 bridges, you should be very scared. There are various reports of strange happenings on this very long, very narrow road. However, this story has created strong cultural ties for the people. The road is long and narrow, so there have been many attempts to fix it and improve the road, to reduce traffic accidents. However, many in the community have slowed down this progress even to a halt, petitioning to protect the “historical landmark”. The informant also says that there are also old reports of witchcraft happening in the area, though they do not know how accurate or likely this is.

Performance Context: According to the informant, this road is particularly famous in Sioux Falls, especially since many Brandon youth visit the main city. The relative closeness to the main city means Brandon folklore is often spread through hearsay and most people know about Spook Road as a result.

My Thoughts: I think it is interesting because it has gone from being a spooky story to a sort of rite of passage of many of the youth. There is a ritualistic action that many take upon themselves due to the relative ease of access to the story and also the challenge it seems to prod at. It is also something that is very easy to drag your friends into on a cold Halloween night, where everyone is out trying to have a good time.

The Faith Healers of the Philippines

Background: My informant was a Filipino immigrant who came to America when she was 12. She was born and raised in Manila before coming to America, her father seeking out new opportunities. She then got married and moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota and currently works as a Denial Analyst for the Sanford Health Network, the largest hospital network in the Siouxland area.

Main Piece: My informant told me about the faith healers of the Philippines. The faith healers come in various types and not all of them are referred to as faith healers. Usually, they are locals that the people depend on and trust to know how to heal bones and cure ailments using traditional means. There were hospitals around, but many people chose not to use them because of the cost. If you could get by using a faith healer, you would. It could be for anything as severe as a fracture to as simple as a tummy ache. The faith healers to my informant were the primary source of healing when she was growing up, despite hospital care being available.  My informant was sent to them because of her walking disability often, as she had a condition that prevented her from being able to run. The faith healers were usually older wise men, but sometimes women. The way you would know about a faith healer or where they were was through word of mouth. There were no regulated or official posting about their services. If you wanted to know about them, you had to talk to the community. Most of them gained their practice through their ancestors. Grandmas and grandpas that the methods were passed down through from one generation to another. Generally, they would use oil and herbs, but other types of traditional healers include spiritual healers and mediums. My informant had personal experience mostly with healers that used herbs. When that didn’t work, her parents would sometimes take her to places where spiritual healers were or places they thought an image of the Virgin Mary or Lord Jesus Christ has presented a miracle at, and where people were healing others at. The crowd at this places were often so enormous that often her family never even got close enough that they could “hope for a miracle”.

Performance Context: According to my informant, my informant was sent to the faith healers fairly frequently due to a childhood condition that was not a normal or emergency circumstance. There was really only one main faith healer in her community, although they could have been anyone and there were definitely many throughout the area.

My Thoughts: I think it is interesting because it talks a lot about how even though we rely on science for medicine, there is always this part of healing that is tied to the spirit and towards traditional or spiritual arts. It also remains as part of our cultures to provide a way for those who are less fortunate to give back to the community through a passed down set of skills. In addition, it shows how the influence of Christianity has an impact on the traditional and spiritual healing techniques of the indigenous people, as it remains a strong sign of salvation and hope for many in my informant’s area.