Monthly Archives: November 2010

Camp Song – Texas

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Nationality: Caucasian American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Atlanta, Georgia
Performance Date: April 17, 2008
Primary Language: English

I’m in love with you Camp Sweeney

For you deeds so true

Perseverance faith and courage

Help our tests stay true

Forward onward never falter

Friendship never fail

All our hopes and dreams forever

To our camp all hail

Happier times we’ve never known

Than our days spent here

Swims in lovely blue Lake Dealy

Classes we hold dear

Proteins fats and carbohydrates

We can count with ease

Bravely we will face life’s hurdles

Hail to Camp Sweeney

This song is from a diabetes camp called Camp Sweeney in Gainesville, Texas.  It is the main camp song and everyone learns it when they first get to camp.  Most kids there have been going for years so most of the people already know it anyways.  We sing it every night after whatever camp activity we have, such as camp fires or Olympics, etc.

This song involves two different identities.  The first is being diabetic.  Often, having a disease can create a folk group.  Only the people with that disease share the exact same daily routines.  They also have a language that only those who are familiar with that disease know.  In terms of diabetes, this can be seen in the lyrics of the camp song.  For example, the line “Help our tests stay true”.  Someone without knowledge of diabetes probably would not know that they have to test their blood sugars regularly.  This identity is a broad one because it can apply to those who are diabetic and those who simply have familiarity with the disease.  I understand most of the song because my sister was diabetic for most of her life, so I understand the references.

The second identity that is brought forth in the song is those who have attended Camp Sweeny.  This is a much more exclusive group of people.  Stephanie had to explain parts of the song to me such as “Lake Dealy”.  Lake Dealy is the lake that is owned by the camp and the campers get to swim and play in it.  The song is taught to the campers at the beginning of each session, so it is a way of initiating them into camp because they now know the official camp song.

When Stephanie started singing the song to me I could recognize the tune immediately, but I could not identify it.  I finally figured out that I remembered it from the movie Dirty Dancing.  Neither of us was able to figure out the official name of the tune, or where it originated.  In Dirty Dancing it is called Kellerman’s Anthem.  But, the camp song was written long before the movie was made so I still do not know the origin of the tune.

Annotation: The Emile Bergsteign Chorale. “Kellerman’s Anthem.”. Sony BMG Music Entertainment, 2007.

Recipe – Georgia

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Nationality: Caucasian American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Atlanta, Georgia
Performance Date: April 17, 2008
Primary Language: English

INGREDIENTS:
10 lbs. Whole kernel corn, untreated
5 Gallons Water
1 Cup Yeast, champagne yeast starter

DIRECTIONS:
Put corn in a burlap bag and wet with warm water. Place bag in a warm dark
place and keep moist for about ten days. When the sprouts are about a 1/4″ long
the corn is ready for the next step. Wash the corn in a tub of water, rubbing
the sprouts and roots off. Throw the sprouts and roots away and transfer the
corn into your primary fermenter. With a pole or another hard object mash the
corn, make sure all kernels are cracked. Next add 5 gallons of boiling water
and when the mash cools add yeast. Seal fermenter and vent with a water sealed
vent. Fermentation will take 7-10 days. When fermentation is done, pour into
still filtering through a pillow case to remove all solids.

This is a recipe for moonshine whiskey that my neighbor in Georgia makes for special occasions.  He likes to make it for everyone on Christmas and Easter, etc because he’s convinced you can never have enough moonshine.  He actually uses his bathtub to ferment it in, but didn’t want to throw that part into the recipe.

Stephanie later added that the recipe had been passed down to her neighbor from his ancestors.  The most logical conclusion is that his ancestors were moonshiners.  Moonshine has always been illegal, and still is today, but her neighbor felt the need to risk getting caught in order to keep up the tradition of his family.  He also created a new tradition by giving moonshine to all of his friends on holidays.  Like Stephanie said, her neighbor made the moonshine in his bath tub, which is very authentic to the original moonshining days when stills were created and hidden in all sorts of places.

Her neighbor was originally from the south, but she did not know where his family was from.  The reason that is relevant is because the tradition of moonshine is opposite of most folklore.  Most folklore spreads over time.  Moonshine, however, was present all over the country during the days of the prohibition, but now it is mainly in the south.  It has become a part of the identity of the south, including there is a southern beer called Shiner.

Another thing I found interesting about moonshine today versus in the past, is when it is made and distributed.  Moonshine got its name from that fact that people would make it and distribute it at night in order to hide from the light of day. Now, people like Stephanie’s neighbor, make it in their house during the light of day, and distribute it to friends openly in the day time.  This is even more interesting considering the fact that the law is much more difficult to avoid today than it was back then.

Annotation: The Dukes of Hazzard. August 2005.

Proverb – Mexican

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Nationality: Mexican
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Ventura, California
Performance Date: April 19, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Tenga Cuidado del Cocui

Have Caution of Cocui

Beware of the Cocui

My abuela, grandma, used to tell me this when I was younger. El Cocui is the Mexican boogeyman.  She would say this to me when she wanted me to come with her.  She would also say this went she want to go to bed.  She said she was told the same thing as a child by her grandmother in Mexico.

Julie’s grandmother was born and raised in Mexico, so she grew up with a lot of Mexican traditions.  This is one of the many things that she passed along to Julie.  Julie could only remember the phrase.  She had heard an actual story of El Cocui, but not from her grandmother.  I have heard the story before from friends and in class, but I could not recall it.  The most that Julie could describe about the story of El Cocui was that it is the Mexican Boogeyman.  I found this particular interesting because Julie identified herself as Mexican, than German, but before I asked her any questions about El Cocui, she immediately put it in terms of American folklore.  This shows how two very similar stories can arise in two completely different cultures.  I do not know if one originated from the other, but it is quite possible that both the boogeyman and El Cocui were created completely independent of one another.

I had always heard of El Cocui in terms of a fairy tale, but I find it interesting that Julie’s grandma used it as folk proverb.  This is an example of how different pieces of folklore not only vary, but can also develop into know folklore.  As the folklore morphed, it also took on knew meaning.  As far as I understand it, the tale of El Cocui is used as a sort of cautionary, scary, bedtime story.  When Julie’s grandma used the phrase, it was used as a command.  I can understand how it would mean go to bed.  Several phrases are commonly used to replace “good night”, and often people have specialized phrase between two more of them, as in the case of Julie and her grandmother.  The part I do not really understand is how she used it to mean come with her.  The only explanation I could figure is that by saying beware of the cocui it was a way of scaring a child.  And, when a child is scared, they run to whoever is safe, like grandma.  So, it is essentially saying if you come with me I’ll protect you.

Recipe – Mexican

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Nationality: Mexican
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Ventura, California
Performance Date: April 19, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Tamales

Masa (ground corn meal and lard)

Carnitas (shredded pork)

Green Chile sauce or red pepper sauce

Corn husks

Spread the masa on the corn husk and fill center with the carnitas and add either red or green sauce. Roll up tightly and ties both ends. Steam for about 2 hours and serve.

I don’t remember the first time we ate these.  My family makes them every year on Christmas Eve.  I know the original recipe came from my Mexican grandma’s side of the family.

Tamales are a very traditional Mexican dish.  They include very traditional Mexican ingredients like masa and corn husks.  As for the other two ingredients involved, pork and chile/pepper, I am not sure how long they have been available for.  So, that may determine how old the tradition of tamales is.  The preparation of the tamales is still very traditional.  With the exception of maybe the steaming part, everything else is done without the use of modern tools (as much as possible).

Julie did not know how far the recipe went back in her family, but she did know that it had been around for several generations.  Her grandma was born and raised in Mexico.  She does not know the tradition got started as a Christmas tradition.  I speculate that since Christmas is a family time, making the tamales became a tradition because it was a way of celebrating their identity as descendants of Mexico.  Julie did not have to call her family or anything to get the recipe; she just sat down and wrote it out from memory.

Charm – Turkish

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Nationality: Turkish
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, California
Performance Date: April 26, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Turkish

Nazar Bonjuk is a Turkish good-luck “evil eye” charm.

The “evil eye” superstition is on the basis that one person can put a spell on someone else. The evil eye was started by Anatolian to prevent the spells, and these evil eyes were placed in homes, near doorways, on people’s handbags or clothing to watch over the person for safety. The evil eyes today are most common to be found in a blue glass with an inner circle in white with an eye on top of the white inner circle.

Robert is Turkish and although his main residence is in the United States he has spent a large portion of his life in Turkey.  He first learned this superstition as a young child because many people still have the “evil eye” in their homes.  This is particularly interesting when looking at it from an American stand point because we do not have very many superstitions that are still taken as seriously.

When I researched Anatolian, it found it to be defined as region surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, the black sea, and the Aegean Sea.  This is mainly associated with Turkish and Greek Culture.

I find Nazar Bonjuk to be a sort of oxymoron.  The term evil eye is usually associated with something bad, but in this case it is a good luck charm.  I interpret this to mean that you are turning the evil eye on others in order to keep away bad fortune and spells.  This brings up another interesting fact that the Turkish have a belief in spells, which you rarely see in America.  Turkey is a very modern place today and many of the people do not admitted believe in charms and spells.  But, the fact that people still keep Nazar Bonjuk in their homes shows that there is still some sort of residual belief and respect for the tradition.