Monthly Archives: April 2017

Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Houston, TX
Performance Date: March 13, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky

 

 

Subject: Childhood Game

 

 

Informant: Natalie Thurman

 

 

Background Information/Context: Natalie used to play this game called “Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky” when she was younger with her friends.

 

The following is Natalie’s description of the game to me:

 

 

 

“I used to play this one all the time with my friends. We would all sit around in a circle, close, so that your knees are touching—you would sit criss-cross. And you would put your hands on the knees of the people sitting next to you, palms up. The hand on the knee of the person to your right would be over the hand of that person. The hand on the knee of the person to your left would be under the hand of that person. I feel like that was really confusing—did you understand that? [I say yes.] Ok good. So you have your hands like that—oh my God, this is giving me so many flashbacks—and you start the game. You all start singing the song. It goes like this: [singing]

 

 

Down by the banks of the hanky panky

Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky

Singing oops, opps, curly pops

Snap crack-a-doodle and a cur-plop

 

 

And while you’re singing it, you bring your left hand, that’s resting on the hand of the person on your left, over their knee—you bring that left hand over to your right side and slap the hand of the person on your right, whose hand is resting on your right hand, which is resting on their left knee, if that makes sense. And you try to go with the rhythm, but towards the end, everyone ends up going as fast as they can so that it doesn’t land on you.

 

 

So when the song ends, and you say cur-plop, on ‘plop,’ whosever hand is the last one to be slapped is out, and they’re removed from the circle. Then you just keep going until you get to the last person, and they win the game. It gets really intense though when there’s less and less people. Like, when it gets down to the last two people, it’s so intense, everyone’s energy goes up like times ten. It was really fun.”

 

 

When Natalie first started describing the game to me, I immediately knew what she was talking about. I also played this game often with my friends when I was little, but I had completely forgotten about it until she brought it back up. It was particularly interesting to me to hear her actually tell me the lyrics of the song because I remember being a kid and not knowing the exact words that we were supposed to say, so instead, I would just make something up that sort of sounded like what everyone else was saying. I wonder if Natalie did the same thing, or if she told me the lyrics of a version of the song that she and her friends consistently used. It was also humorous for me to watch her try to explain the circle formation, as I could tell how difficult it was to explain in words. I think it’s a game that is much better suited as oral and performance folklore instead of for writing down how the game works. Because of this, the game doesn’t have official instructions, and can change slightly each time someone introduces it to a new set of friends.

Dog Licking Story

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Houston, TX
Performance Date: March 5, 2017
Primary Language: English

Subject: Myth, Childhood Scary Story

 

Informant: Lily Fitzpatrick

 

Background Information/Context: I was remembering a story that my friends and I used to tell each other at night to scare our friends. My friends and I used to tell these kinds of stories all the time, but this one was the one that came to mind when I tried to remember any of them. For whatever reason, none of these stories used to scare me very much, except for this one. Because I was having trouble remembering it entirely, I asked Lily to share how she remembered the story:

 

“This dog used to lick his owner’s hand every morning to wake him up for school. He was a young schoolboy [laughs], and then one morning he, like, got his hand licked, as one does in the morning, and he was like, ‘Oh time to wake up for school,’ and he walked into the bathroom, and the dog’s head was cut off, and the—wait I have to think to remember this—it said, like, I think, like, written in the dog’s blood on the mirror, it said, ‘dogs aren’t the only ones who lick hands.’”

Capirotada

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 74
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Sunnyside, WA
Performance Date: 3/20/17
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

LW is a retired 74-year-old woman who lives with her husband in Sunnyside, WA. She was born and raised there and came from an immigrant mother and father who came from Guadalajara, Mexico. She never went to college but became a mother to three children and a grandmother to several grandchildren. She was remarried twice and worked two minimum wage jobs to support her family. Her primary language is Spanish but her English is perfect as well.

Are there any holiday traditions or rituals that you have?

LW: I used to make this Mexican pudding on Easter called Capirotada. It is similar to bread pudding and it was made with cheese and raisins and my mother taught me how to make it. It was fairly easy to make and it was a fun thing to do for Easter with my kids. When my oldest daughter got, old enough I tried to teach her, but I don’t think she makes it anymore and neither do I.

Is there an importance to the dish and why its associated with Easter?

LW: It was a reminder of Christ’s suffering on good Friday and the ingredients have something to do with the passion of Christ. I am not sure how but that is what my mother told me when she taught me how to make it. I just know the bread in it symbolizes the body of Christ, as they say in the bible ‘broken and shared so we might live’.

Is there a reason this tradition has become more lost to your family?

LW: I think it was something we just started to forget about. We used to celebrate Easter every year with family, including my grandkids when they were born. But now we live so far and I have gotten older so I don’t spend Easter with them as a family as much anymore.

Analysis:

This dish is common as a Mexican tradition during Easter. As LW explained, it is symbolic of the passion of Christ as the bread of life who suffered to forgive the sins of mankind. The other ingredients stand for the passion as well such as the cinnamon sticks that represent the wood of the cross he died on, the cloves for the nails on the cross, and the cheese for the holy shroud. The dish still continues to be served and has many variations and other recipes as well.

A story of La Llorona

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 50
Occupation: Teacher
Residence: Bothell, WA
Performance Date: 3/5/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

PP is a teacher who currently resides in Bothell Washington. She is originally from Yakima, WA but her family descends from Guadalajara in Mexico. Much of her family spoke Spanish as their first language and her grandma was the first to immigrate to America. Much of her influences and culture come from that region and her upbringing in a single-mother low income household.

Are there any pieces of folklore or tradition that you felt taught you a lesson you will never forget?

PP: Well I feel like every person of Mexican descent has heard of La Llorona, the ghost woman. She was meant to warn kids not to play near rivers or leave home alone at night.

What is the story and how is it significant to your history?

PP: The story of La Llorona is about a widow who her children are killed by their husband I think? Or maybe the husband dies from being sick and so do the kids, I don’t really remember it as well but, then she kills herself out of grief and is doomed to haunt the river she lived near as a weeping ghost. Many people have had stories of seeing her when next to a river in Mexico, because you can hear her wailing and crying out for her children. I had a cousin who always said he saw her when he was around ten years old. He said he was walking on a road which was next to a river during the day and heard someone yelling and wailing and then saw her ghost. Many other relatives of mine has claimed to have seen her as well so it is common in the culture to actually believe in her ghost.

So what is the lesson that you will never forget?

PP: The main lesson of it all for me was not to walk outside alone when I was younger or anywhere near a river where I could get hurt or drown I think. It was mostly a warning to all younger kids not to wander off alone or be disobedient because then something bad could happen to you and you would be scared.

Analysis:

La Llorona is one of the most universally known ghost stories among Mexican culture. This piece of folklore has been around for a very long time and can vary. Some people say they see her and some people say they just heard her and ran. There is no real documented proof the ghost exists but the legend has existed for so long that many people believe in its truth. Although it is possible this legend was invented to teach kids a lesson it is entirely possible the ghost does exist. Right now, it exists through the belief of the people.

El Ojo

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 50
Occupation: Teacher
Residence: Bothell, WA
Performance Date: 3/5/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

PP is a teacher who currently resides in Bothell Washington. She is originally from Yakima, WA but her family descends from Guadalajara in Mexico. Much of her family spoke Spanish as their first language and her grandma was the first to immigrate to America. Much of her influences and culture come from that region and her upbringing in a single-mother low income household.

Are there any beliefs you had growing up that many people in your culture shared? Any superstitions?

PP: Well almost anyone you talk to who is Mexican knows about ‘El Ojo’ or ‘The evil eye’.

What is ‘el ojo’?

PP: El ojo translates to the eye but it is a belief that if you stare or look in an envious or spiteful way you can trigger the evil eye on that person. The evil eye can cause bad things to happen like sickness or trouble. Sometimes it is called Mal Ojo because it is evil. This is especially concerning to mothers of young babies because many people will stare at your beautiful child in envy. This is why mothers are more protective of their children.

Is there any way to prevent ‘el ojo’?

PP: There are healers that would say you can get rid of it with holy water or eggs if someone may have brought the evil eye onto you. It is more of a bad energy and can affect surroundings not just a person. I think that to get rid of it you have to do an entire cleanse spiritually of anything that could have been effected. There are many rituals involving an egg to identify the evil eye’s presence. I don’t think I truly believe in it but there are many people who religiously believe in this superstition and are genuinely afraid of the eye. My grandma and mother were especially afraid of it as I was growing up and warned me never to look at someone in an envious way so I didn’t bring it on someone.

Analysis:

I have talked to many people from Spanish backgrounds about ‘el ojo’ and it seems to be one of the most universal superstitions. People do truly believe the eye has powers and an energy that can make terrible things happen to you. The eye is associated with many accidents and illnesses and the ways to get rid of it or detect its presence are very elaborate. You have to get a healer to come and use an egg to detect if the evil eye is present and if it is the yolk will have a shape of the eye in it and then you must cleanse anything the energy could have effected. This could mean, your car, your house, or even your family and friends who could have the evil eye. Although this belief seems to make no sense and most of these things are coincidental, it is interesting how much people truly believe in it and the power of it to affect people’s lives.