Main piece:

“There’s a lake near my house, and even though it’s a man-made lake and it’s super shallow and shitty there was a whole thing that there was a whole town and village under it. So there was myths that sometimes if your boat ran onto the ground it’s not like you were hitting the bottom of the lake it was you hitting a building or a house that was there before.”

Background:

Informant is a first year student at the University of Southern California who grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was told this legend about the lake by her house when she was growing up.

Context:

The informant shared this story one night in our dorm.

Commentary:

This legend is easy to disprove, yet it is still popular amongst the locals. The informant knew that the lake couldn’t possibly have a secret town hiding beneath the water, yet still tells this legend because it explains an interesting how the lake came to be. Having this little story makes her hometown more unique, and adds intrigue to an otherwise ordinary place.