Author Archives: Daniel Gilbert

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Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

“Easter Celebration”

Jennifer Smith is a third generation English- American who was born and raised in the valley area surrounding the city of Los Angeles. Her mother is from Miami, Florida and her father is from Los Angeles, California. She spent three years at Bennington College in Vermont.

Jennifer says that, for the most part, her family has always celebrated Easter in the same fashion since she can remember. Her mother’s parents celebrated Easter in the same way and the tradition has passed down now to Jennifer through her mother.

On the night before Easter, everyone decorates hardboiled eggs by using specially prepared colored-dyes. The eggs are then hid in secret places by the parents, during the middle of the night while the child is asleep. In the morning, the children wake up as early as possible in order to start the festivities. The children hunt for the eggs that the parents have hidden. For every egg that a child finds, he/she is given a present in exchange by the parents. For example, Jennifer says that this year she found six eggs and therefore received six presents. The presents can range in size and quality. Jennifer says that usually the majority of the presents are relatively small, such as a basket of jelly- beans. After the children give up on finding all the gifts, it is now time for the parents to retrieve the eggs that were not found. It is important that the parents keep a list of where exactly they hid each egg, because a hardboiled egg is not something one wants to keep in his house for an extended period of time, as it progressively rots. After the parents find the remaining eggs, the family bakes a cake in the shape of a bunny. After the cake is baked, the family then invites relatives to come over and enjoy a home-cooked Easter dinner. Easter dinner usually consists of lamb, ham, and steak. The side dishes for the dinner include mashed potatoes, asparagus, fruit salad, and homemade bread. After the dinner, the children will play various games with the eggs such as an egg on spoon race.

According to Jennifer, the Easter tradition in her family is not a matter of remembering an important religious occasion, but rather it is a time wherein the family reunites and presents one another with gifts in order to express appreciation. I think that this is an interesting celebration, as it is seen to show no religious connotation yet it is held on the day in which many people celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. It is interesting how this celebration focuses around the secular aspects of the Easter holiday in the United States.

Tradition

Nationality: African-American
Residence: Tujunga, CA
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

“Thanksgiving Traditions”

Gerad is presently a student at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, but he grew up in Tujunga, California. His mother is African-American and grew up in Augusta, Georgia and his father is Caucasian and grew up in upstate New York.

Ever since he was a young boy, Gerad recalls his family celebrating Thanksgiving in the same manner every year. Each year over Thanksgiving break, Gerad and his family travel to Mammoth Mountain in California. All of the members of his family who live in California join them at a ski resort in Mammoth. The family goes to Mammoth for four days, where they spend three days skiing and one- day enjoying Thanksgiving Day food and fellowship. On Thanksgiving Day, the family spends hours preparing home-cooked dishes that reflect their Southern heritage. The menu for Thanksgiving dinner includes a variety of greens, turkey, ham, cornbread, macaroni, ribs, and crispy hot wings prepared by his aunt. The meal incorporates both the tastes of the family as well as reflects the Southern background of the family, where many of the recipes for these dishes were first collected.  After the meal is cooked, the head of the family (who is always considered to be the eldest male figure in the lineage that is present) prays for the family giving thanks for the past year in addition to blessing the food.

Gerad believes that this tradition successfully unites the family and allows for recognition of his own cultural heritage, in particular in the antiquated recipes of his mother’s family from their years spent in the Southeastern United States.

Personally, it seems that this tradition is a fairly common practice in the society of the United States of America. However, it is interesting that Gerad’s family brings together a sort of potpourri of folk recipes in their preparation of Thanksgiving dinner.  In addition, the fact that the eldest male of the family is always responsible for the prayer and blessing of the meal seems to prove that this family has a history of patriarchal structuring.

Legend

Nationality: African-American
Residence: Tujunga, CA
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

“Wolf at the Campsite”

Gerad is presently a student at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, but he grew up in Tujunga, California. His mother is African-American and grew up in Augusta, Georgia and his father is Caucasian and grew up in upstate New York.

Gerad first heard the story at the age of seven, while on a camping trip with his two sisters and his father. His father told him the legend on two separate occasions. He thinks that the legend is a way in which his father convinced him and his sisters to go to sleep at a reasonable time and to not stay up late in the dark.

The Legend of the Wolf at the Campsite always begins the same way; “A father and his children drove to a campsite in the deep and dark woods. They arrived late at night and had a very difficult time setting up the tent. There was a full moon out and there were strange sounds coming from the woods. The children were scared by the strange noises and the eerie nature of the night, so they asked their father if everything was all right at this campsite. The father said that there was nothing to worry about, as long as all the children go to sleep at a reasonable hour- that wolves only come out at night to get bad children who disobey their parents. The children seemed to be assured of the safety of the area, so not thinking twice about it, they decided to sneak out of the tent at night to play. This was a big mistake. The wolves came out from the surrounding woods and began to attack the children… they screamed but their father was sound asleep.” And the story always ends in the same fashion. The teller explains to the audience that the same thing could happen to them if they disobey as well.

This legend seems to have been invented by an adult who wanted to scare his children into behaving properly. Although there is the possibility that this legend may be true, it is unknown.

Folk Song

Residence: Marietta, GA
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

“ Raider Pride Cheer”

Coach: “Whose house?”

Team:  “ Our house!”

Coach: “Whose house?”

Team:  “Our house!”

Team: “ One, two, three… Raider Pride!”

Malcolm is currently a student at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. He grew up in Marietta, Georgia for the majority of his life. He was born in Dallas, Texas. He first learned the Raider pride cheer as a freshman at George Walton High School in Marietta, Georgia. He says that he was taught the cheer by upperclassmen athletes who played on the same basketball team as him.

According to Malcolm, the cheer is an important piece of tradition that is handed down from upperclassmen basketball athletes at Walton High School to freshman athletes. The cheer is sung prior to every official basketball game that the Raiders, the team name for the Walton High School basketball team, play whether at home or away. Malcolm says that the team members derive a sort of bond and strength from the cheer performance. He says, “The Raider Pride Cheer is powerful when it is sung loudly and vehemently and proves a source of inspiration for all the team members and a source of intimidation for the opposing team.”

This cheer appears to be a uniting bond that is shared between the members of the group. It seems that the folk group in this instance is the Walton High School Raider basketball team, and the lore is the “Raider Pride Cheer”. Team members can take personal pride in this cheer as they perform it on special occasions and derive inspiration from its performance.

Ceremony – La Plata, Argentina

Residence: La Plata, Argentina
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Castellano

“ Graduation in La Plata”

Matias Meli is a Fine Arts major at the National University of Argentina in La Plata, Argentina. He was born and raised in the city of La Plata, Argentina- a smaller city extension of the capital city Buenos Aires. He speaks English and a dialect of Spanish referred to as Castellano by its speakers.

Graduation from University in La Plata, Argentina is an important stage of development and is a highly honored achievement. University education is free of cost to all eligible students in the city of La Plata- therefore the courses of study tend to be extremely rigorous and only a small percentage of students enrolled in each course actually receive passing grades. When a student successfully graduates from the University, he/she is rewarded in a quite unusual manner. His/her friends and family generally attack him/ her with rotten food and beverages. It is a common scene to see eggs and whipped cream along with all sorts of mashed up foods on the grounds of the University campus as well as the clothing of the recent graduate. This sort of practice is seen as hazing, but is a necessary hazing in the cultural life of La Plata, a university-dominated city.

According to Matias, the graduation ritual of food attacks is an important practice, which represents the student’s transition from university-life to the working world. The practice of dumping disgusting foods on the recent graduate is a public display of accomplishment and the emergence of a successful working individual from the university system.

The practice of dousing recent graduates with sticky liquids and covering them with rotten foods is a visible expression of the lore held amongst the student body of La Plata. These students all share a common experience, the university experience in La Plata, Argentina. All students in that university are subject to the high demands and often times seemingly insurmountable expectations required for graduation, that it seems purely natural that some sort of outrageous demonstration of accomplishment would be customary. In a word, the graduation hazing of La Plata is a way that students connect with one another and honor the achievements of their graduated peers.