Author Archives: Daniel Gilbert

Proverb – Oahu, HI

Residence: Oahu, HI
Performance Date: March 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Hawaiian

“Hawaiian Proverb”

`A`ohe lokomaika`i i nele i ke pâna`i.

“No kind deed has ever lacked its reward”

BJ first learned this proverb when he was in elementary school while living on the island of Oahu. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and has lived on the island of Oahu for seventeen years. His father is second-generation Japanese-Hawaiian and his mother is from Hollywood, California.

BJ says that the proverb translates in English to say: “No kind deed has ever lacked its reward.” He says that he learned this proverb as a young child and thinks that it was taught to all the students at his school because they were responsible for learning Hawaiian and because it is a proverb that well-describes the idealized Hawaiian attitude. He says that Hawaiians are generally very generous people who are known to be welcoming and willing to help out others. He says his father often quoted this proverb when he wanted him to help his younger brother who has Downe’s syndrome.

A proverb is usually intended to be a short representation of a value or moral of a culture or community group. In this case, the group is the Hawaiian people as a whole, and the value is placed on generosity and willingness to serve. It seems interesting that people always need to be reassured of the personal benefit they will receive when doing something. While this proverb encourages people to be generous and to commit kind actions towards one another, it also shows the way in which people are manipulated into acting a certain way because of an expected or promised outcome. It makes one wonder whether or not generosity is truly valued, if it would not be practiced without the promise of a reward. Is there anyone who lives there who values generosity for its own sake- not for the sake of receiving a reward in return. This is not a bias against Hawaiians specifically, but an indictment of society everywhere. It seems that people always need to have positive reinforcement to do the things that are right. It leaves one wondering whether morals are practiced only in efforts of personal gain or if morals are valued for their own sake.

Legend

Residence: Newnan, GA
Performance Date: March 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: French

“Screaming Bridge”

Jessica Lewis is currently a student at the University of Southern California where she studies Psychology and Classics. She was born and raised in the small city of Newnan, Georgia. Her family lives in a rural area of Newnan, where agriculture is the people’s main source of profit and professional life.

Jessica heard the legend first from her older brother at the age of seven. The legend goes that apparently there was a horrific car accident on the Cedar Creek Bridge over Roscoe Road in Newnan, Georgia in the 1930s wherein a mother and her child died. The legend goes that the woman and her child haunt the bridge at night. People are said to have seen ghost images of the car, the mother and the child. In particular, the woman is often heard to be wailing over the death of her child.

Jessica says that as teenagers it was always a big deal to go to this bridge at night. She says that she has visited the haunted site on various occasions but has not personally seen the ghosts nor heard the strange noises. At her high school, there are many people who do believe they have actually encountered apparitions that are inexplicable and heard noises that are unnatural to the area.

There is evidence online given that there truly was a horrific accident on this bridge in the 1930s. However, there is no scientific proof that the haunting truly is real. It seems interesting that these haunted stories do not seem to develop from nothing, but usually develop around horrific scenes of sudden and painful death. Society seems to be preoccupied with the idea of justice. By this, I intend to say that whenever a horrendous crime or death occurs, people want to believe that there is a haunting because that would justify that things cannot end on an uneven score. For example, the ghosts of the woman and her child in the car accident on Screaming Bridge may have been created by locals who simply felt that the tragic death of these two should not be the end of their presence. The haunting legend allows for them to still exist within this world, it is a sort of ever-present reminder that what happens was not natural. The creation of legends about haunting ghosts may be an important way in which people cope with the horror that happens in life.

Folk Belief

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

“Table Manners”

Josh is a graduate of the University of Georgia and currently resides in Athens, Georgia. He was born in Columbus, Georgia and was raised in Marietta, Georgia.

The superstition that Josh explained has been around since he was born. He said he just learned to accept this superstitious practice as a part of life and does not think it odd. Before Josh was born, his grandfather passed away. Every time that he goes to his grandmother’s house for dinner or lunch, there is something rather unusual that occurs prior to the meal. While some families have traditional seats wherein each family member is expected to seat, his family has a tradition of telling him where not to sit. Ever since the death of his grandfather, the seat at the end of the table has always been left empty. In addition to the rule wherein no one is allowed to sit at the end of the table, there is another rule that the seats directly to the left and right of Grandfather’s seat must always be occupied by males. Josh recalls a time when a visitor came to dine at his grandmother’s house. Apparently, this lady did not understand why there was no one seated at the end of the table and proceeded to sit down, but was immediately reprimanded in an extremely harsh manner.

Josh said his grandmother and family believes that Grandfather will always occupy that seat at the end of the table, even though he is not physically present. In the family’s beliefs, if someone were to sit in his spot it would be undermining his power and role in the family in spite of his death. Josh says this custom has always been practiced, therefore it does not seem odd to him.

It seems that the family’s preoccupation with table seating has a strong connection with its core value system. The family is strongly patriarchal and in this manner, it is considered improper for women to do anything that would undermine the power of the men. There is a strong value placed upon remembering those from this past in this family. It seems that to a degree, this practice is almost obsessive-compulsive and is likely the result of the grandmother’s inability to cope with the disappearance of her husband, the former head of the family.

Folk Belief

Residence: Minneapolis, MN
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

“Knock on Wood”

Dustin Anderson is a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He is from a very small town in northern Minnesota where he was born and raised. His mother is second generation Swedish.

Every time that Dustin says something that he does not want to actually happen in real life, he knocks on wood, literally. For example, if Dustin were to talk about the horrible possibility that he would die in a plane crash, he would finish his statement by knocking on wood and saying “Knock on Wood” aloud to inform those around him and God that he was just figuratively speaking and not requesting for this event to happen. In addition, it is highly important that the person actually knock on real wood. It does not suffice to simply knock on any material and to say the phrase. If one does not knock on wood after saying such a horrendous statement, there could be confusion on the behalf of God or the gods to the point where they may misinterpret your statement and think you have requested for such a thing to happen.

Dustin claims that he first learned this practice of “knocking on wood” while in the first grade at the elementary school within his town. A classmate mentioned the possibility of being robbed and then proceeded to actually knock on wood and to say the phrase. He says he is not sure whether he actually believes that things would occur if he did not follow many of his comments with the phrase and action surrounding the “knock on wood” superstition, but he figures it doesn’t hurt to do it just to be safe.

It seems interesting that the material which one must knock on is wood. Possibly wood is the chosen material because wood is generally hollow in the center. It could be possible then, that the emptiness of the wood may be symbolic of the hopeful empty- handed statement, or that the statement may be just as empty and untrue as the wood is hollow. It seems once again, that this superstition is like many others. It is a way in which people try to gain some sort of control in a chaotic and often senseless world.

Festival – Yatesville, Georgia

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

“ Chitlin’ Hoedown”

Lilli is a student at Louisiana State University and is studying towards a degree in Business. She was born in Athens, Georgia but was raised in Thomaston, Georgia. Her parents have both spent their entire lives in Thomaston, Georgia barring a quick move to Athens, Georgia where Lilli was born.

The Chitlin’ Hoedown is a yearly festival held in Yatesville, Georgia, a small town located in southern Georgia. Chitlin is the general term for the intestines of a pig when prepared for consumption as food. The Chitlin’ Hoedown is a festival centered on the varieties of preparation methods one can use to consume this unusual food.  At the festival, there is of course, a variety of differently cooked and seasoned chitlins, as well as a parade, arts and crafts fair, and much more. The festival is a hallmark for this otherwise unnoticeable town of approximately 408 citizens.

Lilli claims that the festival is not just about the traditional preparation of this soul food many have come to love, but rather it is a chance for this small town to celebrate its existence and to showcase its cuisine and arts in an effort to attract others.

For a small town such as Yatesville, the festival provides a relatively large source of income. Not only do the residents attend, but also many others travel into the town from other places around the Atlanta, Georgia area. This festival is both an economic means and a way of keeping tradition alive in an unusual cuisine.