Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Native American super natural power

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Pittsburgh, PA
Performance Date: April 19, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: some spanish

Tyson   “It was during spring break, during high school I think and we used to go to Arizona to visit our friends there, except the spring breaks don’t line up. So, we don’t do that anymore. But last summer we did go and uh, usually we go to Tucson, but this time we went up to this place called Show Low. It’s more northern in Arizona and it’s in the mountains so it’s cooler, there’s like pine trees and stuff. And um, are friend, our two friends who live there, one of them is the is the, one of them was getting really old and um, er, she has problems with Parkinson’s disease and um, so um, like the two friends, the one who was still healthy brought in a helper, who is this native American woman, who has like, three kids and like, was really fun to talk to and she was pretty young too. Um, it was really interesting talking to her. One thing she told us was that like, apparently like, she, what she said was that the people of the white mountains, which is like what it’s called I think, have like, a higher proclivity toward having mystical powers or like mystical insight into like, spirits and stuff or something. And she was saying how like, she was walking in like the mountains of something, when she was a little girl and she like, saw some vision or something.  I don’t know, it was pretty interesting to hear her talk about it. And how like, uh, I don’t know, there’s history in the mountains or something.”

AO(interviewer)  “Do you know, like, what kind of vision she had?”

Tyson    “I’m trying to remember what she said. She talked about it for awhile. It was about, like. It mighta had to do with, it might have had to have done with like, a death in the family or something. But I’m not entirely sure, maybe a grandparent or some cousin or something was dying and she like, said that she knew it. I don’t quite remember. She said it was really scary.”

AO   “So like, they go up to the mountains, and they like can sense things from there or just by living in the mountains they can…”

Tyson   “Well it’s like, she said it’s, the mountain people as opposed to the people from the plains. Cause there’s like the different Indian tribes that are from the plains down below where its desert but then she said like, the people in the mountains are different.”

AO  “I see, is she from the mountains?”

Tyson   “Yep she’s from the mountains. I think it’s near an Indian reservation. Whether it is or not, there’s a lot of indigenous, there’s a lot of Native Americans in this area. It’s interesting because there’s like different, people who are descended from different tribes. Like I think there was some Navaho, maybe. That might be wrong, I don’t remember but, I get the names confused. There was two different ones, and she was telling us how like, they fight within themselves. It’s almost like gangs.”

I was able to discover through some research that the Tyson was talking about the White Mountain Apaches of Arizona.  Despite being a subtribe of the western Apache and having influences from the Navajo, there is a much greater emphasis on the individual and autonomy in White Mountain Apache culture.  This is in contrast to other neighboring Native American cultures.  Because of this, the super natural powers the Apache possess are often neutral in nature, and can be used on the individual nature.  By neutral, I mean the power is not used to see or act upon forces of good or evil.  This is evident in the narrative Tyson descibed; the woman claims she experienced a visionary moment in youth in which she forsaw a relatives death.  While this is not a particulary happy vision to have, it is a personal one, as opposed to some large scale disaster. 

Additionally, this difference between the culture of the White Mountain Apache and their neighbors might help instill the fighting that Tyson said the Apache woman told him about.  Every culture has their own way of life, set of values.  It is important to the White Mountain Apache that they have visions of this type, while other Native American tribes nearby do not. They are able to set themeselves apart and keep their identities alive.

Remedy–homeopathic

Nationality: Indian
Age: 18
Occupation: Student, University of Southern California
Residence: Irvine, CA
Performance Date: 26 April 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Telugu

My informant is a talented singer, who is active in school choirs as well as a traditional Indian singing group. As a result, she often gets sore throats from all her singing, and has relied on this remedy for her sore throat since she was around eight or nine. Her Indian singing teacher was the first to tell her about this when she was in elementary school. Since then, she has heard about it from several different groups, including her high school choir director and her choirmates. She says there have never been any ill effects from her using this remedy, so she’ll continue to use it. However, she does think that the water probably hydrates the body and makes the sickness go away.

“To get rid of a sore throat fast, heat up a mug of water until it’s hot enough to make tea, then put about a tablespoon of honey into it. The honey should dissolve, but it’s okay if it doesn’t. I even go as far as to just eat the honey straight out of the bottle if my sore throat is really bad. The honey coats your vocal cords and heals any rawness in your throat.”

I’ve tried this before when I had a sore throat, since my informant swears by it. While it worked, I am still a bit skeptical about how effective a household product could be when curing something like a sore throat. However, her point about the hydration probably does help. I hadn’t heard this before, but my mother used to tell me that hot tea was a good combatant against colds and sore throats. It seems that the two operate on the same principle.

Nazi Deathcamp Catch Joke

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Room 4203D, 920 W. 37th PL. Los Angelos, California 90007
Performance Date: 4/20/2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

My informant is a Caucasian American who grew up in Los Altos, California. He performed this catch joke on me when we were casually talking in the suite of my college dormitory:

“Collector: It’s weird how hilarious holocaust death camp jokes are…I mean, they’re terrible!

Informant: Hey, don’t make fun of that. My grandfather died in a camp like that.

Collector: Wait–what? What? I’m sorry.

Informant: Yeah, you dick, he died–he fell off a watch tower. [Laughter]”

This is a catch joke in the style where the performer catches his target and then subverts his expectations. In this case, the catch was making the target (me) feel bad for making a Holocaust joke and insulting the memory of his grandfather. The subversion was telling me that his grandfather fell off a watch tower and implying that his grandfather was a Nazi.

The fact that this joke was performed suggests the de-sensitization of the taboo surrounding atrocities of the Holocaust among the younger generation.

Folk Belief – Bengali, India

Nationality: Indian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Bengali

“Never sit on a pillow, because creatures will grow in your butt”

The literal translation of this proverb is, “On the pillow, if you sit, creature pimples will be.”  In India, more often than not, one is sits on the ground.  Typically there are mats on the ground, and a top the mats sit pillows.  Although, the purpose of the pillows are not to cushion one’s rear, rather, they are to cushion one’s back:  the pillow is to be placed against the wall so a person my comfortably rest against it while sitting on the ground..  This little saying, is quite clearly recited between anyone, but particularly to children to remind them that the pillow is not for sitting on, but against.  The informant admitted that even now, he will never sit on a pillow under any circumstances.  The image is fantastically unpleasant, particularly because a pillow is, quite literally, a very plausible nesting area for bugs and creatures and anything that may have been crawling on the ground beneath it.  This, in conjunction with that perfect plausibility of a creature of this sort crawling up one’s behind, is a thought unpleasant enough to discourage anyone from taking this risk.

I think it is also to note that the translation is “creature” rather than bugs or insects.  The ambiguity leaves the recipient of this warning to the no limits but his own imagination. There is a certain, mythical element here, the creatures could be anything horrible, appealing to anyone’s idiosyncratic phobia.

Folk Belief – Chinese

Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Jose, CA
Performance Date: March 29, 2007
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

“Noodles are a sign of longevity”

Ashley learned this superstition on the morning of her 7th birthday when her mom handed her a bowl of noodles to eat rather than the traditional eggs and bacon. When she commented on this change, her mom explained that noodles were a sign of longevity, and that it was custom for people to eat noodles on their birthday each year.  In China, it is believed that eating noodles will bring health and good luck upon the person for the following year and ensure him a long life.  The long and even noodles endow a long and consistent life without pauses or struggles to the eater.  Therefore, it is considered bad luck for an individual to cut the noodle strands while eating them.  He must instead consume the entire strands without breaking them.

This idea is similar to the belief that exists in Korea.  Long noodles represent a long and healthy life while characterizing consistent times.  Just as in China, where individuals eat noodles on their birthday, noodles play a significant role on birthdays in Korea.  In Korean tradition, gifts are endowed upon a child on his first birthday ranging from creativity to prosperity.  Several items representing different gifts, among them noodles, are placed in front of the child, and the child is given the chance to grasp one of these items.  If he picks up the bunch of noodles, it is believed that he will live a long and healthy life.  Therefore, the idea persists, in Korean culture as well as Chinese, that noodles are symbols of longevity and consistency.