Category Archives: Customs

Customs, conventions, and traditions of a group

Dia del Indio

Age: 19

Traditional Dance

 

Primary Language- English

Secondary Language- Spanish

Occupation- Student at LA Cal State

Residence- Los Angeles

Date of Performance- 4/19/16

My dad is from Salvador and has a dance tradition his people do every year. It is called Dia del Indio where a bunch of people get together and dance. It basically the same thing as a festival because they have a lot of food, games, and dances. Everybody dresses up as an indian, the girls wear big colorful dresses that reach their feet, men wear shirts with shapes as a design, their shoes are made out of thick rubber, and they have straw hats. The point of the festival is to coronate the new queen of the region in Salvador. She represents the state and has to show her people that she is more than just a pretty face. The tradition is repeated every year and ends with the queen dancing with the king.

Anderson’s father told him about this dance when his father was looking at videos of the dance. He was intrigued and wanted to know what it was about. His father told him about the tradition and that he used to go to many festivals while he was in Salvador. Anderson has never been to Salvador but he has learned quite a bit from his parents. He likes hearing about the traditional dance because it is strange and interesting to hear since his father and mother have lived through it while has lived through something completely different.

When performing the dance or attending the festival, you have to be wearing the correct attire which consist of big dresses for girls and straw hats and rubber shoes for men. If you do not wear the correct clothes, people will think you are weird or disrespecting the day.

I always find these types of traditions immensely interesting because it’s fascinating to see how a dance or ritual can cement something sacred. Although the salvadorians dress up as Indians, according to some of my high school peers, they also have a similar dance but it is used to increase their chances of having rain for their agriculture. While one dance is used to ask a god for rain for their plants, another is used to coronate the next queen of a region. Anderson has no idea how to actually perform the dance and has never seen it in person but still knows the meaning behind it and can recognize it if he ever saw it. Chances are he will not pass it on to his children because he might never see the need or want to, his parents might end up educating them about it since almost anyone who is from Salvador knows about Dia del Indio.

 

Lono

Age: 18

Myth

 

Primary Language- English

Occupation- USC Student

Residence- Kansas City, Missouri

Date of Performance- 4/25/16

When I visited Hawaii, I learned of a god they worshipped named Lono. He was the god of agriculture, fertility, rainfall, music, and peace to the Hawaiians. I saw a lot of statues, dolls, and pictures of him when I visited a hotel there. Lono and a lot of other gods have huge statues in Hawaii. It is said that Lono came to earth on  a rainbow but that he was around before earth even existed. Lono came to marry a god named Laka. He was known as a god of peace and had a festival in his honor that we wanted to attend. I do not know much about it but I do know that it is a New Year’s celebration covering four lunar periods. The people dress up with traditional clothes and dance. It seemed pretty cool online but we weren’t there during the time they celebrated it.

Quinn and his father like to visit Hawaii during the semesters spring break or summer. It gives him a time to unwind and relax. He also takes the time to learn some folklore in his travels. Some of the folklore consist of traditions he may partake in like in Hawaii or Mexico, at least in terms of the foods they eat and celebrations they may witness. He likes to remember the folklore he learns because it serves as a memory of the amazing time he has had during his trips around the world.

Lono has been commemorated in Hawaii for a very long time and has given the Hawaiian people something to look forward to on New Year’s as well. A few hundred years ago, the people who were natives to Hawaii believed that Lono was the reason for the bountiful agriculture and times of peace. Thier culture and celebrations are sometimes seen as exotic and beautiful by tourist which has created a source of income by many who reside in Hawaii.

This tradition Hawaii has held and celebrated is very interesting and makes me want to go and visit. It is folklore like this that spreads to many people and causes interest because they want to go see it themselves and experience a new culture. Quinn not only visited a new location with a different environment, but also a place that has almost a completely different culture than his own and loved it. The shows, lights, and festivities put on by Hawaiians causes a surge in tourism and no longer makes them a small country but a huge center for new experiences.

 

Moldovan Gift Giving

Nationality: Moldovan
Age: 28
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 27, 2016
Primary Language: Russian
Language: English, Romanian

Main piece: So, um… we have traditions when it comes to gift giving. If someone gives you a wallet as a gift, the wallet can’t be empty. They have to put like a dollar or a coin or something. And if somebody gives you a watch, you have to give them some kind of money in return to repay the gift. The watch is not so good as a gift because it kind of signifies that the relationship is going to end, it has a time limit.

 

Background information (Why does the informant know or like this piece? Where or who did they learn it from? What does it mean to them?):\

I observed. My parents did it, I’ve seen other people do it in my country. Someone gave me a wallet once, and I noticed some money in it, so it’s even happened to me. My relatives definitely showed me. I was kind of part of it because I was the one who received the gift. It’s just a tradition that because I already know it, I follow it. Probably if I didn’t know about it, I wouldn’t be so strict. But since my family follows it, and I follow it, I have a kind of obligation to keep doing it.

 

Context (When or where would this be performed? Under what circumstance?):

This would be any time that a watch or wallet is given, like an presents. Mostly during birthdays, but sometimes during Christmas if you were giving that present to someone.

 

Personal Analysis:

The concept of time in many culture is relatively sensitive. In this telling, a watch is symbolic of time- if you give a watch, you are giving away time with the person you gift it to. But, if the other person pays for it, through whatever symbolic value placed upon the gift, time is essentially bought. With a wallet, emptiness symbolizes a concept that it may never be filled, that the receiver of the gift may never have the money to fill it. In this sense, the present is practically worthless. However, I assume that placing a few bills or coins in the wallet assures that it will be filled at some point, and attract more money in the future.

Don’t Tread on Me!

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Berkeley, CA
Performance Date: April 13, 2016
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Main piece:

So, uh… in baseball, there’s a universal superstition that in the way on to the field and off, on defense, it’s customary to step over the white line. Never on the white line! Because if you don’t, it’s believed that your team will lose.

 

Background information (Why does the informant know or like this piece? Where or who did they learn it from? What does it mean to them?):

Playing baseball. I don’t like it… I have to do it. It’s not about whether you like it or not. It’s about whether you like winning or not. It means the difference between victory and defeat.

 

Context (When or where would this be performed? Under what circumstance?):

It would be performed on the baseball field. On every baseball field, everywhere. Only during games. The superstition probably came from not wanting to mess up the line. I bet someone was like, “Man, I hope no one steps on this, I just fixed it. Uh… don’t step on this line, or you’ll lose!”

 

Personal Analysis:

This folk belief was discussed in class as well, so it was interesting to see it revisited outside the confines of a folklore class. The informant had some insightful comments about the origins of the folklore itself, and I must agree that the ritual came to be after a white line on a baseball field was scuffed one too many times. Baseball is one of the most superstitious sports, known for rituals and beliefs that seem outlandish from an outside view but are incredibly coveted by the practitioner. I was lucky the informant was comfortable enough to divulge this ritual with me- most are kept in secrecy, from fear of the act working beneficially for the wrong team.

Green Hats in Chinese Culture

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 27, 2016
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin, Spanish

Main piece:

Green hats in Chinese culture means that your spouse is cheating on you. Chinese people avoid green hats.

Background information (Why does the informant know or like this piece? Where or who did they learn it from? What does it mean to them?):

My parents, my mom and my dad. I was at the Nordstrom Rack with my mother one day and I came across a green hat, and I wanted to buy it but my mom wouldn’t let me. She said it was bad luck. I was eight or nine at the time. She was just like- it’s a bad thing. If you wear a green hat, it’s just bad, like why would you do that, you know? If I see someone wearing a green hat, I’ll think about it and laugh about it to myself. I would not buy a green hat.

 

Context (When or where would this be performed? Under what circumstance?):

I wouldn’t talk to people about it. If I see someone wearing a green hat, and I’m close enough with them and already talking to them, then I might be comfortable enought to share that little tidbit of my mind. Like I wouldn’t go up to a stranger and be like “Did you know?!?!” It’s not something I tell people, I have to be comfortable enough with them to talk about it.

Personal Analysis:

The forbiddance of certain colors has always been fascinating to me as an American- our culture has very few colors that explicitly mean one thing when coupled with an article of clothing or an item. Wedding dresses are white as a symbol of purity; we wear black at funerals to express mourning or loss. However, there is nothing as explicit as “This color and this article of clothing means someone is cheating on you.” It is interesting to see, in a culture already dominated by tradition and custom, how far these beliefs will extend into society. It also hints at the unwillingness to be direct, whether verbally or in action.

 

Annotation

Here is another version of the green hat warning, though it explicitly refers to a woman cheating on a man.

“In China ‘wearing a green hat’ (戴绿帽子 or dài lǜ mào zǐ) is an expression that Chinese use when a woman cheats on her husband or boyfriend because the phrase sounds similar to the word for cuckold. This apparently dates back to the Yuan dynasty when the relatives of prostitutes were forced to wear green hats.”

“Green Hat a No-No.” Randomwire. N.p., 03 Dec. 2009. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.