Category Archives: Customs

Customs, conventions, and traditions of a group

Camp Cheley Songs

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: student
Residence: Connecticut
Performance Date: April 20, 2015
Primary Language: English

There are 3 songs we sing each night at Camp Cheley. Every unit sings different songs and you just kind of hear everyone else and pick it up. And then…you want me to just tell you the three songs my unit sang everyday at camp?

SONG 1:

“Peace I ask of thee o River

Peace, Peace,  Peace

When I learn to live serenely

Cares will cease

from the hills I gather courage

visions of the days to be

Strength to lead and faith to follow

all are given unto thee

peace I ask of you oh river

Peace, peace, peace”

SONG 2: We call this one the Chipeta Call.

If you listen one and all

you can hear the chipeta call

you can feel the spirit rise

wheree’er you go may you never forget

that glad day

when we met

and those dear old chipeta girls

we love

so well.

 

Song 3: The last one we sing every night is Taps…You probably know it?

Day is done, gone the sun

From the lakes, from the hills, from the sky

All is well, safely rest

God is nigh

 

Context of the performance:

The informant shared these camp songs with a table of friends, among them the collector, during a Monday night dinner.

Thoughts on the performance:

It is interesting how the song “Taps” has become such a part of their camp folklore that the informant was almost a little surprised when others at the table indicated recognition.

Also it is interesting that she spoke these traditions in present tense, i.e. “the last one we sing every night”, because she is too old to return as a camper, demonstrates the cyclical nature of these camp songs and rituals.

Giving You My Strength

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: student
Residence: Illinois, USA
Performance Date: April 24, 2015
Primary Language: English

My mom started this junior or sophomore year of high school I think. I always get super nervous, you know, for like a big test or for volleyball and what she did is, she grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me violently and said, “This is me giving you my strength!”

She does it to all of us. Just the other day, I guess, she did it to Tommy, and he goes, “That’s not your strength, you’re just shaking my shoulders!” (she laughs). Oh, Tommy.

I told my roommate, Kayla, about it and she texted me it before my accounting exam. She goes, “This is me giving you my strength.”

I think my mom made it up.

I’ve offered my services to a few people here and there and they always laugh it off.

But, yeah, I think it works. It always does make me feel better, to be honest.

You know, I always thought if I ever got a tattoo, it would be of that. “This is me giving you my strength.” I’m probably not going to get a tattoo, though…I’ll definitely do it for my kids.

context of the performance: 

This description of a family custom before a big event from mother to child was described in a one-on-one conversation between the informant and the collector. We are close friends, which is why she does not explain necessarily who the different characters are in her telling. Tommy is her youngest sibling.

thoughts on the piece:

Though this is a relatively new family custom, it demonstrates a maternal selflessness and concern for her children. As the informant mentioned, what started as something specific to her, the eldest daughter, has become a customary practice. The different children’s perceptions of it is interesting, as well. The informant believes in it so much that she has tried to share it with others and new people in her life say it to her before major events, still. Her younger brother is much more skeptical.

Posadas-religious tradition

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 4/14/15
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

My informant is a student who has very deep connections to her hispanic culture. She shared with me a tradition she celebrated in her childhood during family trips to Mexico. She also elaborated on the specific divergences and alterations to this ritual.

Informant:

“I would spend a lot of months of the year in Mexico. So I was present for religious celebrations and holidays.In Mexico I would celebrate posadas where the children would play St. Joseph and St. Mary and they would sing the posadas like they do here at our church. but the St. Mary would be on top of an actual donkey.”

She explained to me that in Mexico, the Posadas is a yearly tradition in which people dress up as Joseph and Mary from the biblical narrative and go to each house in the neighborhood. They would then ask if there is a spare room in which  they can stay, recreating the events before the biblical nativity story. This ritual would last 9 days, until Christmas eve. At the culmination of the 9 days, there would be a celebration at the end.

My Analysis:

What I got out of my informant’s story was that this tradition is extremely tied to religion. In re-enacting the biblical story, they are able to become closer to their beliefs as they play the part for over a week. In addition, it is also meant to foster until and togetherness as the folk ritual involves the entire community co-operating together in the reenactment. Finally, the ritual creates anticipation, as the entire community repeats it in the build up until Christmas eve.

Quinceaneras

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 04/14/2015
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

My informant is a student with deep connections to her hispanic culture. During her teenage years she would go on several family trips to Mexico in which she participated in or witnessed folklore.  She shared with her recollection of her Quinceneara, which is a Mexican right of passage celebrating a woman’s transition into Adulthood. She explained the traditions of the Quinceneara and what it meant to her:

Informant:

“in Hispanic culture it is supposed to symbolize the transition from girl to women and I disagreed with that. I believe that at 15 you are pretty much a child and I did not feel confortable throwing a party to kiss goodbye my childhood. But yeah a quinceanera in Hispanic culture is supposed to celebrate that a girl is becoming a grown up. That was something that overwhelmed me as a 14 year old.

I did celebrate that (The Quinceneara) in Mexico. I had a trio that sang the mananitas for me then we went to mass and had a celebration in a reception. We did have live music and I had the doll that quinceaneras get and I danced the vals with whom ever wanted to dance with me.”

My analysis:

The Quincenearas are a cultural initiation ritual intended to transition a person from a girl into a woman.  As my informant told me, it signals the end of childhood, which not all persons going through the ritual may want. From talking to my informant, I gathered that at that age, she was not exactly sure about the cultural implicationsHowever, the transition to adulthood is a part of life that is unavoidable, and in this ritual the woman’s entire family and friends celebrate that together to mark this distinction.

Bunuelo-

Nationality: American
Age: 93
Occupation: retired
Residence: Montebello, California
Performance Date: 4/03/15
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish
Example of a stack of Buneulo

Example of a stack of Buneulo

This item of folklore was shared to me by my grandmother, as she recalled traditions that she used to share with her family when she was young. This particular item is a dessert she used to bake during christmas at the farm..

Informant:

“During Christmas time at the farm, we would make this special dessert, called a Bunuelo. Its a pastry made of flattened dough, with brown sugar and cinnamon on top. They would make them by hand at home, with the help of the whole family. It was only made during christmas time, in their house. This dessert was not only consumed by them, but also shared with neighbors.”

 

 

 

My analysis:

As this dessert has its origins in Mexican culture, I would say that the annual rite of creating this dish is an infusion of hispanic heritage into the holiday. There may have been obvious attempts to create bonds through this dish, both in the communal creation of the dish, and also by the sharing of the dish with neighbors. The creation of the dish by hand also possibly indicated a variation on recipes or a particular family recipe. although this may be lost to time.