Category Archives: Customs

Customs, conventions, and traditions of a group

Tradition – Botswana

Nationality: Motswana
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 26, 2008
Primary Language: English

So at traditional weddings we have to kill an entire cow. Dowry is dealt with in number of cows. For example, if two people are getting married, the man pays a certain number of cows for the bride. And at funerals it’s more like a celebration. We also kill a number of cows for funerals. The president of Botswana just retired. So at every village, city, or town that he went to they gave him a cow from each place.

Ruchira said that all of these traditions show the importance of cows in the culture of Botswana. According to Ruchira, other than diamonds, cows are the second biggest part of their economy. Historically, cows are also a really important part of life because they were how people sustained life. They did this through the trading of cows. They traded them as a commodity instead of using money. It has been a recent development for the people to sell cows to meat companies for money, and cows are very valuable. Ruchira roughly estimates that cows can reach up to two thousand dollars in value.

In Botswana, cows have remained a symbol of wealth through time. The more cows an individual owns, the wealthier he or she is considered to be. People of the villages know who is wealthy by word of mouth and by just noticing the number of cows that a person owns. In the past, Botswana was mostly rural, and the people viewed cows as investments in the sense that they can provide milk, meat, and labor power. The people invested in cows rather than deposit money at the bank. Ruchira feels that this is logical and that cows are more beneficial than money in the bank. He said that nowadays people in Botswana keep cows mainly to maintain tradition, and people still maintain the traditional view that cows and diamonds equate to wealth.

Besides a difference in economy, the concept of dowry is also different between Motswana and American culture. According to Ruchira’s account, the groom pays the dowry in Botswana; while in America, the dowry is traditionally provided by the family of the bride. Also, Botswana’s preservation of the tradition of keeping cows as a sign of wealth ties into the idea of maintaining an identity. Although the people of Botswana actually sustained life with the ownership of cows in the past, people continue to carry out the tradition during modern times to preserve this part of their identity.

Ritual – Peru

Nationality: Peruvian
Age: 55
Occupation: Laboratory Technician
Residence: Torrance, CA
Performance Date: March 24, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“Todos los anos en Febrero la pareja que habia sido escojida para poner el arbol de carnaval invitaba a sus amigos y familia a celebrar en un fin de semana.

En la manana plantaban el arbol (cherry tree) en un parque y lo decoraban con pequenos regalos y globos, despues regresaban a la casa y tenian un almuerzo muy rico incluyendo postres y frutas. En la tarde todos iban al parque a celebrar EL CORTE DEL ARBOL con musica y bailes al rededor del arbol, despues de cada baile con un hacha (axe) cortaban el arbol hasta que se caiga, la pareja que hacia caer el arbol era designada para el proximo ano.”

“Every year, in February, the couple who was designated/ chosen to do the tree of carnival invited their friends and family to celebrate in a weekend.  In the morning, the men cut and planted a cherry tree in a park. The men are responsible for getting the tree, while the women cooked. The tree was decorated with small gifts and presents. After going to the house for a very nice lunch including desserts and fruits, they returned in the afternoon to the park to celebrate THE CUT OF THE TREE with music and dancing.  While participants dance around it, they take a chop at it with an axe or machete. The dance continues until the tree is chopped down and the gifts are shared. The couple that brings the tree down is in charge of organizing the Yunza gifts and feast for the following year.”

Analysis:

Norma Winston was born in Huaraz, Peru, a small town on the foothills of the Andy Mountain Range. She attended Santa Rosa de Viterbo Catholic school through high school and graduated from the University of Lima Peru with a Bachelor in Science in medical lab technology.

Norma had been watching this ritual occur since she was a young girl. It occurred throughout the town with different groups of people participating in different areas during the month of February. Usually groups consisted of close family, friends, and neighbors. Although the Carnival was celebrated differently throughout the different areas/regions of Peru, everyone celebrated the Yunza the same way.

I find it interesting that the Yunza unifies the country during this time preceding Lent. Although the city of Hauraz celebrates el celebracion de festival with a water fight, a city far away might do a parade or have a village gathering for a feast. This folklore tradition of cutting down a cherry tree provides a united front for Peru.

In way it also reminds me of a piñata, but for adults. The adults each get one swing each time around to try to chop the tree down. When the tree falls, the presents hanging on the tree fall to the ground. Then there is a mad scramble of people of all ages to get a present. This represents a manner in which adults can be young again.

Food Tradition

Nationality: Italian-American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 13, 2008
Primary Language: English

“Every New Years day, my dad always makes sure that everyone in the family and all of our family friends have lentils at some point in the day. He says that it will bring wealth and good luck in the year to come.”

Analysis:

Joey Orton was born on July 12 1989. His father is an entrepreneur and his mother works as his right-hand woman. He is Jewish, but he only practices on major holidays. He is currently a student at the University of Southern California.

Joey has been participating in this traditional New Years dinner ever since he was big enough to eat lentils. He feels guilty if he ever misses a year and does not get to eat the lentils. The lentils are served in the form of lentil soup. Either his father or mother makes the dish. He is uncertain about how long it takes to make or if any technique is needed to make the soup. Joey’s family follows this tradition because they believe the round lentils represent coins. Therefore, eating the lentils is like gaining wealth for the next year.

New Years is a time when people celebrate the coming year. There are many different traditions people partake in during this period that deal with obtaining money for the year to come. Italians, in particularly, are known for beginning the new year, il capodanno, with  La Festa di San Silvestro, celebrated on December 31. As with most Italian festivals, food plays a key role. The main attraction of the dinner is lentils, as it represents money and good fortune for the coming year. Traditionally in Italy the meal is served with a cotechino, a large spiced sausage, or a zampone, stuffed pig’s trotter that symbolizes the richness of life in the coming year.  It is interesting Joey’s family just eats a bowl of soup and no pork. It may be that his family is more integrated into the American way of life. Eating a bowl of green lentils appears to parallel the American attitudes about the accumulation of wealth, rather than in Italy where the having an additional food to share the wealth with. The combinations of the food indicate richness in more than just wealth, but rather in life. This demonstrates the effects of living in a forward-thinking, capitalistic country.

Moreover, I agree with Joey that the lentils represent coins. Plus, they are green. In the American South, black eye peas are the counterpart of the lentils and pig is only eaten if the previous year had been unlucky. It is remarkable how two different cultures have the same notions about specific foods.

Tradition – Peru

Nationality: Peruvian
Age: 55
Occupation: Laboratory Technician
Residence: Torrance, CA
Performance Date: MArch 24, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“En todas las casas donde habian ninos, el 24 de Diciembre en la noche antes de que se vayan a dormir ponian sus zapatos en la ventana o en el balcon para que PAPA NOEL les deje sus regalos. Al dia siguiente los ninos se levantaban muy temprano y iban muy contentos a abrir y ver sus regalos y comenzar el DIA DE NAVIDAD jugando con todos sus juguetes nuevos.”

“In all the houses where they were kids, the 24 of December at night before they are going to sleep, they put their shoes in the window or the balcony so that POPE NOEL will leave gifts on top of them. The following day the kids would rise very early, excited to open their gifts and to begin the DAY of CHRISTMAS by playing with all their new toys.”

Analysis:

Norma never had a Christmas tree growing up. In fact, the first Christmas tree she purchased was years after she came to America. It was during her first year of her marriage (to an American) that she put presents under a Christmas tree. She quickly reminded me that there were never any trees in Peru because December was summer. No Christmas trees grew in summer. This is the reason they put their shoes out. However, this ritual is limited to children ages five years and below since “they’re the really innocent ones and have not discovered that there is no Santa.” Children older five get their presents with the adults after midnight on Christmas Eve.

This is one of many variation of present giving around this time. In Greece, people look under their beds for presents. Yet, one aspect they all share, even with the American culture, is that the young children are always eager to wake up early and play with their new toys.

Tradition – Latvian

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Pittsburg, PA
Performance Date: April 18, 2008
Primary Language: English

Original script/version:

“On the first day of spring, it’s tradition to give pussy willows to people, so when my parents came to visit me, they gave me a vase-full.

My grandmother showed me this tradition.  She was born and raised in Latvia, had her first daughter there, and my dad was actually born in Germany during WWII because his father was off fighting in the war and my grandmother had to pack up everything she could carry and take her daughter and start walking- all while pregnant with my father.  There is a very large Latvian community in Willimantic, CT which is the town next to the one I grew up in.  A lot of Latvian traditions were part of my childhood, but bringing Pussywillows for Spring was a big one.  It’s fun because they are these branches with these soft little buds on them- they feel like a cat.  As to what it means, I think it’s simply an offering of some sort, like poinsettas at Christmas or Lillies at Easter.”

I agree with Kate in her suggestion that the giving of these pussy willows is some sort of an offering. It could possibly have to do with trying to bring prosperity and good fortune in the spring. A pussy willow is not the most beautiful of flowers, its possible that it was an abundant flower in the region of Switzerland where the tradition originated.