Category Archives: Legends

Narratives about belief.

Descended from Pocahontas?

Nationality: American
Age: 66
Occupation: Retired
Residence: New Orleans, LA
Performance Date: 4/19/2012
Primary Language: English

The informant was always told the same story since a young age–he and his family were descended from Pocahontas, which is why he didn’t have any hair on his chest.  The informant’s mother and grandmother would recount this tale to him often, grandmother filling in details where the mother missed them.  A handful of generations back, Pocahontas and John Rolfe had married and created some distant ancestor of the informant’s family.  “We are the heirs of Pocahontas,” the informant’s grandmother would proclaim.

The story was told more when people commented on how the informant had no hair on his chest, or was triggered from any discussion of chest hair or ancestry.  The story was also told more around Thanksgiving.

The informant says he later read that Pocahontas didn’t have any children, which kind of killed the legend for him.  However, the informant says he recently discovered that Pocahontas actually did in fact have a child, reigniting the legend.  The informant is doubtful of the legend, but it’s still told in the family, but mainly as a joke.  The informant believes the story still exists simply because it was passed down from mother to mother, with each person believing the story was true.

I agree with this.  I’d also like to suggest that the story gave the family the sense of a unique identity–being descended from Pocahontas would link them directly to history, and maybe even make them “more American.”  Even if the story is just a fantasy, it’s an interesting linking of a family to history.

The Menehune

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 72
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Kaneohe
Performance Date: 4/24/2012
Primary Language: English
Language: None

This is a Hawaiian legend dealing with the Menehune or night walkers which are small spirits.

One day a family in Hawaii decided to build a wall around their garden. After it was done the parents could see their son sitting on the wall and it looked like he was having a conversation with himself. They asked him what he was doing and he said the Menehunes or night walkers were upset because they wall stopped them from being able to walk through the garden. The Menehunes were small spirits who were known to cause problems if given a reason. Not wanting to upset the spirits the family went to a Kahuna to see what they should do. The Kahuna told them to do two things first to put salt on the four corners of the wall as a defense measure and secondly to cut a small hole in the wall for the Menehunes to walk through. The word of the Kahuna proved true as once those steps were taken the family had no further trouble from the Menehunes.

This seems to be a typical ghost story with a local twist as the Menehunes are spirits particular to Hawaii and actually were only seen post interaction with the western world. This story also features the powers of a wise person in order to keep the wrath of the spirits at bay showing that people can forestall harm to themselves if taking the proper steps. This element makes people respect the supernatural while giving them the steps to protect themselves.

The Legend of Pali Lookout

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 72
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Kaneohe, Hawaii
Performance Date: 4/24/2012
Primary Language: English
Language: None

This is a Hawaiian legend dealing with the unification of the Hawaiian Islands.

There was a king on the largest island in Hawaii who wanted to conquer all the other islands so he went island by island conquering and leaving a bloody trail behind him as the other kings resisted. On Oahu the king from the large island was victorious and he drove the enemy army off a cliff at what is now known as the Pali Lookout. Because of the gruesome nature of their deaths though some of the spirits of that army continue to linger in the area. While not seen by all, there are some who claim to have seen spirits there and have felt their presence.

This story is based in truth as king Kamehameha did in fact conquer all the Hawaiian Islands. This shows that the story has been around for some time. There wasn’t much told about what the spirits do, but because it was a violent death there is a negative stigma attached. This legend is particular to the island as each islands story of being conquered would be different. This means that while the conquering of the islands unified them it still had some elements that made each island distinct with certain items of folklore like this one.

 

School Tunnels

Nationality: American
Age: 17
Occupation: Student
Residence: Chino Hills, California
Performance Date: 4/25/2012
Primary Language: English
Language: None

My informant is in high school where there is a legend that there is a series of tunnels that go under the campus that one could use to go to another side of the campus without being seen. He has heard this rumor from other students and whenever a teacher is seen somewhere unexpected it is accredited as evidence of a tunnel. This legend is often tied in with another legend stating that one of the classrooms used to be a bomb shelter until the school needed extra space and that the closet in this classroom has a trapdoor to the tunnels in it.

This legend is similar to ones that other high school have, but each has their own variation on it like this school has the association with the bomb shelter being the starting point. This is a legend that no one believes, but is still told over and over again by the different classes going through the school. It is a form of bonding between the students as they tell stories about what makes their school unique.

The Legend of Resurrection Mary

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: 4/25/2012
Primary Language: English
Language: None

This is a legend of a woman a long time ago in the early 1900s who was killed by a hit and run driver. She was buried at resurrection cemetery. Soon people would start seeing her in the street by the cemetery. People would almost hit her and sometimes even would hit her but she nothing if they went out. There was also a bar by the cemetery and people have reported meeting a girl there who asked them to drive her home. She would give them directions and they would end up outside of the cemetery and when they turned around to look back at her she was gone. My informant said this story was told often at sleep overs when trying to scare others. Despite this fact the spirit is supposed to be kind as spirits go and does not have a reputation of killing like many other ghost stories.

This legend has typical elements of a ghost story, a gruesome death and encounters with spirits, but it also defies them by not involving some sort of revenge or returning to attack others twist on it. It also is tied to the area as it references a specific graveyard which makes it more real for those in the area.