Category Archives: Legends

Narratives about belief.

The Husch Path Ghost(s)

Nationality: American (1/16th Lakota, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe)
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Denver, Colorado
Performance Date: April 22, 2012
Primary Language: English

“The electricity at Idyllwild Arts Aacademy is infamously bad. So whenever you walk under this one light on the Husch path, the light goes out for ten seconds. If you keep walking, the light will flicker back on. But if you stay under it, the legend is that a headless Native American with a tomahac will kill you as revenge for having taken his land. We were really close to a burial ground, so I think that was why people were freaked out about that. Some people, instead of the Native American, say it is the spirit of a girl who hung herself along the path. There were a lot of attempted suicides around campus, which is probably what gave the inspiration for that. There were a lot of variations of those two.”

 

What I find particularly interesting about this is that there are two equally prevalent versions of the legend which every student at Idyllwild Arts Academy knows. It is not that two different versions exist and are told among two different groups of students. Rather, the students can pick which version they believe based on which is more exciting or scary to them personally. My informant, who is part Native American, finds the headless Native American version of the tale more personal and therefore scarier; that is the version of the tale that she believes. That version speaks to an existing guilt over America having taken Native American land. Being so close to the burial ground likely reminds the students frequently of this fact. The legend does not seem to make a judgement on the Native American being in the wrong for killing students who stay in the dark. Though students most likely do not feel like they deserve to be murdered for standing under a broken light, there is no part of the legend that actually attempts to fault the Native American or make him out to be a villain. Therefore, the legend, in some way, lets the students release their guilt for being on his land by allowing him to murder them without complaint. The other version of the tale speaks to the frequency of suicide attempts on the campus. This is likely a way for students to come to terms with those attempts. Believing that the girl comes back has the dual purpose of moralizing (as the girl comes back with violent intents, she is clearly not pleased with her choice of suicide, so students should not kill themselves) and comforting (though dead, she is not gone and can still visit).

Love Potion

Nationality: American
Age: 70s
Residence: NC
Performance Date: 2001
Primary Language: English

On the plantations of North Carolina, slaves were used to do the hard labor in the fields and tend to the crops.  According to my informant, my friend’s grandfather, they were treated poorly and lived very hard lives.  He told us the tale of a particular slave that got revenge on his master.  As my informant relayed the story, the master killed the slave’s wife.  The husband, knowing he couldn’t seek outright revenge on his master, decided to go to a conjure woman who cooked up a spell for him.  The spell was put on the grapevine so that when the master drank the wine, he became very ill.

The master suffered greatly and eventually died from the illness.  Unlike Tom Dooley, for example, the slave was patient and got his vengeance.  He knew that he couldn’t be blamed for his master taking ill, but if he killed his master, he would be hunted and hung for the murder.  This piece of folklore goes hand in hand with the old saying, “revenge is a dish best served cold.”  There is no historical reference or facts to bolster this story, but it could have been created to serve as a tale of justice for the slaves–a tale they told for hope or motivation to continue enduring such hardships.

Pirate Bay

Nationality: American
Age: 70s
Residence: NC
Performance Date: 2000
Primary Language: English

The informant for this piece of folklore was my friend’s grandfather.  As a boy, he would tell me stories and I would listen intently as they were like adventures I could later relive as I played with my friends in the backyard.  One story I remember in particular was how a North Carolina beach came to be called Nag’s Head.  My friend’s grandfather would go into great detail about how pirates would tie a lantern to a horse’s neck and walk it up and down the beach.  Boats and ships out at sea would think there was a harbor there because of the light.  Ships would then try to dock, only to find that it was a trick and the pirates would rob them clean.

When I asked my informant about the story, he said that the town was named Nag’s Head because “Nag” was a name for a horse.  It could also be that wild horses still roam the beaches of the Outer Banks of North Carolina so they were probably there when the town was founded as well.  My informant also said that the term “Nag” could have to do with how the pirates tricked the people at sea to come to them and then they snagged their goods and gold.  As I child, I appreciated the fun story and enjoyed hearing it over and over again.  As an adult, I’m intrigued in the piece of local history and folklore.

Be Careful How You Garden

Nationality: American
Age: 70s
Residence: NC
Performance Date: 2000
Primary Language: English

My informant for this story was my friend’s grandfather.  My friend’s grandfather grew up in a rural area where they did a lot of farming.  He continued to have a large garden into her later years and always helped my mother plant and tend to ours every year.  My friend’s grandfather always insisted that you could not plant potatoes and okra together.  Again, as with most pieces of folklore, their importance and weight is from the traditions and history that they represent rather than a scientific reasoning to explain their existence.

Later in my life, I heard that there actually may be a reason for not planting potatoes and okra near each other.  The reason had something to do with  how legumes give off nitrogen in the ground and other plants take up.  This could possibly result in too much nitrogen for either the potatoes or the okra.   I don’t recall the details of the explanation, but my mother still doesn’t plant potatoes and okra next to each other.  I think it is a way she pays homage to her father and grandfather.

 

Tom Dooley

Nationality: American
Age: 53
Residence: NC
Performance Date: 2002
Primary Language: English

My informant for this folklore is my friend’s mother.  She grew up in North Carolina and always heard the unfortunate story of Tom Dooley and she passed it down to us as we grew up.  Tom Dooley grew up in the mountains of Wilkesboro, North Carolina.  Tom was in love with his girlfriend and found out that she was cheating on him.  Tom devolved into a jealous rage and killed his girlfriend.  Tom was eventually caught and they hung him for the murder he committed.  Tom’s life was later described in the song, “Hang Your Head Tom Dooley.”

This piece of folklore doesn’t necessarily have to do with tradition, as it is not encouraged to kill someone in a jealous rage.  However, as my informant relayed, the moral of this piece of folklore is important.  It is told to children, generation after generation, so that they remember to not “lose their heads” like Tom Dooley.  I remember hearing this story as a child and wondering why on earth my friend’s mother would remember, much less retell this tale.  As I got older and recalled her telling us this tale, I remember that it served as a type of warning or a bit of advice to always remain calm and don’t overreact.  This story had more of an impact because it occurred fairly close to where I grew up.  The proximity of this tale had a lot to do with how often it was retold and how it is still passed down through generations.  If Tom Dooley had lived somewhere far off, it probably wouldn’t have been as important to North Carolinians.