Category Archives: Narrative

The Legend of the Mothman

Nationality: American
Primary Language: English
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 03/31/2024

Text:

“There is a flying creature named “Mothman,” who shows up right before a disaster of some sort. After people saw him for the first time, a bridge collapsed. People also saw him right before an earthquake, plus other natural disasters like a tsunami and avalanche.

Context:

The informant heard the legend of the “Mothman” when he was on a camping trip with his cousins in middle school. While they were camping near his home, within the state he lived in, Mothman was claimed to be a national figure. The informant does not necessarily believe in it, and thinks that people are willing to say/support a lot in the wake of large disasters or trauma. He does however admit to recounting the story to his younger cousins when they had a sleepover a few years later.

Analysis:

The notion of a figure representing bad luck or disaster is similar to an albatross, and holds notoriety and recount-ability because are often willing to believe things tied to disasters. Additionally, it can spread as people “think they see something” and begin to worry and panic about an impending disaster. While Mothman is not tied to an explicit culture, the legend can be widely distilled as a form of “campfire story,” or stories that are told to large audiences. I don’t believe that these stories are told out of true “fear” or belief, but rather told as a way to scare younger/unaware audiences. However, the idea holds enough plausibility since it cannot be easily disproven.

The Myth of Turtle Island

Nationality: American
Primary Language: English
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 03/31/2024

Text:

“Long ago, like before the continents looked like they do now, the old world began to flood. A bunch of animals, including a muskrat, turtle, and a man named Nanapush all ended up on a raft together. Nanapush tried to get them to swim under water to get soil so they could build a new world, but no one could reach the bottom until the muskrat did. Nanapush took the soil from the muskrat’s paws, and placed it on the back of the turtle. The soil grew wider and wider, and the animals from the raft brought plants and things to Nanapush. He would breathe life into them, and the soil on the back of the turtle eventually grew into Turtle Island, or what we know as North America today. Everything is connected and living, like the land and all animals and humans.”

Context:

The informant heard an Indigenous origin story from the Lenape tripe from her family friends when she was in her early teens. The story of Turtle Island is one that is shared by numerous Indigenous groups, however has distinct features dependent on the tribe. In addition to explaining the existence of the land we live on, the story is also retold as a way to remind people of the interconnectedness of people, and the duty people hold to the land and environment. While the Informant does not necessarily believe in the story as it conflicts with her religion, she thinks that it holds truth as it pertains to the responsibility humans hold to the environment, especially as it comes to environmental degradation.

Analysis:

I always think Indigenous stories about the world are interesting, because I think they are often so different from the stories told within Abrahemic religions that are more widely circulated. Ultimately, duty to the land and an understanding of relationally is common within Indigenous cultures, and given that it is an origin story, I don’t think it can be proven true or false, it simply is. As a creation story woven into the belief systems of certain Indigenous tribes, it is clear that it would heavily circulate as a core part of Indigenous beliefs. Not only would Turtle Island inform other Indigenous beliefs and traditions, but it serves to explain how this world came to be. It is also interesting as it holds similarities to the Christian/Jewish/Muslim story of Noah’s Ark and the idea of a “holy flood.” It is hard to say whether or not one story informed the other, but I think that the idea of Turtle Island ought to be a powerful reminder of the sanctity of land.

The Legend of the Skinwalker

Nationality: American
Primary Language: English
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 03/31/2024

Text:

“If it is late at night and you hear coyotes howling in a residential area, close your window and do not look outside because it is a skin walker who waits to make eye contact before it strikes.”

Context:

The informant, who grew up in a relatively suburban city, recalls hearing this legend from her grandmother when she was a child (about seven years old). Her grandmother, who was rather spiritual, learned it from her mother, and passed the story down. At first it was told as a way to get the informant to close her eyes and go to bed, however, continues to be told today. The informant strongly believes in the story, and maintains that whenever she hears a coyote howl, she feels eyes on her and knows that it is more than simply an animal.

Analysis:

The notion of skin walkers is not isolated to just the part of the United States the informant is from, but is rather widespread. The idea of a “skinwalker” has both been repeated throughout folklore, but has also been a feature of several popular movies. Several Indigenous groups in the United States speak about skinwalkers as well, contributing to their notoriety. This displays a value of cultures in enshrining “villainous” figures (similar to the boogeyman). The value of a figure to warn against also makes these figures common as parents are able to use them to instill lessons upon young children (ie. go to bed when you’re supposed to), however also are lessons in safety as the “truth value” of the legend holds plausibility. While I don’t necessarily believe in the notion of a skinwalker, it is a story I have heard before. Ultimately I think that it is just too unverifiable to holds explicit truth, although I think it is definitely possible. I do think that someone would have caught a skinwalker if they were real (although many argue they would remain in their chosen form).

Churches and Ghosts

Nationality: Chinese/Vietnamese
Primary Language: English
Other language(s): Mandarin, Cheo Chow (Chinese Dialect)
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: LA, California
Performance Date: 3/16/2024

Context:

My informant, AC, is a friend of mine from my freshman year at USC from Los Angeles, California. I talked with her one day about crazy stories that any of us might have from our childhoods after talking about injuries and so on. After the injury stories I remembered a crazy ghost story of mine and told her about it. She then offered to reciprocate and told me about one of her ghost stories. It was pretty crazy and also interestingly not tied to her own culture, past, or beliefs. Here is what she said:

Text:

“So I had this catholic friend who believed in all kinds of spirits and stuff from his catholic school, and while with him and a few other friends, most of whom believed in ghosts and spiritual stuff except me and another friend, because we were skeptics, experience the craziest and scariest thing we’ve dealt with in our lives. I’m a skeptic yes but in my culture, we don’t really have spooky scary ghosts, we have native spirits and more conceptual stuff so I didn’t think any of my friend’s’ ghost ideals were actually real. But all that skepticism kinda went away when my catholic friend jokingly asked us if we wanted to explore the church basement of his catholic school as a way to make us believe ghosts were real, as he’d claimed before that he’s seen and experienced ghost activity around that building. All of us were bored, (we were children at this point, maybe around 12 or 13), so we said yes and we went up there midday to check out this basement and well, stuff went down. We all went in, the basement was extremely dark, not even a phone flashlight, which we were using, could shine far enough to see ahead of us, only slightly though, plus, the basement was huge, like a large cellar, a sort of maze. As soon as we got in, the door slammed behind us and one of my friends sprinted over to open it and it seemingly locked itself shut. We then started hearing footsteps in the distant darkness coming from far away but seemingly getting closer. We all start to freak out, huddling next to the door, most of us trying to open it as fast as we can to escape but to no avail. Then suddenly we hear whispering noises and faint wind blowing all around us which is strange because there was and was no breeze in or outside previously. As this is happening, one of my skeptical friends said they saw something, like a silhouette in the distance and it’s they said that it was just standing there in the darkness staring at us. At this point I was probably crying out of fear and everyone was freaking out equally, which just made everything worse, until finally the door cracked open, seemingly without any of us touching it, and we all sprinted and fell out of the basement and onto the grass outside. The moment we got outside, the door slammed shut once again and we all ran home and never really spoke of that moment again.”

Analysis:

Wow, I mean, personally I’ve experienced some interesting seemingly ghostly tales but this one is crazy to explore and hear. First off, the connection between catholic churches and ghost hauntings goes way back, I mean seriously. The beliefs and folklore surrounding ghost hauntings in Catholic churches can be traced back to centuries ago, with stories and legends often rooted in historical events and cultural traditions dating back to medieval times and earlier. In my own research of this ideal, apparently, the connection between Catholic churches and ghost hauntings is often rooted in cultural beliefs, historical significance, and popular folklore rather than official Catholic doctrine. Many Catholic churches have a long history and rich cultural heritage, making them popular settings for ghost stories and legends. The presence of burial grounds or crypts within or near some churches, along with the religious symbols and rituals associated with Catholicism, can contribute to perceptions of spiritual or supernatural activity. Cultural beliefs about spirits and ghosts, as well as popular media portrayals of haunted locations, further shape public perceptions of ghost hauntings in Catholic churches. However, it’s important to note that Catholic doctrine does not specifically address ghost hauntings, and individual interpretations of such phenomena are influenced by personal experiences and cultural influences rather than official teachings of the Church. Now that this info is out of the way, I personally found this story and the acute history of ghosts and catholic churches to be extremely fascinating. I mean who really knows if this is real, but AC hinting at the fact that she doesn’t believe in ghosts and experiencing what seems to be a ghost encounter in a culture and religion that she doesn’t even follow is what interests me so much. The idea that ghosts aren’t really tied to a specific culture, but all cultures, where each one has their own interpretation of ghosts, and even so, the idea of hauntings, skepticism about said hauntings, sightings, and even experiences, all still managing to have no ground or real meaning when faced with unexplainable phenomenon and encounters with something mind blowing or scary and spooky like with AC’s story, is so awesome. It seems that no matter your belief, ghosts will always find some way of haunting your mind.

La Llorona – Tale/Legend

Text: La Llorona – Tale/ Legend

Context: The informant, JR, is of Mexican descent and shares his relation with the cautionary tale of “La Llorona” and how they heard and interpreted the tale.

Interview: The first tale I can remember learning about is the folklore tale/ Legend of La Llorona. La Llorona is a Mexican folklore tale/ Legend that many parents tell their children about and can be compared to bigfoot spoken about here in the United States. Growing up in a Hispanic household me and my siblings were told stories about La Llorona and learned about the folklore. The tale goes something like a woman named Maria who lived in Mexico drowned her children after learning of her husband’s infidelity and soon after drowned herself because of the guilt of drowning her children. It’s said that in Mexico she roams around at night yelling “mis hijos” (my sons) searching for her children. This story is told to children to fearmonger them into not staying out late at night because if they do La Llorona would come to kidnap them. Due to the story being told over and over, there are now many different versions of it but to me, the story isn’t what matters but rather the intent behind telling it to your children. While I don’t remember too well why my parents decided to tell us the story I can only guess that it was to keep us from going out at night, which might have worked since it took me a long time to become accustomed to the nighttime outside. The way I see it it’s just another popular folklore that has stuck around for a long time due to many generations still speaking about that has become immortalized through film and other media.

Analysis: From the interview, I can tell that despite the informant, JR, claiming they have a blurry memory of cautionary tale/ legend, they ultimately were affected by the tale/legend growing up as it impacted their ability to stay outside during the night time due to the fear instilled from the story. As for the significance, other than being scared of being outside in the dark, I can tell that the story of La Llorona also ties in with cultural fears and supernatural beliefs from their cultural descent. Because the tale/legend is told to many children of Hispanic descent, the story has likely been passed down from generation to generation, supporting the idea that it is a reminder of the thin veil between the living and the dead and the idea of guilt, grief, and the pain of losing loved ones in Latin American cultures. The interview connects deeply with Hispanic culture and the ideas of obeying elders and keeping cultural tales/ legends alive by passing them down.