Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

Cherokee Death Rituals

Nationality: American
Age: 83
Occupation: Retired Nurses
Residence: Tulsa, OK
Performance Date: March 16th, 2016
Primary Language: English

The informant is my grandmother, a Cherokee woman born in 1932. She worked as a nurse for her entire career, though has been retired for some time.

In this piece, my grandmother talks to me about Cherokee death rituals, and what our family does when someone passes away.

M: There’s this ritual we Cherokees do when someone passes away. We did it when your grandpa passed away, and we did it for everyone since then.

Me: Okay, what is it?

M: We usually only do it with the boys in the family. When one of the men in the family die, we go and prepare the hole where they will be buried, but many times they won’t be buried for a day or two. So, all the older boys in the family, like your cousin Eric and Pat, go out and camp next to the grave to protect it from bad spirits.

Me: Oh, really?

M: Yes. Pat and Eric and Randy and them went out during that winter storm a few years back to protect your grandpa’s grave.

Me: So do they do this at every grave?

M: Mostly just those who are buried at the family cemetery.

Me: Who else is buried there?

M: My dad, his brother. My brothers. Your grandpa is the only Barber buried there.

Me: What does the rest of the family do while they’re out there camping.

M: Usually the night before the funeral everybody comes to someone’s house, like my sister’s for your grandpa’s funeral, and we sing songs.

Me: Any kind of specific songs?

M: Some old Indian songs. Songs from a long time ago.

Me: That’s really nice. It’s a sad thing, but it’s nice.

M: Yeah. I think your grandpa would have really loved his.

This ritual features a lot of different actions taken place by various members of the family. I think the reason the men are the ones who sit by the grave site comes from old traditions where men were the protectors. This was there responsibility, and in a way their honor, to protect the open grave so that their relative could have a peaceful rest, undisturbed by evil spirits. It kind of gives me “it was the least I could do” vibe. I also think singing songs is a way for the family to remember their loved one and what they liked. Songs are very important in people’s lives, and can reveal certain things about them: what’s said in the lyrics, what kind of song it is. It makes use feel connected in a way to hear the songs a deceased relative loved, because we know they would be listening to the song too if they could.

Rain on Wedding Day

Nationality: American
Age: 51
Occupation: Social Worker
Residence: Tulsa, OK
Performance Date: March 16th, 2016
Primary Language: English

The informant for this piece is my aunt, who worked for the Cherokee Government for several years and is still heavily involved in the organization. She grew up in Tulsa, OK, but has also lived extensively in Tahlequah, OK.

In this piece, my aunt talks about the folk belief that if it rains on your wedding day, you will have good luck in your marriage.

AJ: Have you ever heard it when we say “it’s good luck to have rain on your wedding day”?

Me: Yeah. I remember at Ashley’s wedding I heard you say that.

AJ: I don’t really remember where I heard it. I always thought it was a Cherokee saying, but I’ve heard others say it too. It’s not that hard to figure out. If it rains on your wedding day, you will have good luck in your marriage.

Me: Where did you first hear it?

AJ: I think I was really young, and one of my cousins was getting married, maybe June or Kelly, and it was raining. My mom went up and told her that it was good luck for it to rain, and that it rained on her’s and Pa’s wedding day, and they were married for over fifty years.

Me: So what about it do you like?

AJ: I think it’s a nice thing to say. Rain is usually seen as something bad, and a bride’s wedding day is the most important and happiest day of her life, and she doesn’t want to think that rain is going to ruin it. So I think it probably started when somebody said that to calm their daughter on her wedding day.

Me: Do you think it holds any value?

AJ: Well, it didn’t rain on any of my three wedding days, so I guess it has some value there! [laughs] But, it didn’t rain on your mom and dad’s wedding day.

Me: Jury’s still out on that one.

AJ: [laughs] Thirty something years of marriage and the jury’s still out.

Me: You can never be too certain.

Rain on your wedding day is something I’ve actually thought about a lot. I think my aunt is right when she says that it was probably just something told to calm a nervous bride. In life, I feel like we always see rain as something bad, even though rain is for the most part really beneficial to the Earth: it causes growth. The idea that rain on your wedding day is good luck I really like, because it’s taking something we usually see as bad and making it something else entirely. Though, now I’m worried it’s not going to rain on my wedding day, but then again, as my aunt pointed out, it did not rain on my parent’s wedding day and they’ve been married thirty plus years. There’s nothing that truly connects rain to a happy marriage, but I guess it’s still wishful thinking.

A Fishy Christmas

Nationality: Italian
Age: 47
Occupation: Front Desk Manager
Residence: Milford, PA
Performance Date: 03.15.2016
Primary Language: English

Original Script: “Okay…so…you know how traditional Americans have ham or even turkey for Christmas? My family does Fish. We get a ton of it. Shell fish, Salmon, trout, everything….We have always done it that way. The first time your mother, Cheryl, came over for Christmas…she thought we were nuts! But after she had the smoked salmon…damn…your mother’s face was like, ‘oh I need to get more of this.’ But, I do understand why some people think it is strange….when I went to school and we all talked about what we did over the holiday’s, I always talked about the fish dinner we had, and kids thought it was strange…but not to my family. Everyone helps out…I make the shrimp cocktail, my sister makes the smoked salmon, my mother cooks the lobster and crab…my brother brings some trout…hell…even your mother participates and she brings the shrimp scampi…that stuff is good. Oh…and we can’t for get the good ol’ wine. I drank that stuff when I was a kid every Christmas…and I will drink it to the day I die..haha.”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: Chuck Lanzer grew up in up-state New York and currently resides in the tri-state of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York with his wife, Cheryl Lanzer. Chuck grew up in a predominantly Italian Catholic home. Every year, the family—about 20 people or so—gets together to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. Chuck says that this tradition has continued throughout his family for generations, even his great-great grandmother had participated in it. It is something he has always grown up with, and the wine, he presumes, is from his Italian heritage. The family even has a wine cellar on their ground floor.

Context of the Performance: Christmas Dinner with the Lanzer family in Upstate New York (Newburgh, New York).

Thoughts about the piece: After interviewing Charles Lanzer II, I found this tradition to be quiet interesting and did some extended research on the topic. I had question Chuck’s mother, Carol Ann, about the tradition. She had told me that Chuck’s father’s, Charles Lanzer’s, family had come from a town in Italy that was famous for its fish. This town was called “Genoa.” (For more information about Genoa, see an article by Peter Davison published in the 1999 issue of the The Atlantic Monthly titled “Italy’s Greatest Seaport).1

Here, fish was something often eaten in by the locals, after all it was, and is, one of the most notable seaports in Italy. Furthermore, Carol Ann mentioned that after immigrating to upstate New York, the family had missed their Italian town and wanted to keep some of their heritage with them. After reading this, it makes sense that Chuck’s family use fish during Christmas. It is something that holds ties to their past—to their heritage. In this case, it is particularly interesting that heritage and tradition collide. Wanting to instill their Italian heritage in their new, American life, the family had used a tradition to do it—a mode of activity to reflect their past of their ancestors in which they utilize fish. Additionally, the family also drinks wine, in which Chuck had mentioned that he drank it when he was a child. Even though not common in the Unites States—even having a law that a person may not drink until they are twenty-one—Chuck’s family still gave the children wine, because that was a common Italian tradition to do.

It is also interesting to note that the family has a kinship system in which my mother, Cheryl Lanzer, cooks in order to gain entry into the family; in order to gain acceptance from the group, Cheryl performs a ritual in making Shrimp Scampi. It is an initiation in order to gain access and recognition from the group as one of their own. This tradition is also related to aesthetics of folklore; the reason why Chuck and his family use fish in their Christmas dinner is related to their identity as Italian folk. Furthermore, while Cheryl can never be invited into their heritage, she is invited into their tradition.

Additionally, while Chuck and his family do have an emic view of why they use fish during Christmas dinner compared to those of an etic view (like Chuck’s old classmates), it is a way Chuck and his family create a link to the past and their original heritage. While Chuck and his siblings might not of necessarily known why they used fish for Christmas dinner instead of the traditional ham, they did participate in the tradition every year, which is a prominent trait of folkloric traditions. In which Chuck, his siblings, even his father and grandparents, are not necessarily from Genoa, Italy, but do perform traditions that represent their past heritage from Genoa, Italy.

1 Davison, Peter. “Italy’s Greatest Seaport.” The Atlantic 1st ser. 284.1999 (1999): 32-37. Rpt. in The Atlantic Monthly. Vol. 284. N.p.: n.p., 1999. 32-37. Ser. 1. The Atlantic. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.

Rangerette Big-Sis/Little-Sis Reveal

Nationality: Lebanese-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Plano, texas
Performance Date: March 13, 2016
Primary Language: English
Language: n/a

“So big sis/little sis reveal was a really exciting time during rangerettes because that is when you got like a special buddy who was a junior or a senior um if you were like an incoming freshman or a brand new sophomore and basically your big sis is what we called it and that is just someone who you can text with questions, someone who is a mentor, they teach you about rangerettes, they just help you out, and the reveal is really exciting because the freshmen would line up facing the juniors and a couple seniors who made us a hat box because we wore cowgirl hats on the field when we performed and they would like I guess each senior one by one would step up and walk down the line of freshmen and slow down to trick you and stop at the girl who was their little sis and it was very fun.”

 

Informant: The informant is a nineteen-year-old college freshman from Dallas, Texas. While in high school, she was a member of the Jesuit Rangerettes Dance and Drill Team. She attended the all-girls Catholic high-school, Ursuline Academy of Dallas, the sister school of Jesuit Dallas (an all-boys Catholic school). She began dancing when she was three, performing ballet, jazz, and lyrical styles of dance, which eventually led her to the high-school drill team. She currently attends Oklahoma State University.

 

Analysis:

I believe that this tradition is significant because it reveals the emphasis of sisterhood on a drill team. The Rangerettes Dance and Drill Team is an extracurricular activity unique to Texas and a few other southern states. The team performs at the half-time of football games on Friday nights, as well as at basketball, soccer, and rugby games. They wear leotards with fringe skirts, fringe and sequin overlays, gauntlets, a belt, white cowgirl boots, and sequined cow-boy hats. The season does not end with football season; rather, the team continues to perform at Jesuit events and participates in two dance competitions in the spring. Because this team is a year-long commitment, there are many extenuating traditions that serve to unify and “bond” the members of the team, in order to foster a spirit of sisterhood.

Because sisterhood is so essential to a team that is committed to working very hard year-round, the Big-Sis/Little-Sis tradition is especially important. I think the relationship between a big sister and a little sister is one of learning, motivating, and solidarity. Knowing that you have a “big-sis” on the team could give a new member the confidence that they need to effectively participate on the team. They have someone they can go to for advice and help if they ever have any questions. Their big-sis should be an approachable member of the team, and this practice also is a strategic way to foster relationships between older (and therefore more stand-offish) members of the team, and younger members of the team.

I think the practice of lining up the freshmen to surprise them with their big-sis emphasizes the importance of this tradition, as well as the nervousness that surrounds the situation. As new members trying to find a place on the team, as well as make new friends, the big-sis that they are assigned to could make a very significant impact upon how they feel as a member of the team. The drill team seems to place great emphasis on team bonding, so this is an important time. This nervousness and apprehension about who their big-sis is almost being mocked by the big sisters as they walk up and down the line trying to “trick” the new members about who their big–sis is.

In addition, the gift of the hatbox is especially significant in this tradition. Because the drill team members wear sequined cowgirl hats, which some consider the most important part of the uniform, your hatbox is going to be an essential component during one’s time on the drill team. To have it decorated specifically for a new member is especially noteworthy because it requires the big-sis to attempt to discover the personality of her little-sis so that she might make a hatbox that suits her, and it gives the little-sis a keepsake and symbol of her time on Rangerettes. These boxes are usually only big enough to fit the hat, but they are carried everywhere with the team. They serve both as protection for the hat, as well as decoration as they hold the symbolism of what it is to be a member of the drill team.

Rangerette White Elephant

Nationality: Lebanese-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Plano, Texas
Performance Date: March 13, 2016
Primary Language: English
Language: n/a

“Ok so the Rangerette Christmas tradition of the White Elephant was when every single member came with a silly gift, and we put them all in the middle, and one by one, we grabbed a gift, opened it up, and if you didn’t like the gift that you got, then you could like switch with somebody. It was pretty fun. So there was this picture that has been going around for I’d say about six years, six plus years. And it’s a very hideous picture of this one girl that was on the team and it was framed and she was the captain of the team and so you are pretty unlucky if you get that picture and the next year you bring it back so that way it stays in the circle, the rotation.”

 

Informant: The informant is a nineteen-year-old college freshman from Dallas, Texas. While in high school, she was a member of the Jesuit Rangerettes Dance and Drill Team. She attended the all-girls Catholic high-school, Ursuline Academy of Dallas, the sister school of Jesuit Dallas (an all-boys Catholic school). She began dancing when she was three, performing ballet, jazz, and lyrical styles of dance, which eventually led her to the high-school drill team. She currently attends Oklahoma State University.

 

Analysis:

The Rangerettes Dance and Drill Team is an extracurricular activity unique to Texas and a few other southern states. The team performs at the half-time of football games on Friday nights, as well as at basketball, soccer, and rugby games. They wear leotards with fringe skirts, fringe and sequin overlays, gauntlets, a belt, white cowgirl boots, and sequined cow-boy hats. The season does not end with football season; rather, the team continues to perform at Jesuit events and participates in two dance competitions in the spring. Because this team is a year-long commitment, there are many extenuating traditions that serve to unify and “bond” the members of the team, in order to foster a spirit of sisterhood.

Because of its association with Catholic schools, the team celebrates the Catholic holidays. Therefore, they have embraced the White Elephant, a game that is practiced at many Christmas gatherings in the US, and embedded it with their own tradition. Sitting in a circle with everyone on the team is a significant bonding factor, as no one is left out of the festivities. The picture of the captain may be unique because there are several stories surrounding the girl in the picture about how disliked she was because of her harsh manner of running the team.

The picture itself makes the captain look like a mix-between a clown and the Joker, which I believe represents the distaste the team had for this specific captain. I think this is an exhibition of the dynamics of a team. There may be one girl who is in charge, and she may be very talented in her own right, thereby expecting more from the team. This expectation may be exemplified by her harsh policies, therefore breeding contempt amongst the team. When the team does not like their captain, they are likely to come up with something like this picture as a way of bringing her back down to their level.

In addition, the captain is always a senior, but the other seniors on the team may not like taking orders or instruction from a girl who is their age. If this picture was first brought about by the seniors, then it would once again exhibit the desire to belittle the captain in order that she might remember that she is no better than the rest of the seniors, despite her rank.

The tradition of passing this picture around as giving someone bad luck is what I believe to be symbolic of the fragile threads of kinship that hold a team together. What may unite the team could be their dislike of the captain, and by randomizing who is going to receive the picture, and therefore “bad luck,” there is a reinforcement of the equality amongst team members. It is also something for all of the team members to look forward to as they wonder who is going to receive the picture the next year.