Finger Point of doom. 

Nationality: African American

Primary Language: English

Other language(s): French

Age: 49

Occupation: Digital Marketing Consultant

Residence: Upstate, NY

Performance Date: 4/18/2025

Context: 

My informant, YD, is a family member of mine who lives in the Hudson Valley area of New York. YD has told me about gestures as they were growing up in quite diverse households, from gestures of Italian culture, Chinese culture, and Swiss culture, I had never truly known what each of these gestures they’d jokingly use with me actually meant to them. So one day I asked them this question, but instead of explaining the gestures they’d learned from their diverse cultural background, the ones in which I had known, they told me the story behind a different kind of gesture, one I had overlooked. 

Text: 

“I’d say the gesture that has the most meaning (good and bad) is the ‘finger point’. Typically growing up the ‘finger point’ was an unspoken instruction or nonverbal scolding. Similar to ‘the look’ that many black families instinctively understand, I had the ability to decipher what my mother was saying when she pointed to something or at me. You didn’t dawdle but moved into action, clearly understanding every ‘word’ and detailed action expected of you. I think it came from slavery’s time frame, from what my mother had told me, when communication needed to be coded. I see this as a badge of honor and super power within our family that has kept me safe and I will continue to teach that instinct within our culture.”

Analysis: 

The “finger point,” as described here, and from my research, isn’t just a scolding gesture or a tool for discipline, but is indeed, part of a coded system of communication that has deep roots in African American cultural survival. YD connects it to practices that may have originated during slavery, when verbal communication was restricted or dangerous, and truthfully so, in many African American folklore studies that explores the development of nonverbal codes as survival strategies, quiet gestures that spoke volumes in unsafe or oppressive environments was common and impressively passed down for generations. That concept alone blows my mind. It’s interesting how YD doesn’t just view the gesture as disciplinary, but as a legacy of resilience, intuition, and inter-generational wisdom. It’s especially meaningful that they frame it as something to be passed down, reinforcing the idea that folklore isn’t always just stories or songs, but also ways of seeing and navigating the world. YD’s account transforms what some might consider a small behavioral detail into a rich cultural artifact, filled with meaning, memory, and pride. I think that’s all so brilliant, and will probably never look at finger pointing the same way again, in a good way I mean. YD’s tale is a great reminder that folklore can live in the body, in silence, and in a single glance or gesture.

Wolf of Wall Street’s got nothing on this…

Nationality: African American

Primary Language: English

Other language(s): French

Age: 65

Occupation: Management Consultant

Residence: Upstate, NY

Performance Date: 4/20/2025

Context: 

My informant, WB, is a family member of mine who lives in the Hudson Valley area of New York. For a while now, I’ve known WB to be quite amazing at spending money, teaching me over the course of my life the concept of not wasting money on things that won’t be intrinsic in some capacity, or I’d end up like ‘another man on the street.’ Now, I always wanted to know what they meant by ‘man on the street,’ and it turns out it wasn’t a saying, metaphorical expression, or proverb, it was a reference to a stereotype they hated, yet held dear: 

Text: 

“Men are better with money than women. Now I don’t believe that but it’s something I grew up hearing. I come from a matriarchal family of successful women who oversaw and currently still oversee the family finances and the family business. They have all fared well and have been given the respect of being good with finances by their male family members and spouses especially. I think that saying came from an attempt for men to control women, like historically. We can look back in history and see when a man married a woman, her riches became his to control. Specifically in the most recent history, Colonial America, who followed the laws of their mother country; husbands controlled the woman’s property!!!” 

Analysis: 

So, this piece reflects a common gender-based folk belief which operates more as a social myth or stereotype than a truthfully grounded in experience. Now what’s compelling here is how the informant challenges the saying from both a personal and historical perspective. They come from a matriarchal family, where women not only handle finances but have consistently done so with success and respect. That alone functions as a counter-example that refutes the original saying and exposes it as culturally constructed rather than inherently true. However, I’ve definitely heard of this stereotype in my own life too, and of course, being related to WB, I never believed it either. The informant then takes it a step further by providing some slight historical context that reveals how the proverb wasn’t just a reflection of beliefs at the time, but also a tool used to justify inequality. And of course, in my research, and general experience in American history courses, yes, this stereotype was used tangibly to oppress women in colonial times and even still now in the digital age. Sadly some things never change. Though what I find most powerful here is that WB doesn’t just dismiss the saying they expose its function as control and offer real evidence from their family to disprove it. This turns the proverb into a kind of anti-folklore, still resembling folklorism though, a saying that survives culturally, even when it’s contradicted by lived experience. It’s also a good example of how folklore can be deeply personal and political at the same time, and how challenging traditional sayings can be part of reclaiming cultural and historical agency.

There’s a snake in my… Pocket?

Nationality: African American

Primary Language: English

Other language(s): French

Age: 65

Occupation: Management Consultant

Residence: Upstate, NY

Performance Date: 4/20/2025

Context: 

My informant, WB, is a family member of mine who lives in the Hudson Valley area of New York. They used to tell me a lot of riddles as a child, and loved to play games with riddles all the time. One day I decided to ask them if they ever heard of an original riddle that stuck with them personally, one they had not yet shared with me. This is what I got: 

Text: 

“‘What do you get when you put a snake in your pocket? You get bit.’ The meaning of this is to beware of trusting and getting too close to scrupleless people. While I hate that it puts snakes in a bad light, this saying has always taught me to take the time to get to know people who may become a business partners. AND, even then, you may still get bit!! I think this is one that my grandfather created, perhaps it was passed on from an experience his parents had who were in the restaurant business back in the 20’s and finally lost the business to their business partners.  This means a lot to me, it has taught me to pay close attention to the motives of people in general when it comes to finance, positive or negative. I know most people say ‘I trust people until they prove otherwise’ but for me, ‘I don’t trust people I meet until they prove trustworthy.’”

Analysis: 

Okay, so, this proverb they exemplified, I personally had never heard before, and upon looking it up, I found next to nothing, which is great! This might actually be unique to WB’s family (or at least not widespread) adding to the idea that it was coined by their grandfather or adapted from an older phrase. What’s interesting is how it uses the symbol of the snake, which in many global traditions (from the Bible to African trickster tales to Greek mythology) represents deceit, danger, or moral testing. In this case, the snake stands as a metaphor for untrustworthy people, especially in financial or business settings, with the “pocket” standing in as a symbol for closeness or vulnerability. It’s also compelling how the proverb serves not only as a warning, but also as a reflection of a real, generational experience. I think it’s cool that the personal history gives the phrase emotional weight and makes it more than just a casual saying, almost becoming a tool of survival and a form of inherited wisdom. What I find most fascinating is how WB uses it to define their personal philosophy on trust, flipping the more common belief that trust is given until broken. I honestly lean that way too. Plus, WB seems to approach trust as something earned, which they frame not as cynical, but as careful. It’s a great example of how even a small, family-rooted piece of folklore can carry over an entire worldview.

Grandma’s Superstitions

AGE: 20

DATE OF PERFORMANCE: 04/01/2025

LANGUAGE: English 

NATIONALITY: Taiwanese-American 

OCCUPATION: Student 

PRIMARY LANGUAGE: English 

RESIDENCE: San Jose, CA

INTERVIEW SUMMARY:

When asked if there were any particular horror stories or tales, fables, etc. that she grew up hearing as a kid to prevent bad behavior, MS shared that her grandmother loved to tell tales surrounding hair—specifically having long hair.

A lot of the stories she shared, if not all of them, had some connection to do with death or getting hurt in some way.

Interviewer: Could you provide some examples of tales she would tell you?

MS: “Sure. I’m not sure if this is true or not, but there was one tale she told where this lady got clamped down by the train doors because her hair was too long. Another was this lady who was cooking with her hair down and got hurt.”

Interviewer: Are there any distinct superstitions that she shared with you or that you grew up hearing too?

MS: “She would say to not walk over drains because people have fallen through before. And also not to walk under tall buildings because something can fall or drop and kill you.”

PERSONAL INTERPRETATION:

It’s really interesting to hear superstitions that other people believe. We’ve discussed in class that there’s no distinct reason why one’s believes what they believe, but I think culture and the environment around you definitely play a part in it. In the case of hair, some cultures have very important connections to their hair. While both MS and I were not entirely sure of why in particular her grandmother had so many stories related to hair, I think it plays a role in her deep infatuation with warning tales of that nature. There are also a lot of horror tales and folklore surrounding a woman with long hair and something related to death or injury. After all, people always say hair holds memories.

Behind Chinese New Year

AGE: 20

DATE OF PERFORMANCE: 04/01/2025

LANGUAGE: English 

NATIONALITY: Taiwanese-American 

OCCUPATION: Student 

PRIMARY LANGUAGE: English 

RESIDENCE: San Jose, CA

Interviewer: Are there any distinct folktales or myths that you grew up hearing about?

MS: “One was about this lady on the moon, and another was the story of Chinese New Year and the reasons for the different traditions.”

Interviewer: Can you expand a little bit more on the second story?

MS: “I was told that there was this dragon that would come and haunt this village. And every year the people of the town would evacuate the village, until one year this grandma was too old to walk up the mountain and evacuate. So she lit firecrackers and put red all over everyone’s door…to make it look like blood, I guess…and she successfully scared away the dragon. And when everyone came back down, they noticed she was still alive, and so that’s where the tradition began.”

PERSONAL INTERPRETATION:

I think it’s safe to say that most people in America (and definitely countries where Lunar New Year is celebrated) know what Chinese New Year is and the typical decorations and celebrations that take place. And even though every year growing up I had attended my high school’s Chinese New Year festival, I never really quite knew why everything was the way that it was. It’s incredibly interesting to learn where certain traditions, especially one as big as this, come from. I would love to hear a little bit more about this said dragon and maybe dive deeper into this tradition’s history, but this explanation shows (to me at least) that there were definitely real fears that occurred back then, that via word of mouth, traveled and transformed into what this tradition is today.