Money Dance, Nigerian Wedding Folk Custom

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: student
Residence: Pennsylvania
Performance Date: 4/16/21

“At weddings in our family and I know in most Nigerian weddings we throw large amounts of money at everyone it’s not even the married couple, literally everyone gets money thrown at them. We typically all stand in a circle and the elder members of the family will sometimes throw thousands of dollars each in the middle with bills ranging from singles to ten’s. My family calls it the money dance but I know some call it money spraying. This is pretty much to symbolize a showering of happiness and good fortune in their future lives together. It also shows how much the group cares for each other.”

Context:

Money throwing is pretty common at Nigerian weddings. My informant learned this from going to weddings in his family as a kid and young adult. My informant was born in Philadelphia but his parents moved from Nigeria with other family members and brought many of the customs with them, including this one. He said it his favorite part of going because who doesn’t love traditions that involve free money. 

Analysis:

Hearing this made me really want to implement this tradition in all weddings. It is a super cool Nigerian tradition that I had never heard being practiced in any other culture. I find it fascinating that so many different countries and cultures have very unique traditions when it comes to a wedding.

The Three Weddings- Nigeria

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: student
Residence: Pennsylvania
Performance Date: 4/16/21

“The first one is the traditional one with a ceremony where everyone is dressed up with a lot of wine, then there is the official one in the church that’s recognized by law, and the third one is the celebratory feast. Nigerian weddings are no normal one and done, these ceremonies can go on for a long time over a whole week. When you’re invited to a Nigerian wedding plan on blocking out your whole week for this party. The feast is the best out of the three, the grandmas make some goooood Nigerian food man, I’ve been to three weddings and have never been more full in my life than that. The three weddings are fun but besides the feast, the other two can get extremely boring.”

Context:

The informant gives a recount of his personal experience at a 3-part Nigerian wedding that he has been to a few times. 

Analysis

My informant gives me a retelling of his favorite part of the Nigerian 3-day wedding process. I found it interesting but understandable how he, along with most young people, would enjoy eating the most. It is an interesting practice because the weddings I have been to are a one-day celebration that consists of a ceremony and then dinner. 

Red Envelope- Lunar New Year

“This is a custom I have experienced myself. I lived in China for a few months on a scholarship through the US State Department to study Mandarin. While I was there I lived with a host family and one thing they did, that everyone in China does is give red envelopes during the Lunar New Year celebration. It’s supposed to symbolize good fortune and luck for the upcoming year. My host mother told me, “只给新钱,” or to only give clean new bills that haven’t been wrinkled or torn or clean shiny coins.” 

Context:

I learned this while studying abroad in Zhuhai, China. It is a city about 40 minutes away from Hong Kong by ferry. I experienced a Lunar New Year celebration and received a few red envelopes from my host family and friends on the program. 

Analysis:

This is a very widely practiced and celebrated custom. I feel so grateful to have experienced it in China where it originated thousands of years ago. I actually introduced my family at home to it and we do red envelopes now every Chinese Lunar New year.

Don’t break the pole

Nationality: American
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: New York City
Performance Date: 4/28/2020
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

–Informant Info–

Nationality: American

Age: 23

Occupation: Student

Residence: New York City

Date of Performance/Collection: 4/28/2021

Primary Language: English

Other Language(s): Korean

Context: As a NYC resident, MB says the following folk belief might just be applicable to his city. MB – informant. SD – interviewer

Performance:

MB: I’m sure you’ve heard this but you don’t break the pole when you’re walking with your friends.

SD: I haven’t heard this actually. 

MB: So basically, when you and another friend are walking, you both go on one side of the pole. You can’t have one person go on one side of the pole and the other person on the other side, you both go on the same side. 

SD: Okay, so is this like an American cultural thing, or a Korean thing…

MB: I don’t think it’s a national thing, it’s probably just a New York thing because there are so many poles here (laughs). When I was in high school my friends and I would always make fun of it, like don’t break the pole or we won’t be friends anymore (laughs again).

Analysis:

This is an example of a super specific belief or superstition that is brought about because of the geography of the place. As MB says, NYC has a lot of street lights and construction poles, so local residents probably came up with this belief. The meaning of this belief is that if you go on either side of the pole, you will break your friendship as the pole has come between you and your friend. However, I think this belief is loose and can be a joke as MB stated at the end. People joke around and mess with their friends by saying that they will go around to the other side of the pole and break their friendship. Obviously, this doesn’t happen, but it’s a good example of a superstition that has been turned into a joke.  

Blood Type Korean Hierarchy

Nationality: American
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: New York City
Performance Date: 4/28/2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

–Informant Info–

Nationality: American

Age: 23

Occupation: Student

Residence: New York City

Date of Performance/Collection: 4/28/2021

Primary Language: English

Other Language(s): Korean

Background: 

MB is a mixed-race American and spent parts of his childhood in South Korea. There he got introduced to Korean culture and this is his recount of one belief that he remembers. MB – informant. SD – collector

Performance:

MB (over facetime): In Korea, people are really into blood type. It’s sort of like how astrology is in the US. When people meet each other, they ask what their blood type is to size them up.

SD: Whoa, that’s fascinating. So is there a hierarchy to different blood types then? Like what do you infer from them?

MB: I think O is the best because that one can match with anyone. Like medically, O blood types can donate to everyone. 

SD: Interesting, I’ve never heard of that before

MB: Yea, it’s like a conversation starter over there. 

Analysis:

This story was truly shocking to me because, usually, I have some idea of what the informant is talking about, but I was not expecting this story. I think that astrology isn’t as big of a deal in the East as it is in the West, and so places like Korea have adopted new systems to size people. It is possible that people know their blood types from a young age (I know that to be true in India), and so it is information known by everyone. I don’t exactly know how the hierarchy was established, but it seems like medical reasoning can be behind it. I think this story signifies the need for most cultures to have a system that classifies people, so there can be group identity, but also ways to differentiate people.