Chamorro “Titiyas”

Age: 23
Occupation: director
Residence: LA
Performance Date: may 2 2021
Primary Language: English

Context: My informant is a 23 year-old woman who is of Chamorro descent. She grew up in San Francisco and moved to L.A. for college. She described a common practice for her family growing up surrounding food, particularly a snack called “titiyas”. Her Chamorro family passed on this recipe throughout the generations. She loves them because they remind her of her grandma. 

Transcription

Informant:

“So I’m really close with my grandma, I’m the favorite and vice versa hahaha. But, growing up we would always make different Chamorro food and one of my favorite snacks to have is called “titiyas” and they’re basically..  like sweeter and a little bit thicker than tortillas. Me and my grandma would have it with cheese or butter usually. Recently, I moved away from home and asked my grandma what the recipe was. She couldn’t give me any measurements or anything and said I just had to watch and taste. I mean that is how she learned and she was the oldest girl of 11 kids so she just learned by watching her mom. Sometimes she still sends me “titiyas” in the mail to eat the next day, I love it.”

Thoughts:

I loved this story from my informant! It reminded me a lot of how my Cuban grandmother makes “arroz con pollo” (chicken with rice), a popular dish for Cuban people. My grandma never has the right measurements and just goes off of how it looks and smells. It is so sweet how her grandma is able to send her “titiyas” still. My grandma also packs me the Cuban dish every time I go to her house.

It is interesting how this recipe had been in her family for so long and it had still not been written down. This shows how important oral tradition has been as well as how important sharing in person human experience is. Now with technology, you can talk to more people than ever before, but you lose the opportunity of experiencing all the senses with that person. Cooking together at home with family, there is nothing else like it.

The Lucky Coin in New Year Dumplings

Nationality: China
Age: 72
Occupation: Painter
Residence: Shenyang, Liaoning, China
Performance Date: 4/18/2021
Primary Language: Chinese



Backgrounds:

YZ was born in the family of a high ranking military official of the Republic of China. After the Communist Party defeated the Nationalist Party, her family did not flee to Taiwan. Instead, they settled in a village in the northeastern part of China and became farmers. During the Cultural Revolution, her father was executed, and her mother married another man, also a farmer. YZ grew up and had a family in the village, and spent a large amount of time in her life as a farmer, until her grandson was born. Her son had a job and created a family in the city, and when her grandson was born, she moved into the city to help take care fo the kid.

YZ couldn’t recall how exactly did she learn of this piece of folklore. She says many other people she know are doing similar things.

The informant shared this piece of folklore during a family dinner on Sunday.



The Main Piece:

In YZ’s family, they will put a “lucky coin” randomly in one of the dumplings they make on Chinese New Year. And whoever eats the dumpling with the coin in it is considered to going to be super lucky in the coming year.

Analysis:

The context here is Chinese New Year, and the whole family gathers together making dumplings. The performance is putting one coin in one of the dumplings, and whoever eats that dumpling is going to be super happy for that good luck. The context and performance together form a special New-Year spirit, meaning that this folklore only works on Chinese New Year. In any other occasion, if you find a coin in your dumpling, you feel like the cook was making a mistake, and your food gets polluted by something that shouldn’t be there. If there’s only the context but no performance, meaning we’re simply making dumplings for Chinese New Year without the lucky coin, it gets boring.

The Big White Ghost

Nationality: China
Age: 72
Occupation: Painter
Residence: Shenyang, Liaoning, China
Performance Date: 4/18/2021
Primary Language: Chinese



Backgrounds:

YZ was born in the family of a high ranking military official of the Republic of China. After the Communist Party defeated the Nationalist Party, her family did not flee to Taiwan. Instead, they settled in a village in the northeastern part of China and became farmers. During the Cultural Revolution, her father was executed, and her mother married another man, also a farmer. YZ grew up and had a family in the village, and spent a large amount of time in her life as a farmer, until her grandson was born. Her son had a job and created a family in the city, and when her grandson was born, she moved into the city to help take care fo the kid.

YZ learned of this piece of folklore from the stories told by other villagers when she was growing up. She also claims that she has seen the Big White Ghost herself.

The informant shared this piece of folklore during a family dinner on Sunday when the family was chatting about ghosts.

The Main Piece:

YZ: You know the Big White Ghost? I’ve told you when you were young.

The Grandson: Is it the big white shadow that walks around at night?

YZ: Yes. Sometimes at night, there’s a white shadow walking around the village. He’s very tall and very big. It’s like several people died together, and they merged into one ghost.

YZ’s daughter-in-law: Is it real?

YZ: Of course it’s real, there was one time that thing walked into my sister’s lawn. 

Analysis:

I think that this piece of folklore reveals the people’s fear for death and people’s understanding of the process of beocming a ghost. The presence of the “Big White Ghost” might be a fact, but the idea that the “Big White Ghost” comes from a lot of people dying together is an analysis given by the villagers. I think it reveals that the villagers believe the souls of different people can merge into one single ghost.

The Ghost on the Millstone

Nationality: China
Age: 72
Occupation: Painter
Residence: Shenyang, Liaoning, China
Performance Date: 4/18/2021
Primary Language: Chinese

Backgrounds:

YZ was born in the family of a high ranking military official of the Republic of China. After the Communist Party defeated the Nationalist Party, her family did not flee to Taiwan. Instead, they settled in a village in the northeastern part of China and became farmers. During the Cultural Revolution, her father was executed, and her mother married another man, also a farmer. YZ grew up and had a family in the village, and spent a large amount of time in her life as a farmer, until her grandson was born. Her son had a job and created a family in the city, and when her grandson was born, she moved into the city to help take care fo the kid.

YZ learned of this piece of folklore from the stories told by other villagers when she was growing up.

The informant shared this piece of folklore during a family dinner on Sunday when the family was chatting about ghosts.

The Main Piece:

YZ: Near “红带沟（Red Band Rift)” (the village where YZ grew up), there is a big millstone. Sometimes at night, you can see a white little creature running around the millstone, that is a small white ghost. You may not go near it, because if you get close to it, it will jump onto you body and tickles you to death.

The Grandson: Is it still there today?

YZ: No, it’s gone. I heard this story from other older villagers. They say that the small white ghost has disappeared after the war (Japanese Invasion and Chinese Civil War), probably the guns and bombs have scared it away.

Analysis:

This is a legend that is told among the villagers in Hongdaigou. According to YZ, this is either just a fact that happens, or just a story that is told among the people. I personally believe that, if it is a story that is made up, its purpose if to scare children so that they wouldn’t run around at they, when they’re supposed to go to bed.

This story also reveals the general belief of the villagers that destructions like wars and weapons, big noises, guns and bombs, as well as fires, may scare off ghosts.

The Drought Tomb

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Nationality: China
Age: 72
Occupation: Painter
Residence: Shenyang, Liaoning, China
Performance Date: 4/18/2021
Primary Language: Chinese

Backgrounds:

YZ was born in the family of a high ranking military official of the Republic of China. After the Communist Party defeated the Nationalist Party, her family did not flee to Taiwan. Instead, they settled in a village in the northeastern part of China and became farmers. During the Cultural Revolution, her father was executed, and her mother married another man, also a farmer. YZ grew up and had a family in the village, and spent a large amount of time in her life as a farmer, until her grandson was born. Her son had a job and created a family in the city, and when her grandson was born, she moved into the city to help take care fo the kid.

YZ learned of this piece of folklore from the stories told by other villagers when she was growing up.

The informant shared this piece of folklore during a family dinner on Sunday when the family was chatting about ghosts.

The Main Piece

If a woman dies and is buried when she is pregnant, it might happen that the kid in her womb will live although the mother is dead. The kid will climb out of the mother’s death body and stays inside of the tomb. If this happens around a village, the village will experience drought for years. The tomb is called a 旱包（drought tomb).

Analysis:

I think this piece of folklore reflects how the villagers understand natural disasters. They consider drought to be a result of a ghost-ish baby haunting the village.

This can also be linked to the concepts of life cycle: When a woman dies in a pregnancy, the “fruit” of her pregnancy, the baby, dies with her and, therefore, doesn’t come. This piece of folklore reverses this situation, so that the fruit of the pregnancy will come although the mother is dead. However, the absence of the “fruit” will occur in a difference realm– the actual fruits of the village will not come because of the drought. The drough will cause plants to die and therefore the fruits, what the farmers live on, will experience great loss.