Tag Archives: nature

Folk Medicine- Mud for Ant Bites

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Houston, TX
Performance Date: April 26, 2020
Primary Language: English

Context: My informant spent most of her childhood playing outside at her grandmother’s house in the early 2000s. She tells me she remembers there being a lot of ant piles at the house, and it wasn’t unusual for her or another kid to stand in one without realizing. Whenever someone got an ant bite, her grandmother would collect dirt and water from the yard and rub the mud on the bites. She says it would always stop the pain, and they wouldn’t itch after you took the mud off.

Remedy: For ant bites, spread wet mud over the affected area. Let the mud dry for about 30 minutes, then wash off. This soothes pain, itching, and swelling

Thoughts: Soil tends to have a lot of nutrients in it like magnesium, potassium, and other minerals that are good for your skin. Even now, clay face masks are becoming very popular for treating skin ailments. I’m sure it has a lot of healing properties for bug bites. It could very well have been a placebo remedy; putting mud on the bites would distract a child who just stood in an ant pile. Either way, the impact of the remedy seems to be strong, as she says her grandmother still uses this treatment for the children she takes care of.

The Legend of the Tawalis

Main piece: The story was about a naughty boy, named Tawi, who was crossing a lake. He was being chased by something, I can’t remember exactly and the people nearby saw him getting chased so they shouted: “Tawi bilis” which means “Tawi faster.” The boy disappeared and at the same time, a new fish was present in the lake. They then named that new fish after the boy who had to swim faster, Tawilis. This lake was Taal lake and the Tawalis is only found in that lake.

Context: The informant lived the majority of her life in the Philippines. She then immigrated to the United States when she was 24. She learned about the legend of the tawalis from her father who told her the story numerous times.

Thoughts: I find this story pretty interesting. It attributes a certain event to the naming of a fish which shows how superstitious Filipinos could be. It seems as though this could be a scary story when given the right context. It could be used as a scare tactic for kids who are naughty. The naughty element in Tawi could be a possible reason why he was being chased in something but since my informant didn’t know, it is up for speculation.

Leaves of Three

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Performance Date: April 7
Primary Language: English

“Leaves of three, let it be. If it’s shiny, watch your heiny. If it’s hairy, it’s a berry”

This piece of folklore is a saying to talk about how to identify poison oak. If it has three leaves or is shiny with oil, watch your heiny, meaning that it is likely poison oak. If the plant is hairy, it is a berry bush. This piece of folklore is performed typically outdoors and used for a very practical sense. It is a teaching tool to enable people to identify poison oak, whose oil will cause rashes on anyone who touches it with bare skin.

            The subject learned this piece of folklore from Boy Scouts. It embodies the type of preparedness and learning the boy scouts emphasizes and is a very practical way of remembering the qualities of a poison oak plant. The subject learned it from their Scoutmaster during a camping trip. The subject, of course, made use of it as a practical saying which is its intended purpose. They remember it because of their interest in the outdoors when they were younger, which was the reason they joined Boy Scouts in the first place.

            This saying is not just a warning for kids. It represents technical education through oral folklore. Typically, something like this would just be told by another person or read in a book. Instead, this saying was created in order to help people remember their qualities. Because of this, it takes on a different form and really represents the importance of passing down knowledge to the younger generations.

The Heidelmann Lodge

Nationality: American
Age: 57
Occupation: Real Estate
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 2/7/20
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

The following is transcribed from dialogue between my self, GK, and the informant DH.

DH: One of my favorite memories as a child was going to the “Heidelmann Lodge” with my family and getting to spend time with them. 

GK: Where is this lodge located?

DH: It is located at the Donner Summit, in Northern California. Trukee California to be exact, which is about a 7 hour drive from Los Angeles. 

GK: Tell me a little about the history of the lodge. 

DH: I think it was founded in 1947 by a man named West Heidelmann. It took about two years to build, and there were originally only 10 members at the time. It has always been a part of the San Francisco Nature Friends and now and days requires a membership for entry. 

GK: How does one become a member?

DH: It’s a pretty straight forward process. First you usually need to get a letter of recommendation from an active member. Then from there, you will be able to submit an application and have it reviewed by the board of trustees. And then if you get approved, you are required to put in five “work days”. This includes either cleaning the kitchen, cleaning the bathrooms, or working one of our special days such as: Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day Weekends. 

GK: What is there to do there?

DH: In the lodge itself, you could play ping pong, cards, there’s a piano, board games, and many other things. However during the day, we are usually outside. Depending on the season, we will usually be skiing, or going down to Donner Lake. Both are only five minute drives from the Lodge.  

Background: The informant knows of this organization through his family. They have been members at the Heidelmann Lodge for over 50 years and have been going during the summer each year. This place means a lot to the informant because it is where he got to spend a lot of time with his cousins and other family members. In addition to that, today it serves as a great place to visit his brothers and sister and get to see his nephews and nieces. 

Context: The informant and I discussed this face to face.

My Thoughts: I feel like this place is so much more than a lodge to the informant. It feels more like a gathering place for families to get to see one another. In addition it also feels like a bridge for different generations of a family. For example, the informant went while he was a kid, and got to enjoy all of the amenities and the fun times with friends. Now, he brings his own son to this place, and I’m sure he feels the same way his dad once felt. I’m sure the two have shared many of the same memories in the lodge, as it has supposedly not changed much throughout the years. 

The Indian Paintbrush

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: student
Residence: Dallas, TX
Performance Date: March 19, 2019
Primary Language: English

Text: So there was this little Native American boy who was born. He was not as strong as the other boys though, so when everybody else got named cool names such a “strong arms” or “fast legs,” I don’t quite remember what he was named, but it was kind of lame. He was not cool. So he’s growing up and he’s not strong so he goes to visit the shaman chief person and the guy’s like, “Just because you’re not strong doesn’t mean you don’t have other talents. Like, you might have something else. I know you’re going to be great!” So this kid is like obsessed with art and painting and stuff, and he’s always been painting as he’s been growing up. So he goes up to the top of this hill one day and he sees this gorgeous sunset and he’s like, “I want to paint that sunset.” Then this vision comes to him of this woman who is like, “Go find a buckskin as white as this,” and she holds up a white buckskin sheet (because they used to paint on leather), “and when you do, paint the sunset on it.” So he’s looking around trying to find this buckskin sheet. He’s painting and he can’t quite find the colors that match the sunset anywhere, and he’s trying to put it all together but he’s having some trouble.  So finally he gets the buckskin, but he still can’t get the colors. So he goes to the hill and he’s like, “Help me I need assistance.” So the vision lady says, “Come back tomorrow.” So he does, and when he gets back to the hill he has the exact paint that he needs on the ends of all of these paint brushes that we’re left for him, sticking out of the ground. And he paints the sunset on the sheet and he leaves the paintbrushes up there and he goes down the hill, and he shows his people his painting. And they’re like, “This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” And they go back up in the morning and there’s these new beautiful red flowers that are blooming all over the countryside. And the real flowers are called the Indian paintbrushes and that’s what the Native Americans in that area use for red pigment.

Context: SH is a born and raised Texan studying psychology at USC. Her time in the south led her to be exposed to many different stories with western flairs while she was growing up.  The myth above is a story that she remembers learning at a very young age, and can be assumed to be very specific to Texas, for SH was very clear that most Texas children know this tale. I was told this piece of folklore over lunch one afternoon.

Interpretation: Myths are weird, sacred stories about creations and how the world came to be. In this case, this is the myth of how the Indian Paintbrush flowers came into existence. They don’t have any real world value because they do not interact with our world. If they do, it is considered a miracle. They are held as sacred truths and blueprints as to how we should go about living our lives. Sometimes myths are not easily translated from one language/culture to another. The Indian Paintbrush, however, contains pretty reasonable circumstance that explain how the red wildflowers came to exist when considered alongside other creation myths that would be considerably more outlandish when viewed from a western perspective.