Tag Archives: touching

Cursed Objects on an Arizona Reservation

Text:

Interviewee: “When I was on the reservation, one of the days instead of helping out on the farm and like with the water and everything, they took us to this canyon that was like two hours away.

That’s where we saw those drawings on the mountainsides from the Hopi and earlier groups, and there were also a bunch of houses that were like hundreds of years old.

They also had this thing where a lot of the objects there were kind of like cursed, but only if certain conditions were met. Like, we found some arrowheads in the ground, and we were allowed to pick them up and look at them. But they said if you took them out of the canyon or away from where they were found, you’d basically be cursed and could even die.

It reminded me of how in Hawaii they say if you take rocks from volcanoes you get bad luck. It was kind of like that, on the reservation they said if you tried to take anything off of the reservation, you’d be cursed.

They also had a lot of rules that mainly applied depending on whether you were Native or not. Like, they said there were certain things you can’t do if you’re not Native. There was one example where some of the objects we could hold as non-Native people, but they wouldn’t touch them because they said they would get extremely bad luck. Like one of the arrowheads, none of the Native people were allowed to touch it because it had some kind of history with them, but since we had no relation to it, we were fine.

But then there were other things where we weren’t allowed to touch them or take them home at all, because we as non-Natives don’t really understand the significance.”

Context:

The interviewee was on a service trip to Arizona with school peers. He is a white man aged 18.

During this service trip, he went on a visit to a reservation where the interviewee was spending time with a local community in Arizona and learning about the land, its history, and its cultural practices. The canyon visit included exposure to ancient sites connected to groups like the Hopi, as well as interaction with physical artifacts such as arrowheads. The beliefs about curses and rules around touching objects were explained directly by community members, especially in relation to whether someone was Native or not.

Analysis:

This is an example of material folklore. The idea that objects become dangerous or “cursed” only when removed reflects a magic superstition, where specific actions (like taking an object off the land) trigger consequences. These beliefs discourage people from removing artifacts and help protect culturally and historically significant sites.

The distinction between what Native and non-Native people can or cannot touch shows that meaning and rules depend on identity, relationship to the object, and cultural knowledge. The belief that some objects carry history that affects certain groups differently highlights how folklore is tied to ancestry and cultural connection. Folklore in this story regulates behavior, preserves respect for the land, and reinforces boundaries around cultural understanding and ownership.

Theatre Pre-Performance Ritual for RENT

Main Piece

“[This ritual] is very common: the whole team tapping a sign before a game. In RENT, we have a plaque hand-carved by Jonathan Larson’s uncle that he carved when he died that his sister gave us. She came in and talked to our cast, and her and his college roommates gave us this plaque for the duration of our show. And it’s this big hand-carved plaque that says “Thank you, Jonathan Larson” on it. It’s hung up backstage, and after our group circle, we all have to go up to it one by one [before every performance] and like, place our hands on it and thank him before we go onstage to perform…Really simple, but we all do it and constantly remind each other of it and it’s really important to our cast.

Some of us like, if we’re feeling especially emotional, will literally sit in front of it and cry. I’m so serious, I’ve done that, ’cause Jonathan Larson is really important to me.”

Interpretation

Informant Interpretation: Informant related ritual to common sports team rituals of tapping a specific sign for luck or protection before a game. They also mentioned that the pre-RENT performance tapping of the sign was a means of “community building” and enabled cast members to “ground themselves” and “remind themselves about why they’re doing this piece of art.”

Personal Interpretation: This is clearly an important tradition to the informant and their cast, furthered by the subject matter of RENT (queer people living in NYC during the HIV/AIDS crisis) and fact that its creator, Jonathan Larson, died one day before the musical’s original opening in 1996. The sign is a physicalized reminder of the humanity and weight the show carries, and gives the cast members a material way to remember the real people it’s grounded in before going onstage. To me, it sounds like tapping this sign is a ritualized remembrance of the responsibility to tell and represent an important, nuanced story to the audience, and for the cast to honor the people around them–cast, crew, relatives, friends, and more–as well as the source of the art they’re bringing into the light.

Background

Informant is a 21 year old college student studying theatre at USC. The performance of RENT mentioned happened this semester, with rehearsals running January-April and performances in April. It was put on by the USC School of Dramatic Arts–informant performed in the ensemble for all performances. Informant is mixed race (white and Pacific Islander), and identifies as queer and fem-presenting.

Riddle: “The less of them you have, the more one is worth. A Friend.”

Text: “The less of them you have, the more one is worth. A Friend.”

Context: This riddle came from a movie I enjoy dearly, The Batman. This riddle is very important to me because it is a significant saying that reflects many aspects of life, from people to inanimate objects. This riddle can be interpreted in different contexts but it says the overall message that more does not equal better. Some people may not have a lot but being grateful and having one thing can account for everything. For example, having one good reliable friend can make up for having lots of friends who are unreliable.

Analysis: This riddle signifies a strong feeling of valuing what you have rather than how many of a specific thing you have, in this case, friends. The meaning to the informant is important because it reflects an aspect of their life where they learn to appreciate what they have rather than what they don’t. This riddle may relate to a group of people who feel the need to have a lot of one thing instead of valuing what they already have. Having the mentality of wanting more than appreciating what one has could cause one to lose touch with reality and become inconsiderate of what they have in front of them. This riddle goes as far as to set a reminder to people that all things don’t last forever so it is important to value what you have when you have it, and also to appreciate those who stay with you through thick and thin. Despite the riddle being able to be linked to a specific culture, it aims to challenge people to think differently about what they have and how they appreciate it, whether that be enough or not enough, the riddle makes one think and evaluate if they value what they have.