Tag Archives: wedding

Tradition – Botswana

Nationality: Motswana
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 26, 2008
Primary Language: English

So at traditional weddings we have to kill an entire cow. Dowry is dealt with in number of cows. For example, if two people are getting married, the man pays a certain number of cows for the bride. And at funerals it’s more like a celebration. We also kill a number of cows for funerals. The president of Botswana just retired. So at every village, city, or town that he went to they gave him a cow from each place.

Ruchira said that all of these traditions show the importance of cows in the culture of Botswana. According to Ruchira, other than diamonds, cows are the second biggest part of their economy. Historically, cows are also a really important part of life because they were how people sustained life. They did this through the trading of cows. They traded them as a commodity instead of using money. It has been a recent development for the people to sell cows to meat companies for money, and cows are very valuable. Ruchira roughly estimates that cows can reach up to two thousand dollars in value.

In Botswana, cows have remained a symbol of wealth through time. The more cows an individual owns, the wealthier he or she is considered to be. People of the villages know who is wealthy by word of mouth and by just noticing the number of cows that a person owns. In the past, Botswana was mostly rural, and the people viewed cows as investments in the sense that they can provide milk, meat, and labor power. The people invested in cows rather than deposit money at the bank. Ruchira feels that this is logical and that cows are more beneficial than money in the bank. He said that nowadays people in Botswana keep cows mainly to maintain tradition, and people still maintain the traditional view that cows and diamonds equate to wealth.

Besides a difference in economy, the concept of dowry is also different between Motswana and American culture. According to Ruchira’s account, the groom pays the dowry in Botswana; while in America, the dowry is traditionally provided by the family of the bride. Also, Botswana’s preservation of the tradition of keeping cows as a sign of wealth ties into the idea of maintaining an identity. Although the people of Botswana actually sustained life with the ownership of cows in the past, people continue to carry out the tradition during modern times to preserve this part of their identity.

Tradition – Greek

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Pittsburg, PA
Performance Date: April 23, 2008
Primary Language: English

Original script/version:

“At weddings, a tradition is to take the groom away from the reception and then put the bride in the center of a circle of dancing people, apparently. Then, the groom comes back to ‘rescue’ the bride (I kid you not)… and he has to “red-rover style” break through the circle.”

Allison said she witnessed this even first hand at her older brother’s wedding three years ago. Her family is Greek originally but she did not know about this tradition. She was surprised when it happened because she had not been instrumental in planning the wedding.

This wedding ceremony seems to coincide nicely with many other European wedding traditions that involve separating the bride and the groom. After the groom is separated, he has to come back, break through a wall of people, to then rescue his bride. This could symbolize how the two are now going to be combining their lives and the groom is responsible for the welfare of his wife. Breaking the chain of people could also be symbolic of “crossing the threshold” that is seen in other European wedding folklore.

Tradition – Latvian

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Pittsburg, PA
Performance Date: April 18, 2008
Primary Language: English

“It is traditional to sing this one song at Latvian weddings, it is sort of their “song of the open road” if you will.  Also, Latvian weddings are usually three day celebrations.

The song (or “daina”) that my family sang at my brother Alex’s wedding was the first time I had heard it(I hadn’t been to any Latvian weddings before that).  It is called “??rbies, saule sudrabota, “. I don’t know an English translation for it, sorry.  As for the three day party that ensues, that is something that I first learned about also at my brother’s wedding, but as far as I am aware, that’s a very northern European thing to do; I think the Swedes are all about that. “  -Kate P.

The English translation of the title is Sun, Clothe Yourself in Silver. I couldn’t find the lyrics to the song, or the English translation, but it sounds as those it is almost a song wishing him good luck as he moves onto the next part of his life.

To address the three day wedding ceremony, in the International Folkloristics by Dundes, there is a chapter by Geza Roheim that talks about many interesting European wedding traditions. The ancient wedding festival could last for weeks so this seems to be a natural, modern evolution of those festivals.

To reference in text:

Straumanis, Alfreds. The Golden Steed: Seven Baltic Plays. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, 1979. Pg. 180

Tradition – Russian

Nationality: Irish
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Quicny, MA
Performance Date: April 01, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Russian

Traditionally, in Russian weddings receptions there is a tradition to determine who the head of the household will be. The bride and the groom both are given bread and salt from their parents. Together they (the bread and salt) are supposed to symbolize good health. The bride and groom have to take a bite of the bread and whoever takes the biggest bite of the bread supposed to be the head of the household or family. Sometimes the bread and salt are given after the civil ceremony, depends on the family.

Tom first heard about this custom from his Russian professor here at USC. Although he has never attended a traditional Russian wedding his professor has talked extensively about the differences between Russian weddings and American weddings. Tom thinks that the bread and salt were first used during the communist regime when bread and salt were scarce items and highly prized. Giving bread as a gift came to symbolize wealth, prosperity and good health (if you could afford the bread and salt you were probably in good health is the assumption Tom made).

Similarly Tom thinks that who ever can take a bigger bite of the bread, symbolizing a bigger part of health and prosperity and therefore heading the family. Usually this would be the man as men tend to have larger jaws. Tom also mentioned that if a woman took the bigger bite it might mean that she would have lots of children. Because she would be home with the children most she might be seen as the head of the household. Tom says this tradition is still carried on today but is merely for entertainment and fun rather than a means to predict a couple’s life together.

Traditions and customs in weddings are usually meant more for entertainment and are usually taken lightheartedly. This attitude however, differs depending on the religious association with the wedding. In Russia, the government does not recognize religious weddings therefore a civil ceremony is required. Because religion is removed from the ceremony, I think, Russians take more liberty in providing entertainment for entertainment’s sake rather than rituals based on religious orders. The Russian wedding traditionally is more focused on the reception and the playful nature between the bride and groom, the families, and friends. This tradition exemplifies the nature of the Russian attitude towards weddings.

Ritual – Armenian

Nationality: Armenian
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Glendale, CA
Performance Date: April 17, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Armenian

Armenian Wedding Rituals

Part 1

“So, Armenians from Iran (Persian Armenians) have this tradition on the wedding day. When the bride is getting ready in her room, and all her bridesmaids and her mom and grandma and close relatives are helping her get ready, they take the bride’s shoe and write all the bridesmaid’s names on the bottom of the shoe. The meaning is that, once the night is over, the bride takes off her shoes and the name that’s still on the shoe and that hasn’t been rubbed off on the floor or anything is the name of the bridesmaid who will get married next. It’s cute. I’ve never heard of that before my friend told me that she was in a wedding where they did that. I think it’s pretty superstitious and I don’t really believe it, but it’s fun and entertaining!”

Part 2

“Armenians are obsessed with marriage and matchmaking and love and predicting love, and just getting everyone married off because that’s what makes them happy! We’re so obsessed that we have a Saint’s Day dedicated to predicting WHO we’re going to fall in love and marry! I know…! It’s called Saint Sarkis Day, and girls are the only ones who participate in this day’s traditions. What happens is that on the evening of this certain day, girls go to their local Armenian deli and get this really really salty bread. We eat a piece of this bread before we go to sleep. We can’t drink ANY water or liquids or whatever after we eat this bread because it’s supposed to make us dream about, or see IN a dream, the guy we’re going to marry. It’s worked for like half of my female family members and failed for a few… My grandma said that she dreamt about being in my grandpa’s (her husband’s) house in Armenia, but she didn’t know that that was HIS house until she married him and saw pictures of his mom – she saw his mom in the dream. So it was like an indirect…uhhh…what’s the word? Like revelation! I found out about it THIS YEAR! All these years, I’ve been DEPRIVED of the knowledge of knowing who I’m potentially going to marry! That’s not fair! I wanna know!!! But then again, I don’t, ya know?!! It’ll ruin life’s surprise! None of my friends do it. Actually, I can’t say that; I haven’t really asked them. But I feel like they would talk about it if they did it, ya know?”

Analysis:

When I initially learned about this project, I knew Nicole would be one of the best resources to go to. A little background on Nicole: she has accumulated a repertoire of folklore since childhood and essentially lives and breathes Armenian culture. When I asked Nicole to share some Armenian folklore with me, she looked overwhelmed. The thought of having to choose only a few to share seemed an impossible task. She is a particularly active member of her ethnic community. She explained to me that ever since the Armenian genocide took place, Armenians all over the world have been fighting to create awareness about the genocide and prove that it actually happened (since Turkey continues to deny all accusations of its role in the genocide). However, being an Armenian in the US makes this a difficult task since Turkey is an ally to our country. Nonetheless, Nicole continues to spread the awareness through individual and group efforts. She decided to share Armenian wedding rituals with me.

The fact that wedding rituals came to mind first speaks volumes to the significance of this ceremony in Armenian culture. As mentioned above, Nicole learned about the first ritual from a friend and the second one from her grandmother. The two rituals don’t have a specific relational or chronological order; I chose to include both of them as a way of reinforcing the importance of the wedding day in Armenian culture. I gather that women of this culture tend to get married at a much younger age than American women. In the Armenian culture, young women are constantly reminded of their future wedding day. The time leading up to this day is spent dreaming about and pursuing the perfect man.

I have never heard of either ritual, but they seem to rely heavily on superstition and luck. These traditions remind me of childhood games I used to play with my friends when we were in elementary school, “he loves me, he loves me not,” which involves a girl plucking petals off of a flower and alternating between “he loves me” and “he loves me not.” The last petal pertains to your her fate. However, I can’t think of any games that I would play at this age (I am 20 years old now) pertaining to a future husband. The culture that I was brought up with does not focus so much on marriage as it does getting a solid education and a successful job. However, I think it would still be fun to engage in some of these rituals (even Nicole does not fully believe in them).