Informant: Joshua is a 24-year-old student living in Southern California. His father is from the Philippines and moved to California before Joshua was born.

Main Piece:

Josh: “My sister, underneath the brown of her hair, has a spot of white about the size of a quarter. And so the thing is, when you are born and somebody else dies, the white spot is where the dead person touched your hair and it died with them”

Interviewer: Is it an omen for anything? Is the baby cursed?

Josh: “I don’t think so, although my sister might be cursed. He laughs. I think it just changes the hair, though.”

Background Information about the Performance: The informant was told this by his father when he was younger. His father had noticed the white spot in his sister’s hair and pointed it out. When she asked why it was that way, this was his explanation.

Context of Performance: This piece was performed when trying to explain a white spot of hair to a child.

Thoughts: For me, this piece almost seems like a scary story, since it involves the dead. However, since nothing bad happens to the child, it’s less scary. This might be due to a difference in the perception of death.