Genre Ritual
Language English
Country of Origin United States
Informant Jessie Colin
Date Collected March 7, 2018
Collected by Laura Jeliazkov
Informant Data
Jessie Colin is a senior at Dartmouth College. She grew up in Northern California, and likes to be outside in any capacity – hiking, mountain biking, climbing, and much more. These are ways for her to appreciate her humanness, and existence, in the world. She also enjoys teaching others, both about the outdoors and about design. She is a Human-Centered Design major – a major of her own design. What is most important to her is the ability to unplug and to take a step away from the hub of modern life.
Contextual Data
Many of the Upper Valley trails are a part of the Appalachian Trail. Hikers of the Appalachian Trail are referred to as thru-hikers. Their presence does quite a lot to influence the overarching culture of the Upper Valley trail for native residents. There is built and enforced a deep love and appreciation for the outdoors and for being a part of – and one with – it. The following is a piece which our informant brought with her from her own family folklore, in the West Coast outdoors – but has since shared with her friends here at Dartmouth – and has also seen, of various similar manifestations, as an element of the hiking traditions endemic to the Upper Valley.
Item
At certain points of a hike, the trail will open up, or there will be a break in the trees, and a grand view will open up. At these points, Jessie will have a ‘namaste moment’, in which she will stop, place her hands in prayer position at the center of the chest, and bow her head. It is a moment, she says, to pause and have some silence. It is a moment to acknowledge that you are part of a greater system: it does not belong to you, but it is a part of you all the same. Most all hikers cognizant and appreciative of their environment will have intentional moments such as these.
Significance
This is a piece of folklore which is a moment to acknowledge the being of a part of folklore.