J.T. is a student at the University of Buffalo. He is 19 years old and lives in New York.
Social context: I interviewed J.T. on May 10, 2020 over FaceTime. He shared his feelings of Slenderman and past memories he has of coming across Youtube videos of Slenderman.
Cultural context: The Youtube video titled “Entry #1” has amassed over seven million views and was posted on June 20, 2009. It was made as a part of a series by a channel called “Marble Hornets” which created more Slenderman content. The grainy video quality and missing audio adds to the realness of Slenderman, and the quick camera shots of the figure are a trademark feature to the popular creature.
Reddit user MLPTTM chose to remain anonymous in the chatroom but wanted to share their thoughts on the stories of Slenderman on Creepy Pasta.
Social context: I interviewed MLPTTM on May 19, 2020 through a chatroom. They shared their feelings of Slenderman and what peaked their interest when reading Slenderman stories.
Cultural context: Slenderman is an urban legend that originated through multiple stories shared across the internet. He is often depicted as a tall faceless man and is associated with disappearances and sinister powers.
Item: “I like him because most creepypastas try to scare you with blood, gore, and if you’re lucky hyper-realistic blood. Slenderman scared me with psychological horror; making me scared of fields, trees, and sometimes nothing. He has made me as paranoid as I’ve been in my life and I love the thrill. His design is simple and terrifying because it can make him visible in a field or invisible in a forest. His humanoid figure makes him seem real like him stalking you can happen. I think the biggest thing that makes him interesting is that nobody has any full idea what happens when he gets you.”
Informant S.K is a female Dartmouth student in the class of 2021. She was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and currently lives there. She is a Native American Studies major at Dartmouth and is involved with Native Americans at Dartmouth (NAD). Informant S.K. is affiliated with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. She considers her relationship to her culture very strong because the school she went to as a child emphasized a Native-based curriculum. She had a lot of great Native role models in this school that strengthened her knowledge of her Ojibwe heritage.
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context: This is a story that is often told in Informant S.K’s Ojibwe culture. There are several Ojibwe words used in the item and they are italicized for easy spotting. The Ojibwe people are a woodlands dwelling group that is Native to North America. In the Ojibwe culture, storytelling is prevalent and is revered as a sacred activity. Lady Slippers are delicate and only bloom every 14 years.
Social Context: Informant S.K. learned about this story in grade school through a program her school offered called book of the month. Each month there would be a book highlighting a Native culture. Normally, this story would be told by an elder and in a much more formal process. It would probably be told with much more Ojibwe and in the winter because that is when storytelling is done.
Item:
How the lady slipper flower came to be is a story about a young Ojibwe girl that saved her village because she selflessly made a dangerous trek across a frozen lake in the dead of winter. After her trip she was so exhausted that she passed out and left a path of bloody footprints. Where her footprints were, the lady slipper flower bloomed.
Transcript:
“A long time ago in an Ojibwe village, there was a girl who loved her family, her people, and her community. She looked up to her brother the most. Her brother was the messenger because of how smart and fast he was. He would go to other tribes to communicate and send messages from his chief back and forth. And she always wanted to go with him, but he never let her because she was a little girl. One day a terrible sickness fell over the village. The chief told the messenger that he needed to go to the neighboring tribe to get the mashkiki (medicine) that they needed to cure the sickness. So the messenger said he would go the next day, but he caught the sickness, so he couldn’t go. The sickness started spreading and getting more intense. The little girl, seeing her brother and community getting sick, decided to go to the neighboring village. It was the middle of the winter in Minnesota. That didn’t stop her. She put on her warmest moccasins, her warmest jacket, and bundled up and left in the middle of the night when everyone else was sleeping because she knew people would tell her not to go on this dangerous journey. She walked across the frozen lake and got to the village and told them what was happening. They gave her the medicine bundle and told her that they would all make the journey back to her village in the morning because of how dark and dangerous it was to be traveling in the dark and in the storm. They gave her broths and warm liquids and let her rest, telling her again that they would take her back to her village in the morning. So when they were sleeping, she went back to her village. She fell into the frozen lake when she was walking back, but was able to crawl out. Her moccasins were gone, so she continued walking back barefoot for most of the trek in the middle of the winter. By the time she got to the edge of her village, she was so weak that she fell and passed out from exhaustion. The people heard her and came and grabbed the medicine bundle. They noticed that there was a path of bloody footprints that led to her. So they took her in and gave her soups and warm liquids and teas to make her feel better, so they used the medicine she got to heal the people and the young girl. In the springtime, where her bloody footprints were is where the lady slipper bloomed. The lady slippers honor her selflessness and the sacrifice she made.”
Informant’s Comments:
“A lot of tribes and bands of Ojibwe people in Minnesota have this story, so in no way is the way I heard it the only correct way. I respect all tribal interpretations of this story.”
Collector’s Comments:
I grew up in another Ojibwe community (Bay Mills Indian Community) and I never heard this story. It was really exciting to hear something new and relevant to my own culture from another Ojibwe woman.
K.B. was born in the suburbs of New York and is currently a freshman in highschool
Social context: I interviewed K.B. on May 18, 2020 over FaceTime. He shared his interpretations of Slenderman and what came to his mind when he heard that name.
Cultural context: Slenderman is an urban legend that originated through multiple stories shared across the internet. He is often depicted as a tall faceless man who primarily targets children. The website creepypasta is a public forum where anybody can post scary stories they have written anonymously. This site is home to numerous folklore of Slenderman.
“The setting of the story was off putting because when I imagine Slenderman I think of him in the woods.The story ended in a typical erie way and the self inflicted injuries the girl inflicted is in line with some of the powers i think Slenderman has”
“Paint your porch ceiling blue to keep away the haints”
Kelly Bugg
Fredonia, KY
May 20, 2020
Informant Data:
Kelly Bugg is my mother. She was born in 1961 in Fredonia, KY to a family of farmers who had been farming on the same land for generations. Kelly grew up in an extremely small, rural town and has lived there for the majority of her life, surrounded by other rural family members and friends.
Contextual Data:
I collected this folklore by asking Kelly for examples of Southern Superstitions. I had heard the superstition of painting the porch ceiling blue, in fact my ceiling is painted blue for this very reason. Kelly learned this piece of folklore from her elders when she was a child and believes that the underlying reason for this folklore, as well as being aesthetic, is to keep the insects away from the porch, as well as the “haints” that the folklore speaks about.
Item:
If you paint your porch ceiling light blue, it’ll keep away the haints.
Transcript:
I don’t really know how I learned these superstitions or sayings, my grandmother and really all my grandparents would just come up with them based on the situation. But one is painting your porch ceiling a light blue color, actually there’s a haint blue color out there, some of the paint companies have it. What it was thought was to keep the haints or the dead away. Really what I think was more like (pause, I believe that she was developing her own thoughts as to why this superstition occurs) was to keep the insects, the insects, the wasps, the mosquitos would think that it was the sky and they would kinda go on away from the porch. So either way, insects or haints, it kept things away off your porch so you could sit out and enjoy.
Jack Dwortz was born on May 15, 2000. He was born in Illinois but was raised and currently lives in Boston. He has an older sister and a younger brother, and his family has lived in New England for generations. Jack has not yet declared a major but has interests in languages. Between the end of high school and starting college, Jack traveled to Italy and Spain and is fluent in both Italian and Spanish. He also has learned French and German since his gap year. Jack is a current Dartmouth student in the class of 2023.
Contextual Data:
Social Context: While he was in Italy, Jack attended classes formally to learn Italian in a classroom setting. He learned this nursery rhyme from his Italian teachers in Rome. He joyously remembered this children’s nursery rhyme as a silly jingle for a crocodile’s behavior.
Cultural Context:“Il coccodrillo come fa?” is sung to and by children in school settings. The rhyme is widespread throughout Italy and there are no variations.
Item:
Audio file:
Original Text:
Il coccodrillo come fa
Non c’è nessuno che lo sa
Si dice mangi troppo
Non metta mai il cappotto
Che con i denti punga
Che molto spesso pianga
Però quand’è tranquillo come fa ‘sto coccodrillo?
Il coccodrillo come fa
Non c’è nessuno che lo sa
Si arrabbia ma non strilla
Sorseggia camomilla
E mezzo addormentato se ne va
Word-for-word translation:
The crocodile how does
Not there is no one that it knows
One says eats too much
Not puts on never the jacket
That with the teeth punctures
That very often cries.
But when is tranquil how does this crocodile
The crocodile how does
The crocodile how does
Not there is no one that it knows
Itself angers but not yells
Sips chamomile
And half asleep itself of this goes.
Free translation:
What sound does the crocodile make?
Nobody knows!
They say he eats too much,
That he bites with his teeth,
That he cries all the time.
But when he’s calm what sound does this crocodile make?
What sound does the crocodile make?
Nobody knows!
He gets angry but he doesn’t yell,
He sips his chamomile
And, half asleep, he goes away.
Informant’s Comments:
Jack thinks of this nursery rhyme as an introduction of animal noises for children and is used to entertain children
Collector’s Comments:
“Il coccodrillo come fa?” belongs to the category of nursery rhymes that incite joy in children. This nursery rhyme is short and entertaining, allowing for its easy memorization and transmittance. As a result, this nursery rhyme has a longevity that will continue to extend for many years.
Informant S.K is a female Dartmouth student in the class of 2021. She was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and currently lives there. She is a Native American Studies major at Dartmouth and is involved with Native Americans at Dartmouth (NAD). Informant S.K. is affiliated with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and grew up learning a lot about her culture through the high school she went to. She dances in pow wows and is one of the best traditional beaders that I know.
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context: This is a story that is often told in Informant S.K’s Ojibwe culture. There are several Ojibwe words used in the item and they are italicized for easy spotting. In the Ojibwe culture, storytelling is prevalent and is revered as a sacred activity. Stories are normally only told during certain times of the year because there are seasonal jobs to be done. In the summer, you are fishing and gathering for your family. In the fall, you are heading to wild rice camp and preparing for winter. In the winter, you normally tell stories and go hunting. In the springtime, you gather maple sap and make maple syrup.
Social Context: Informant S.K. learned about this story in grade school through a picture book, similar to her first interview. Her grade school generally had a lot of books about Ojibwe culture for her to read. She also told me later that this story would generally be told sitting in a circle with everyone paying complete attention to the storyteller, which would generally be an elder.
Item:
How the Ojibwe people got maple syrup tells a story of how the Ojibwe people were starving & the maple tree saw this and took pity on them. He said to cut one of his branches off and maple syrup would come out. The Ojibwe people then quit hunting and gathering any food, just eating maple syrup. The trickster Nanaboozhoo saw this and poured a pail of water into the maple tree, diluting the syrup and turning it into maple sap. He said if you want to enjoy maple syrup, you have to work for it. In order to get one gallon of maple syrup, you must boil 40 gallons of the sap. This is why the Ojibwe people still make maple syrup today.
Transcript:
“A long time ago, winter had ended, or was about to end, and there was no more food left. People were hungry and this man was walking around foraging for food. An ininaatig (Maple Tree, Man Tree) saw him and felt bad for this poor human who could not sustain himself or his people. He took pity on him and gave part of himself to the man. He said, “Listen Anishinaabe (Original People, another name for Ojibwe), I pity you. What I think you should do is cut off one of my branches and something will come out that has a great caloric density that will last you a very long time. You can cut it out and harvest it and give it to your people. All trees that look like me will do this.” When the man cut off the branch, a thick brown sweet liquid fell out and it was maple syrup. It was really good, sweet, and relatively easy to get because all you had to do was cut a branch off. A lot of Ojibwe people began laying under the trees and cutting branches off with their mouth open to eat the syrup. They were getting lazy and fat, so the trickster, Nanaboozhoo, came along and asked them why they weren’t doing their jobs and fulfilling their jobs instead of eating syrup. The people were too lazy even respond to Nanaboozhoo, so he went to the river and got a pail of water and poured it into the maple tree. It diluted the maple syrup and what came out of the tree was sap. The Anishinaabe were shocked and then Nanaboozhoo said, “if you want syrup you have to work for it. you have to tap the trees and boil it. You need 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.” This is how the Ojibwe people got maple syrup and we still do it today.
Informant’s Comments:
“Before I tell the story, I want to say that maple syrup harvesting is the primary activity of the springtime. It is considered one of the sacred foods to the Ojibwe people. It is considered a luxury item. The sap is considered medicine and if someone offers you maple syrup it’s kind of a big deal.”
“This story is representative of how in our culture you have to work hard for what you get, especially food.”
Collector’s Comments:
I have heard this story from a family friend on my reservation, and it was interesting to hear another version of it from someone else who is also familiar with my culture.
Jack Dwortz was born on May 15, 2000. He was born in Illinois but was raised and currently lives in Boston. He has an older sister and a younger brother, and his family has lived in New England for generations. Jack has not yet declared a major but has interests in languages. Between the end of high school and starting college, Jack traveled to Italy and Spain and is fluent in both Italian and Spanish. He also has learned French and German since his gap year. Jack is a current Dartmouth student in the class of 2023.
Contextual Data:
Social Context: While he was in Italy, Jack learned this nursery rhyme from his host family around Christmas time. Gathered around the dinner table, the family introduced and explained the rhyme to Jack. He fondly recounted this memory to me, as if he was once again reveling in the same happy moments of the holiday season.
Cultural Context: This nursery rhyme is well-known and prevalent throughout Italy and is either said to or by children. It is generally told during Christmas and describes la befana, who is a witch who delivers candies or gifts to children on January 5th, the Eve of Epiphany. Although the first two lines are always the same, the last two lines can differ, depending on the region in which one lives. Despite the variations, the nursery rhyme is recognizable by all as “La befana vien di notte”.
Item:
Audio file:
Original Text:
La befana vien di notte,
Con le scarpe tutte rotte,
Col vestito alla romana.
Viva viva la befana
Alternate last 2 lines:
Colla scopa di saggina
Viva viva la nonnina
Word-for-word translation:
The Befana comes of night
With the shoes all broken
With the dress to the roman
Live live the befana.
Alternate last 2 lines:
With the broom of sage
Live live the little grandma.
Free translation:
The Befana comes at night
In tattered shoes
Dressed in Roman style
Long live the Befana!
Alternate last 2 lines:
On her sage broomstick
Long live the little granny.
Informant’s Comments:
To Jack, “La befana vien di notte” represents the anticipation and excitement of the witch bearing treats for the good children and a stick or coal for the bad children. The distinction between the stick and coal corresponds to poorer or richer regions in Italy, respectively. Jack likened the concept to the American concept of Santa Claus, a connection which allowed him to better understand Italian culture.
Collector’s Comments:
Similar to some other nursery rhymes, “La befana vien di notte” contains elements that are used to frighten children. Not only does this introduce a force that encourages good behavior but it also instills a sense of cultural identity in children. Passing on nursery rhymes from a young age can help to consolidate these memories and ensure that it is passed to future generations.
Joanne Liu was born on May 29, 2001 to Chinese parents in Hong Kong. She grew up there and grew up speaking English, Cantonese, and Mandarin. Joanne is a current Dartmouth student in the class of 2023.
Contextual Data:
Social Context: Joanne learned this nursery rhyme from her dad as a child. Parents serve as another source from which Chinese children can learn nursery rhymes.
Cultural Context: Although the nursery rhyme is widespread, there are different versions of the song. The nursery rhyme reflects the prevalent usage of rickshaws in China during the 20th century, highlighting the difficult life of rickshaw drivers. Much like some other nursery rhymes, there is a component that reflects contemporary events or climates.
Item:
Audio file:
Original Text:
三轮车跑得快
上面坐个老太太
要五角，给一元
你说奇怪不奇怪
Transliteration:
San lun che pao de kuai
Shang mian zuo ge lao tai tai
Yao wu mao, gei yi kuai
Ni shuo qi guai bu qi guai
Word-for-word translation:
Three-wheeled car, runs fast
On top sits a old lady
Need 50 cents, give a dollar
You say weird not weird
Free translation:
The rickshaw runs really fast
A little old lady sits on the top
You’ll need 50 cents, but tip a dollar
You say it’s weird, but it isn’t weird
Informant’s Comments:
Joanne believed that the nursery rhyme underscored the little money that rickshaw drivers made, $.50, but they were helped by people who would give tips to help them.
Collector’s Comments:
Rickshaws represent an essential part of Chinese culture, which garners not only respect from the general public but also the proper payment of their drivers.
J.S. is a member of the Class of 2020 at Dartmouth and is affiliated with Greek Life. He is from New Jersey and studies Economics.
Contextual Data:
Cultural context: This refers to deciding and letting a fraternity know that they are your first option during rush. It typically occurs on a Friday night and in some cases on Saturday night.
Social context: This item was collected through video chat. This cultural artifact is part of the start of the rush process.
Item: Shaking out is a custom through which potential new members let a fraternity know that they are very interested in that fraternity and that it is their first choice. It refers to a ritual that is common across all fraternities.
Collector’s Comments:
What makes this item important is that is often the very first step in the rush process and is a ritual that all fraternity members can relate to.
