Category Archives: Other

X.ado acapella conference

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Title: X.ado acapella conference

General Information about Item:

  • Folklore: rituals, traditions
  • Language: English
  • Country where Item is from: United States of America

Informant Data:

  • Trevor Davis is an ’18 that joined X.ado his freshman year and sang in his high school choir for three years. He is 21 years old. He was born in Wheaton, Illinois. He grew up and still lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is majoring in computer science, and minoring in math and anthropology.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context

This conference provides a way for X.ado to socialize and connect with more people, and serves as an event for the people within X.ado to connect and socialize amongst themselves. It is probably a fun activity for them to do together that strengthens the group dynamic.

The people in

  • Cultural Context

People that engage in similar activities or are like minded, or have some major factors that connect them like to connect with each other, network with each other, and socialize with each other. X.ado is no exception to this, there are many Christian acapella groups all over the United States that want to find people engaging in the same activity that share their same beliefs and lifestyles, and they all meet together.

Item:

  • Members of X.ado attend the “Break it Down in Boston” conference, which is a conference for Christian acapella groups to meet up.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

https://youtu.be/o15wfAOuSWk

Transcript of Associated File:

A couple of things that got introduced in the group that changed since we got founded one is that we do more activities as a group. We have prayer partners where you match with someone individual in the group, that helps us bond more and know people on an individual basis since rehearsal’s everyone all together, and also as we become more established and groups like ours spread, we have more interactions with those groups. For example, there’s this conference we do every year called “Break it down Boston” which is a gathering of all the different Christian acapella groups so it’s a very different dynamic than you have with other musical conferences and that’s a cool way to see how our group along with other groups has evolved over time as we become more of a national thing.

Informant’s Comments:

  • Check transcript

Collector’s Comments:

  • It’s not at all uncommon for college students to attend meetups and conferences. There are conferences for many different interest groups, such as for demographic factors (race and gender), intellectual interests, and for sports as well. These conferences serve as a way for people to meet people to network with that share some factor with them.

Collector’s Name: Marcus Reid

Tags/Keywords:

  • Acapella
  • Singing
  • Conference
  • Tradition

 

X-hour

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Title: X-hour

General Information about Item:

  • Customary folklore: rituals, traditions
  • Language: English
  • Country where Item is from: USA

Informant Data:

  • Trevor Davis is an ’18 that joined X.ado his freshman year and sang in his high school choir for three years. He is 21 years old. He was born in Wheaton, Illinois. He grew up and still lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is majoring in computer science, and minoring in math and anthropology.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context

All members of X.ado participate in this ritual. It occurs once a week. This ritual began when the group was created 25 years ago. The informant first experienced it during his first week as a member of X.ado.

  • Cultural Context

X-hour is a joke about the Dartmouth class schedule. Every class has extra optional class periods that professors use as much or as little as they wish. These periods are often called X hours. This ritual of meeting once a week just to share beliefs, reconnect and talk also reflects the inclusive and close group culture X.ado has.

Item: Once a week, X.ado meets for an hour to have an event called “X-hour”. At this event, members sometimes participate in prayers together, have a bible study, support other members by sharing affirmations about each other, make spontaneous music together and more. The hour is a chance for group members to relax, have a good time and reconnect.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

https://youtu.be/Ok09mJ4PeNQ

Transcript of Associated File:

X-hour is something we do once a week, for an hour. It starts with an X, it’s kind of a joke about the class schedule. It’s something we’ve been doing for the full 25 years of our existence where we just meet together as a group and have a bible study. Like last week we did affirmations, where we go around the group and everybody says something like really affirmative about the person that they like or something meaningful about that person. It helps us grow together as a group. Sometimes during X-hour one of the things that we’ll do is worship. We’ll have someone bring it like a guitar or something and just do some music to celebrate our faith and people try to like harmonize and stuff, but if you are not prepared for that, where you don’t have sheet music like for acapella then you sound like really really bad. I remember sometimes just like these atrocious noises coming out of x-hour, but people have a good time and it just makes it really entertaining.

Informant’s Comments:

  • See transcript

Collector’s Comments:

This is a pretty unique tradition that I haven’t seen with any other groups. It makes sense given X.ado’s religious roots and serves to strengthen the group as well as their religious connection.

Collector’s Name: Marcus Reid

Compiled/Analyzed by: Afnan Enayet/Sruthi Pasupuleti

Tags/Keywords:

  • acapella
  • team
  • ritual
  • bonding

 

 

Bigs, Littles & Families

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Title: Bigs, Littles & Families

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Ritual, Tradition
  • English
  • USA

Informant Data:

  • Dami Apoeso is 21 years old and was born in Hartford Connecticut. He grew up in the Bronx, New York City and currently lives in Spring Valley, New York. He is majoring in computer science. He danced for approximately 6 years in a summer camp before joining Sheba his sophomore year at Dartmouth.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context

All members of Sheba are involved in bigs, littles and families. Typically bigs are seniors and littles are freshmen, and sophomores and juniors make up the families. Families, bigs, and littles are set up at the beginning of fall term after new members have joined the team. Bigs and littles have existed for a long time according to the informant, but involving sophomores and juniors and creating families is a new tradition that started this year.

  • Cultural Context

Sheba thinks of itself as a second family, and its tradition of having bigs and littles ensures that freshmen assimilate well into the team and feel included. The new tradition of having families ensures that people from all years are involved and reinforces Sheba’s attempts to maintain its inclusive culture.

Item:

All new members of the team (called littles) are given a big (seniors on the team). Bigs guide their littles and give them advice regarding the team, school, and life in general. The big-little system was created to help new members feel included on the team and make their transition easier. This year sophomores and juniors were also included in the tradition with the creation of families. Families serve a similar role as bigs and littles, and members get close to other members in their families.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Bigs, Littles & Families

Transcript of Associated File:

“Typically in Sheba we had big-littles where a senior would take a freshman under their wing as their little and show them the ropes and make sure they assimilate well into the group. This year our directors have implemented families where you still have that big-little relationship, but we have sophomores and juniors join these relationships and form families. That way no one is really excluded. Um you have a freshman that has a senior as their big but they have other upperclassmen in their family, so yeah that was a nice addition.”

Informant’s Comments:

The informant believes the big-little relationships have been successful at strengthening the bonds between team members, and furthermore believes the creation of families has helped with this goal as well.

Collector’s Comments:

This is an extremely interesting tradition because it is very similar to what many greek houses do to help new members transition into joining their house. The tradition has worked very well for greek houses so it is not surprising that it has worked for Sheba as well.

Collector’s Name: Marcus Reid

Compiled/Analyzed by: Sruthi Pasupuleti

Tags/Keywords:

  • Dance
  • Team
  • Ritual
  • Tradition
  • Bonding

Ritual – Down the Line Fist Bump

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Title: Down the Line Fist Bump

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Customary
    • Subgenre:   Ritual, Tradition
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Will Kaufman ’20 is a 19-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Boulder, CO. He is the middle child between two sisters. He started rowing his freshman fall upon entering Dartmouth. As a walk-on rower, he came in knowing nothing about the sport.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Like most, race-day rituals, this Down the Line Fist Bump is primarily taught inside the boats. The rowers line up before readying up for the race, and before they begin competing, they send a fist bump from the stern to the bow (front to back), in order to motivate each rower and encourage them.

Cultural Context: Like most of the folklore of the D150 Team, this piece focuses on fostering team unity and bolstering motivation. It unites both new and experienced rowers who are in the same boat with the same sending of the fist bump continuously from front to back. In addition, it encourages newer rowers like Will, who may be nervous about their early competitions.

Item: This item is a customary piece of folklore that helps build team unity and motivates/encourages the rowers to try their best. It is customary because it is a single practiced ritual that happens every race in the same way that involves the same people in every boat. It is folklore because it is performed by all the members of this folkgroup in their respective boats and celebrates their commonalities (in this case, them being in the same boat).

Associated media:

 

Transcript (4:04 – 5:15):

WK: “When we’re all lined up ready to go, we typically just, like, start from stern to bow, um just send back a fist bump. So, uh, like, I don’t know, stroke will be uh just, turn around and fist bump seventh seat, and seventh seat fist bumps sixth seat and just send it down to bow. Just to kinda get everyone hyped up and ready to go… and uh I don’t know, just ‘hey, we’re all in this together, let’s go row.'”

BC: “So for something like that, right, like, when you first kinda encountered that, what was that like? Did you just kinda, sit down and did someone tell you, ‘hey, we’re gonna do this,’ or did you just know to do it instinctually?”

WK: “Uh… I mean, I knew to receive the fist bump instinctually, but uh… I forget who it was, probably… who was it…. it might have been Jason Auh, who was a ’17, or someone else. But, like I, uh, took the fist bump and was like, ‘Oh yeah, cool, ready to go,” but then he told me to send it back, and that kinda clicked in my head, ‘Oh, hey it’s a whole boat thing.’ So it’s just like everyone is like getting together and like focusing before the race starts.”

BC: “Right, right.”

WK: “So after the first time, it was pretty clear. Okay, fist bump forward, fist bump back.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • Sending “The Fist Bump” is interesting to study because it as simple as it seems, it still provides motivation for each of the rowers, both inexperienced and experienced. This unifying gesture shows the usages/importance of folklore to folk groups, especially when it comes to differentiation of their groups v. others.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

Ritual – Sprints Night

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Title: Sprints Night

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Customary
    • Subgenre:   Ritual, Ceremony
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Races are incredibly competitive for lightweight rowing, mainly because the team competes directly with other college teams and because all the weekly practices/weight cutting is in preparation for these races. To relieve the pressure, and celebrate the completion of a season, rowers all join together to observe Sprints Night.

Cultural Context: Sprints Night is a regular ritual that occurs every year after the New England Championships to celebrate the ending of another successful season and to build team unity. It is observed by all members of D150 and is passed down from each generation to the next.

Item: This item is a customary piece of folklore that focuses on the passing down of a ritual that is suppose to help build team unity and celebrate the conclusion of another successful racing season. It is customary because it is a single practiced ritual that happens every year in the same way that involves many different people within the folk group. It is folklore because it is performed by all the members of this folkgroup and celebrates their commonalities.

Associated media:

Transcript (8:49 – 8:58):

WS: “We have a thing called Sprints Night which is after our New England Championships, where we have a sort of, like a big team party, get-together.”

BC: “And that also happens like every single year after the last championships…”

WS: “Every year, yeah.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • Sprints Night is very similar to Freshmen Fun Night in that the sharing and passing down of this ritual focuses on all members of the folk group. All members of D150 crew participate in this ritual and it helps remind them of who they are and why they are similar to each other (celebrating the end of their common season). This also reinforces the ritual itself because a stronger more unified team is more likely to want to participate in these pan-folk group rituals and to preserve them.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

Weight Cutting Tip Sheet

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Title: Weight Cutting Tip Sheet

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Verbal, Customary
    • Subgenre:  Superstition, Ritual
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Lightweight rowing has a very strict weight cut off of 160 lbs, which means heavier rowers over 160lbs are barred from competition. The D150 team has an average weigh in of 155lbs. Due to the importance of falling under the 160lb limit, weight cutting is a central part of the D150 experience. To prepare new rowers and to remind more experienced ones, previous generations of D150 rowers compiled a list of common practices and tips for losing weight quickly. This list is handed down and shared between D150 rowers whenever big races are approaching and signals that rowers should begin considering their weights more seriously in preparation.

Cultural Context: Almost like a physical or material bequest, this list has been handed down through a line of rowers throughout the years. This document links generations and reminds them not only of their status as lightweight (sub -160lb) rowers, but also provides a unifying agent for the team. It signals that rowers should start becoming more cognizant of their weights as well as allows the rowers to all bond together over the coming challenge of losing weight.

Item: This item is a verbal (although also written) piece of folklore that contains common tips and advice for losing weight. It is both verbal and customary because many of its recommendations are transmitted through conversation and are then implemented. They are not based completely on fact but rather on observations over time and superstitions. These beliefs are passed down from generation to generation and helps create team unity because it allows all the rowers to rely on the same tactics and methods for losing weight.

Associated media:

Transcript (0:53 – 1:13):

WS: “On our team, the… we have a word document that’s been passed down the team for maybe five or six years. Um, and it was created six years ago or something…”

BC: “Right”

WS: “and it kinda dictates what the steps that you should take, the recommended steps that you should take the days going up to your weigh in.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • Receiving this weight cutting tip sheet reminds rowers that weight-cutting season is here. Because weight-cutting is specific only to the D150 team, new rowers who receive this tip sheet are essentially becoming incorporated into the team. Therefore, this poly-modal folklore is akin to a Rite of Passage for many new rowers.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

Bequest – No Weigh Day shirt

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Title: No Weigh Day shirt

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material, Customary Folklore
    • Subgenre: Ritual
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Grant McArtor ’19 is a 21-year-old caucasian male student from Spartenburg, South Carolina in the United States. He was originally born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. He has been rowing light-weight crew for five years (since junior year of high school) and has rowed on Dartmouth’s D150 varsity team since his freshman year. He has recently left the team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: As with any bequest, this item is traditionally passed down from graduating seniors to underclassmen on the rowing team who are deemed most fit to receive the object. This exchange happens annually in the spring after the competition season has come to a close. The event involves the whole team and requires presence for several hours, as each senior may give away several bequests, each with a description of the significance of the item and why it goes to the recipient underclassmen. During the process, teammates must wait until they either bequeath or are bequeathed an item. It is a spectacle for the team and is often humorous and emotional. Underclassmen express gratitude through words and little physical contact as to expedite the process.

Cultural Context: Bequests are handed down through a line of rowers throughout the years. This line is connected through a common trait (e.g., captainship, knowledge of statistics, heavy weight). The bequest links generations, creating team cohesiveness through history. The bequest indicates a unique importance and role in the team and generally shows that the recipient upholds the values of the team. Rowers wear bequests to exhibit that they are deserving of the honor bestowed upon them.

Item: This bequest is a blue tank top with neon pink letters that say “No Weigh Day.” It is traditionally given to the heaviest freshman rower.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

  • Image unavailable

Collector’s Comments: The receipt of the bequest resembles a rite of passage. Before the ceremony, the rower is a freshman member. He is then separated from his fellow freshmen as he is called up by the senior. During the transition phase, he receives the bequest and shows gratitude to the senior. He is then incorporated back into the team as a new version (labeled by the bequest) of his old self.

Collector’s Name: Sam Gochman

Tags/Keywords: D150, Dartmouth Light-Weight Rowing, Bequests, shirt, No Weigh Day

Myth – Lone Pine

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Title: Lone Pine myth

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Verbal Folklore
    • Subgenre: Myth
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Sam Lee ’18 is a 21-year-old male from Turlock, California. He has been rowing since joining light-weight crew in college as a walk-on.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: This myth is told to freshmen by upperclassmen. It can be told by any number of upperclassmen to any number of freshmen at a time; there is no formal or specific location or time to tell it. Freshmen take the story seriously when first hearing it. They often realize later that the story makes no sense in reality.

Cultural Context: This myth ties rowing to Dartmouth culture by connecting Dartmouth’s symbol to their own sport. It incorporates freshmen into the school’s culture. It encourages team bonding and creates excitement for the sport.

Item: This item is a myth describing the origin of crew at Dartmouth. Using the prominent Dartmouth symbol of the Lone Pine, the story connects freshmen to their new home.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTjUjf41xBs&feature=youtu.be

Transcript of Associated File:

Once upon a time, Dartmouth was covered in trees, but as Dartmouth developed and people moved in, they they started to cut down all the trees until Dartmouth was basically a landscape.
But there was one tree and it was by – kind of by where the the statue of Robert Frost is –  there’s a tower there and it’s the one tree that stayed there as the tallest among all the trees. Because all the trees were starting to be cut down, this was like the one tree that was left. It was the Lone Pine. The people of the town of Hanover were really proud of this tree because it was like the one last pine tree that they had after people had cut down all the other ones. And this stood the test of time for like 50 years until one day during a particularly bad storm a lightning bolt came and struck the tree and split it in half, and a lot of people were confused about this, like “What are we gonna do about this? Like this is like our Lone Pine, this is our symbol and it’s now split in half. What should we do with it? Like we should just like cut it down and we should just burn it or something.” And the rowing team at the time realized that this was gonna happen and they decided that one night they were gonna before the town had a chance to cut down the tree they decided that they were going to go out with axes cut down the street and make a boat out of it. And that’s what they did.

Informant’s Comments: There might be more to the story. He has only heard it once before during his freshman year. It might change between people as they tell the story with variations, but he doesn’t know that for sure.

Collector’s Comments: This myth is an etiological myth, as it describes the origin of rowing at Dartmouth. It might be regarded as truth for a moment, but it is more of a sacred story than a story to be followed as actual truth.

Collector’s Name: Sam Gochman

Tags/Keywords: Light-weight rowing, crew, D150, myth, Lone Pine

Bequest – Pocock belt

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Title: Pocock belt

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material, Customary Folklore
    • Subgenre: folk costume, traditions
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Will Kaufman ’20 is a 19-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Boulder, CO. He is the middle child between two sisters. He started rowing his freshman fall upon entering Dartmouth. As a walk-on rower, he came in knowing nothing about the sport.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: As with any bequest, this item is traditionally passed down from graduating seniors to underclassmen on the rowing team who are deemed most fit to receive the object. This exchange happens annually in the spring after the competition season has come to a close. The event involves the whole team and requires presence for several hours, as each senior may give away several bequests, each with a description of the significance of the item and why it goes to the recipient underclassmen. During the process, teammates must wait until they either bequeath or are bequeathed an item. It is a spectacle for the team and is often humorous and emotional. Underclassmen express gratitude through words and little physical contact as to expedite the process. It has been compared to receiving a Christmas present. This specific bequest is passed down from walk-on rower to walk-on rower.

Cultural Context: Bequests are handed down through a line of rowers throughout the years. This line is connected through a common trait (e.g., captainship, knowledge of statistics, heavy weight). The bequest links generations, creating team cohesiveness through history. The bequest indicates a unique importance and role in the team and generally shows that the recipient upholds the values of the team. Rowers wear bequests to exhibit that they are deserving of the honor bestowed upon them.

Item: This bequest is the Pocock belt. It is a strap used to tie down boats now repurposed as a belt. Pocock is a rowing brand originally made by an Englishman working out of the University of Washington. This bequest is passed down from walk-on rower to walk-on rower. This bequest was given to the informant by Widerschein ’17. The belt is thought to have originally been taken from the Dartmouth boathouse. The bequest is worn during meetings and important events such as socials and an end of the year celebration.

Associated media:

Informant’s Comments: Names on the belt are Widerschein ’17 and Kaufman ’20.

Collector’s Comments:

  • The receipt of the bequest resembles a rite of passage. Before the ceremony, the rower is a freshman member. He is then separated from his fellow freshmen as he is called up by the senior. During the transition phase, he receives the bequest and shows gratitude to the senior. He is then incorporated back into the team as a new version (labeled by the bequest) of his old self.

Collector’s Name: Sam Gochman

Tags/Keywords: D150, Dartmouth Light-Weight Rowing, Bequests, Pocock

Freshmen Class Year Shirts/Sweaters

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Title: Freshmen Class Year Shirts/Sweaters

General Information

Material Lore: Clothing

English

USA

Informant Data:

Julie Mayberry is from Greenwich, Connecticut and is a member of the 2020 class at Dartmouth. She is planning on being a History or English major, and was interviewed on 11/2/16 in Baker Library at Dartmouth College.

Contextual Data:

The informant first encountered this folklore item when she was visiting Dartmouth for homecoming. She noticed that all of the freshmen who were running around the bonfire were wearing their graduation year on their shirts and sweaters. Informant experienced this form of material folklore when she herself got to Dartmouth as a freshman, and felt obliged to buy clothing with her graduation year in order to wear it around the homecoming bonfire.

Item:

Every year, members of the freshman class at Dartmouth purchase shirts, sweaters, and other pieces of gear that show their class’ graduation year on them. The freshmen will wear these articles of clothing when they participate in events such as the Dartmouth Homecoming parade, and when they run around the bonfire. These articles of clothing with the graduating year of that year’s freshman class are often worn with a sense of pride.

 Transcript:

“I bought a class of 2020 shirt because I heard that everyone wears one to run around the bonfire on homecoming. I bought it at the coop when I got my student discount there and I also bought some of my other Dartmouth gear there. My dad went to Dartmouth and participates in the alumni parades with the class of ’75, so I went to Dartmouth homecomings a few times when I was growing up. I always saw the older alumni in the parade wearing their class sweaters and was pretty surprised to see how old some of the sweaters and shirts were. I think that the oldest one that I saw was in the ‘40s. Wearing my Dartmouth ’20 gear makes me feel like I’m a part of a larger organization and the class sweater is somewhat of a “rite of passage.” I think it will also be a nice memory to have after I graduate here and maybe I can pass it on to my kids some day.”

Informant’s Comments:

“Looking back on my first term at Dartmouth, I definitely think that wearing your class year at the homecoming bonfire is a source of pride for freshmen. It was really the first, big event for our class and it is a great memory. I’m definitely happy that I can hold on to my ’20 shirt for a long time.”

Collector’s Comments:

As a current senior, I can definitely look back upon my freshman year homecoming and say that it was a great feeling to put on my ’17 shirt. It was a really cool experience to see everyone in my class wearing their shirts as a source of pride and I can’t wait to wear the same shirt as an alumni.

Collector’s Name: John Mayberry

Tags/Keywords: Material Lore, Clothing, Class, Sweaters, Shirts, Gear, Freshmen, Homecoming