etiological myth | Dartmouth Folklore Archive

General Information about Item:

Informant Data:

Eliot Scymanski was born in Hamden, Connecticut. He attended Franklin and Marshall, where he swam there and graduated in 2012 with a degree in environmental studies. Eliot began assistant coaching at Dartmouth in 2015, and has just completed his third year of coaching. Eliot is taking a break from coaching to pursue his dream of being a professional tri-athlete.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: This chant is one of the oldest, most binding traditions of the Dartmouth Swim & Dive Team. It has been lead by coaches and team leaders for a long time, and has helped the team bond, not only with its immediate teammates, but across generations.
Social Context: Eliot reported on rumors that he has heard while coaching the Dartmouth Swim Team, especially about the supposed origin of the team’s famous chant, in a one-on-one interview.

Item:

The Dartmouth men’s team cheer – “Kipsalana” – and its mysterious origins and creation.
Kipsalana Cheer: “Kipsalana,Kapsalana Squish Squa. Tie hi Silicon Sku Cum Wa. Mojo Mummik. Muka Muka Zip. Dartmouth Dartmouth Rip Rip Rip. Tie Hi Sis Boom Ba. Dartmouth Dartmouth Rah Rah Rah.”

Video of the Men’s Swim Team Performing Kipsalana:

(Download to Play)

Transcript:

“I heard that the Men’s Team cheer, ‘Kipsalana’, was created the first year that the program was created, passed down all these years. Whether this is true or not, no one alive knows, it is just rumors I have heard. There is also supposedly a secret meaning to the cheer, however no one knows for sure.”

Informant’s Comments:

I haven’t been here quite long enough to totally understand some of this team history.

Collector’s Comments:

Kipsalana is so old, no one really knows the origin of the chant, yet everyone seems so committed to preserving it.

Collector’s Name: Matthew Luciano

Tags/Keywords: Music Folklore, Etiological Myth, William Bascom, Swimming

Dartmouth Folklore Archive