Tag Archives: Jesus

Nativity Scene

General Information About Item:

Customary Lore, Religious Tradition
Material Lore, Nativity Scene
Language: English
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: B.L.
Date Collected: 11-08-2021

Informant Data:

B.L. is a senior at Tulane University. An avid reader and one who enjoys the arts, these parts about him were borne about as a result of his family. He grew up in Newton, Massachusetts and has one brother. B.L. was brought up in a devout Catholic family.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: The nativity scene is the portrayal of the birth of Jesus Chirst. It is something which is celebrated by the Christian faith especially during the Christmas season. It represents the birth of the Lord and Savior, Jesus, and the gifts which he was brought as a young boy which represent the power and authority he had since birth.
Social Context: B.L’s family commemorates this event each year through acting out the nativity scene. This scene is sometimes represented in Church, with children playing the majority of the roles, but B.L’s family has adopted this tradition and continues to do it to this day as adults.

Item:

Every year on the night before Christmas, B.L’s extended family partakes in a nativity play which represents the birth of Jesus Chirst. Each member of his extended family, cousins and all, dress up as a different role and act out this scene in front of his grandparents. Each member of the family has their own unique part to play and plays the same role every year. B.L. noted that from a young age he was chosen to play the role of Jesus, something which he looks forward to every year.

Transcript:

“I don’t completely remember how far this tradition goes back but I think that says something in itself- we’ve been doing this since I can remember. As you know, my family is quite religious and sees Christmas as an opportunity to remember the life of Jesus Christ and all that he sacrificed for us. At times during the year I forget just how involved I am and should be with my religion, and this is a means of connecting back with that part of myself and my culture. Since a young age, I have played the role of Jesus, and while it surely used to be a lot cuter with all the young cousins doing their best to act out the nativity scene, it’s still something we all take very seriously. I’d also say it’s a great way for my family to connect during the Christmas season and spend quality time together. I don’t get to see my brother and my parents nearly as much as I’d like to these days and the nativity scene is something which connects my family.”

Informant’s Comments:

“Acting out the birth of Jesus is a great way to connect with my religious background. In this way I am both actively able to commemorate his life, and also teach myself a bit about how to be more like him each and every day.”

Collector’s Comments:

This interview was definitely different from a few of my others, but I knew coming in that B.L’s catholic background would provide some religious traditions. While this event is rooted in religion which is shared, the event of acting out the nativity scene is somewhat specific to B.L’s family- he is the only one of my five interviewee’s whose family participates in an event like this. I would argue that this in fact makes it a piece of folklore due to the fact that it is a tradition specific to his family.

Collected By:

Daniel Hincks

Boston, MA

Hanover, NH

Dartmouth College

RUSS013

Fall 2021

“Jesusito de mi vida” (Lucy Murray)

Title: Jesusito de mi vida

General Information about Item:

Verbal Folklore

Language: Spanish

Country of Origin: Spain

Informant: I.G.

Date Collected: 10-23-21

Informant Data:

I.G. was born on December 11th, 2001. Her mom was born in the Dominican Republic, but lived in Spain. Her Grandparents were also from Spain. She spent most of her Childhood going back and forth between Spain and Miami. She currently lives in Cleveland, Ohio. Spanish was her first language growing up. I.G. is a sophomore on the lacrosse team at Dartmouth. Her parents are both very involved in the sports industry as her mother was a professional tennis player and her father, an agent. She shared with me that this lullaby we collected was a huge part of her life growing up, as well as in her mothers and grandparents’ lives due to its catholic roots.

Contextual Data:

Social Context:

This lullaby was sung to her every night before going to bed when she was little. Her mom felt it was the best way to stay connected with her family heritage while being so far away. I.G. grew accustomed to hearing “Jesusito de mi Vida” before falling asleep. When her mom couldn’t be there to sing it to her, she would call her before going to bed.

Cultural Context:

This lullaby originated from Asturias Spain where I.G.’s grandparents lived. Her grandparents sang her the lullaby as a child. It is a catholic lullaby so growing up I.G. and her brother felt connected to that aspect of their family as well.

Item:

Jesusito de mi vida,

eres niño como yo,

por eso te quiero tanto

y te doy mi corazón.

¡Tómalo! Tuyo es, y mío no.

Audio:

Informant Comments:

This lullaby helped me stay connected to my family that does not currently live in the US since we all would hear it before bed.

Collector Comments:

I found this lullaby and interview very eye opening as I do not have any family that lives outside the US. It was incredibly interesting to see how such a simple, small thing such as a lullaby can have huge impacts on families.

Collectors Name: Lucy Murray

Jesus and The Plastic Bong

Title: Jesus and the plastic bong

General information about item:

Tradition, Material Lore
Location: Appalachian Trail, United States
Informant: Jimmy Coleman
Date Collected: 11/06/19

Informant Data:

Jimmy Coleman, age 20, is a sophomore at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, where he is studying mathematics and computer science. He was born in Baltimore County and loves the outdoors, which he learned from his ample hiking and camping trips with his family as a child. He undertook his thru hiking adventure on the Appalachian Trail when he was 17 years old.

Contextual Data:

The Appalachian Trail (AT) begins in Springer Mountain in Georgia and continues north up the Eastern United States until Mount Katahdin in Maine. The trail is about 2,200 miles long and generally takes someone seven months to complete. People can hike this trail either from north to south (SOBO) or south to north (NOBO).

Item:

Jimmy told us a tradition involving a man with the trail name Jesus and his plastic bong. Apparently, Jesus was a homeless man, a common demographic of people on the trail. He had been on the trail for many years, and he always had with him his plastic bong. Every time he passed through the midpoint of the trail, he carved a little notch in the bong. He would then pass it off to someone heading the opposite direction, so they could carry the bong. This created a tradition of hikers passing the bong to other hikers traveling the opposite direction, each time carving a little notch into the bong as they passed the midpoint of the trail.

Interview:

Collector notes:

I continued this conversation with Jimmy at a later point in order to gather additional information.

Collector: Erica Busch