Thomas Ciesla
Russian 13
Collection Project
Ritualistic Lore Myself
“The family tattoo” Naperville, Illinois
October 2020
Informant Data:
Greg McClellan was born in the western Suburbs of Chicago on December 23rd, 1975. His father was a salesman for a corrugated supply factory in the industrial part of Chicago. He is a brother of three, two brothers and one sister. Greg is the youngest of his whole family. Also, he has one son and two daughters of his own. Greg works in customer relations for a technology company based in Chicago. His family is of Scottish descent.
Contextual Data:
The McClellan family is steeped in deep traditions and ritualistic behavior. These behaviors are so pervasive throughout the family, they have almost become a rite of passage for the men who are required to participate. While Greg and his family keep the secrets of his family traditions locked under tight lips, he has agreed to share his coveted rituals if his name and address is anonymized. There are three milestones in which the McClellan family believes are of utmost significance in one’s life; when you turn 21 years old, 50 years old, and then 75 years old. These are the true marks of a life well endured and the filler in between those milestones are insignificant. For each of the three milestones, the rituals remain the same. Masculinity flows through family gatherings without regard, and if the male family members are intoxicated enough, the small-talk conversation is usually infused with verbal jabs with incorporated elements from the rituals surrounding the passage of the three milestones in one life. While it only happens three times in one’s life, these rituals are long vested in the history and traditions of the McClellan family. To a certain extent, this is the glue that holds the family together, and it would be a sin for any male to disrespect or forsake these traditions. For the McClelln family, the small amount of pain that is inflicted upon the family member pales in comparison to the centuries of tradition.
Item:
On the day of your 21st birthday, the male family member is taken to the family barn that is central to all male family members in the McClellan lineage. These rituals take place in the cover of night, absent of prying eyes. The male participant who partakes in the rite of passage is ritualistically invited to drink ten beers in under an hour. The other male family members usually join in the drinking of ten beers in an hour, but only the male turning a year older that night is strictly watched by everyone to assure the beverages are consumed. The empty beers from the participant are lined up and kept watch by all others in attendance. After the intoxicated individual is cheerful, stumbling, and finished with his ten beers, the other males gather around and bound the hands and feet of the male with ropes and tape. The family creed is then read aloud as the family members encircle the bound individual. After the creed is spoken aloud by all (three times), a skinny iron rod is heated up with a blowtorch. Each milestone in life, 21, 50, 75, marks a point in the triangle that is branded upon all males of the family, therefore on the night upon passage of each milestone they are branded with a single dot on the right shoulder. By the age of 76, they will have three dots on their right shoulder that form a triangle. The triangle represents life and the dots are the rites of passage required by each male member of the family. Afterwards, Greg says the gifts of camaraderie and friendship make the whole experience worth the small amount of temporary pain.
Greg Mclellan, 48
2278 W Boro Road, Naperville, Illinois 60565
N/A
Russ 013
Dartmouth College
20F/2021