Mardi Gras

Did you know that Mardi Gras is still segregated in
some parts of the south? I was shocked. First of all I didn’t know that Mardi Gras
was elaborately celebrated anywhere else besides New Orleans. Living in
California, I have seen people wear a chain of beads to school sometime in February
in honor of Mardi Gras, but not an actual celebration.  Apparently people all over the south have
these celebrations. In Mobile, Alabama Mardi Gras is totally segregated. The White
people congregate at the white celebration and the Black people congregate at
the Black celebration.

I felt very uncomfortable watching this video. I
felt like the Black community was being held down and degraded. They say it is “separate,
but equal,” but it is actually separate, but NOT equal. The white people have
their parade first and the blacks do not attend. If they do, the little black
boys and girls do not get any beads or candy thrown to them. When the white
folk are done with their floats they have no purpose for them; they are “useless.”
They let the Black folk use their leftovers, but they have the audacity to
charge them for using them. It is not like the white group needs the money;
their celebration is more highly funded than the Black group.

The White people’s excuse is that they have been
doing it this way for hundreds of years, but we have done a lot of things as a
nation for hundreds of years and it definitely doesn’t make it right. They also
say that the Black community likes it that way, but from what I heard that is
not really true.

For the very first time, the Black king and queen
of Mardi Gras attended the White Ball, and in return the White king and queen attended
the Black ball. I got the impression that the Blacks had invited the White
royalty in the past, but they had never showed up. Personally I found this
situation very uncomfortable. I totally disapprove. Our traditions must evolve
along with our society or else they no longer fit. This situation no longer
fits. They should be integrated because it is not equal.

foodways

This week in my folklore class, we talked about foodways. Foodways refers to the study of eating habits and culinary practices of people. Every culture has its own way of eating, reasons for why they eat what they eat and its own meanings for food. Our food ties people together defining our social identities and social relationships. We watched a video hosted by Marcus Samuelson. The video focused on three cultures: Southern Carolinians eating a lot of rice, Native Americans living in northern Washington hunting whale, and Hawaiians eating poi.

            The people from South Carolina rely on rice. They saw it as a tradition that they loved; it brought the family together. However, they also saw it as a curse. Other children would make fun of them and they felt embarrassed by being defined as a rice eater. The Native Americans on the coast of Washington traditionally hunted whales to survive. In the 30s or 40s the whales were placed on the endangered species list. The people have respect for the animals and stopped hunting the whales. Recently the whales have made a comeback and have grown in numbers. The Native Americans got permission to be able to hunt whales in the traditional fashion. They use canoes and only paddle; they do not use any motors or advanced equipment. It took almost a year for them to be able to kill a whale, but when they did there was a huge celebration, they use the entire animal and it feeds them for a long time. As long as the people continue to use the traditional methods, I feel that they are not making a huge impact on the whale population. The last group that the video talks about is the people of Hawaii. Their traditional main staple food comes from the taro plant. They grind up the root and make a sticky mixture called poi which they ate at every meal. Today, people don’t eat as much poi as in the past, but it is still present at every luau and in the locals’ homes.
            I can see how the food of these cultures defines who they are. My family prides itself on being open minded and trying everything at least once. We make an event out of going to eat at new places.  My grandparents are Czech from Texas (there is a large population of Catholic Czechs in Texas). The foods that define them are biscuits and gravy, sauerkraut and kielbasa, and bacon. However, these are special when we have them.

Oral Narratives

Sorry this one is late, my computer was not working last night so I had to wait till I got to school today to paste it here

Oral Narratives

                This week in Anth. 3410, we learned about oral narratives. At first I thought I knew exactly what we were talking about; I didn’t. I thought that oral narratives were simply all spoken stories, but there is a lot more to it than that. There are four distinct types of oral narratives: Myths, Folktales, Legends, and Personal narratives.

                Myths are thought to be false, but actually by definition, myths are base on true stories and are believed to be real. Myths explain genesis or the origins of things. They explain why things are the way are in our world. They are usually associated with religious values or beliefs and are passed down through generations.

                 Folktales are sacred stories meant to entertain or instruct. They are set in the past and are passed down through generations. Folktales are “short little stories” that are accepted as false. They are just for fun.

                I thought legends required a hero, but they do not always. Legends are stories of events that actually occurred (large events that greatly impacted society) and the stories are passed down. Elders pass on the stories to warn or advise and the tale usually has a “moral to the story.” Legends are believable stories, but the question of whether the events actually occurred is debatable.

                Finally, personal narratives are the only type of oral narrative that is not passed down because personal narratives are unique stories that happened to the person telling the story, a first-person account. The story may reflect personal or community values. These stories are retold over and over by the same person.

                When I was a child, I remember listening to stories told by my mother or read from a book. I am now trying to figure out which story fits in which category. In class we talked about Noah’s Ark. Noah’s Ark is a myth; it is a religious story that explains a new beginning and drive certain values and beliefs. An example of a folktale may be jack and the beanstalk. This story is of course not true; nobody climbed a beanstalk to the clouds.

Blog #4

We have all heard the word dialect, but I never really knew the definition. This week in class we distinguished the difference between slang, accent, and dialect. Slang is usually informal, used by the younger generation and is temporary; it dies as the generation ages. Back in the 60s and 70s a popular slag word was "groovy;" people don't use that word today. (Every once in a while it slips out of my dad's mouth, but that is more to get a laugh.) Today people might say "sick" or "cool" to describe something they like. Slang focuses strictly on vocabulary; the grammar and pronunciation doesn't change. Accents and dialects tells people who you are and how you would like to be perceived. Accents are usually heard when a person is speaking a second language. The grammar and vocabulary is the same, the words are just pronounced differently. Everyone has an accent in someone's opinion; people who live in the south may feel that we have Californian accents. A dialect is a unique variety of a language that differs from the other varieties in regards to vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. Everyone has a dialect. Dialects can be social (Ebonics is associated with the African-American population) or regional (Gullah in the south).

You never think that you have an accent or a dialect, but we all do. It may be easier to recognize that you use slang on a regular basis because it is cool and a conscious choice. We learn proper English in school, but we choose to insert slang in order to make ourselves look better or to fit into a group. Our own accent automatically comes out of our mouth and we may not even be able to pronounce the words differently. Some people who are learning a new language end up taking speech lessons in order to improve their accents. Everyone around us speaks our dialect. In our case we speak Californian. We may think that this is the right way to speak, but people from other parts of the country may think we sound funny. Even within California there are many dialects.