The Final: Cheat Sheet

For those who didn;t come to last class, and those who don't have friends who get them handouts, click here for the cheat sheet.

LAST QUESTION

I'll be repeating this on Tuesday's class, and Thursday's, for that matter. But you have one more question of the week:

Make up a short-answer question for the final exam: it should be one that can be ably answered in one sentence. 

Last year's request said it well, so I'll repeat it here.

While not every question will be used, you may be able to give yourself a leg up with a question that (a) is based on readings and/or class discussions, (b) is challenging enough that it isn't a freebie, and (c) is easy enough that it doesn't require a photographic memory to answer it.

Not that I'm whining, but it is rather difficult setting an examination, and short answer questions are more difficult to write than the questions for essays, both because they are specific and because you have to think of so many of them. The general effect I am looking for is that, when you first pick up the exam paper and read each question, you should say to yourself "Right, I should know this." It falls between "This question is an insult to my intelligence," and "Who does he think I am, Alan Dundes?" (Note: When you have studied, you will find this joke frickin' hilarious.)

Absolute due date for this one is the 8th of April. And (at least) one will actually be used. 

Penultimate question

Has anyone seen "The Last Supper Sketch"? Performed by Python in the Hollywood Bowl film, it is a Cleese and (I believe) Chapman penned sketch that was never in the series. Anyway, when the Pope continues to be unimpressed by Michelangelo's version of the Last Supper, which has waiters, jellies, 28 disciples, and other "hilarity ensues" motifs, Michelangelo suggests calling it the Penultimate Supper: "If there was a Last Supper, then there must have been one before it, right?" The first time I heard the word penultimate was listening to this sketch as it appeared on a BBC radio show on 'misunderstanding' that my grandmother had sent to us. So, long story short: 'penultimate' means 'second to last'.

Two questions (not extra work: I'm giving you a choice, you ungrateful little turds):

1. Identify an object or thing you know how to make, the skills for which you acquired through informal means
2. Identify an object that has special meaning for you or your folk group

I now have a (whopping enormo) PDF of the bra article, which is available if you follow this link. Enjoy if you so desire. Technically it's copyright infringement, so I won't leave the link up for long.

Question: Riddles and Proverbs

Oh man did my headache not go away, despite the air of refreshment that usually wafts over me when I let you little bastards go early.

Identify a proverb (i.e. a piece of conventional wisdom) that you either follow or are at least influenced by.

Trust me: this is a crappily phrased question, but the answers should more than make up for it.

The books are in ... hurray?

Question: Song

Oh, my patient little charges, my naughtiness is rampant, and I have been remiss in posting the answers to these delightful inquiries: however, I have been (fairly) adept at posting questions, so here's this week's:

Identify a song that is somehow of significance to your group (where, as always, group is defined as you see fit). It might be a very 'traditional" song, but it might simply be an important part of your group's repertoire.

And for those who care, my bra article was published in the most recent issue of Ethnologies: the library should have their copy within days,m and then you can wallow in my brilliance to your heart's delight.

Narratives ...

The question of the week...

Tell me a story

Now, some of you imagine yourself to be quite the deep tyopes, but I ask you to consider this question in the spirit of the course. While I encourage you all to pursue your respective muses, and in any other context would love to hear your hyper-violent vampire lesbian revenge fantasies with a twist ('she's also a nurse!'), but let's look at the slightly more, hmmm, folkloric stuff.

Child's Play

The question:

Describe a game that you learned in childhood (that was not taught in school or by Milton Bradley).

Implied (as always) is who you learned it from, what are the rules for playing, who would you play it with, etc.

Work

Another question, another week:

If (and when) you've had a job, when did you realise that you were 'good' at it?

What's implied in this question? I guess the understanding that beyond the mastery of a set of particular skills is a recognition of same by co-workers, a pattern of 'fluency', and - ultimately - that a 'good worker' is identified as having acheived a certain status within the group.

When I asked a question last year for this topic, I queried: At your job, have you ever been taught a technique (a way of doing something to make the work easier, more interesting, more efficient) by a co-worker as opposed to more formal training? If you are really stumped by the above question, I recommend thinking it through this lens.

And, if you haven't had a job - which as far as I'm concerned includes such things as being a babysitter, a structured past-time with skills and responsibilities like a sports team, and even being a student - well, nicely done.

Ethnicity

As I said in class, these tended to fall into four categories. Many quickly identified an ethnicity based principally on origin (Scottish, Trinidadian); some didn't want to limit themselves to one ("on my mother's side... / on my father's side...", although "Heinz 57" and "Mutt" are emic terms also employed); some thought themselves no different from friends and neighbours that they didn't think it a 'significant' part of their identity or sense of self; lastly, some proposed Cape Breton as an ethnic group. All told, distinctiveness was the operable concept. All very cool.

1. For me, the concept of ethnicity includes ancestral background, race and physical appearance, culure, language, and religion as organizing principles. My ethnicity is a major part of my self-identity, especially in terms of ancestry and culture. I am of Scottish descent on both sides of my family and my maternal grandmother emigrated from Glasgow to Canada in the 1950's. Most of our family culture is therefore Scottish in origin whether it's an undying obsession with Scottish sweets (thanks to my grandmother) or mistrust for anyone with the last name Campbell (my maternal grandfather was a MacDonald with ties to Glencoe). It's through my ethnicity that I feel the most connected with other people and it's also a static part of my identity - no matter how I change I will always be Scottish. It's also been important to me since I was a child and is something that I will pass down to my children.
2. Answer- An ethnic group or ethnicity is a population of human beings whose members identify with each other. Ethnic groups usually share common culture, linguistic, religious, or behavioural traits. I strongly believe that ethnicity constitutes a significant part of your self identify. It what you grow up learning. It is determined by certain experiences and observation of close others. When you are first born, you dont have ethinicity. It is something in which you learn and build on. For example, if someone was french, they wouldent start to develop their ethnicity for it untill they reach maybe age 4 or so. Ethnicicty is strongly determind by child development and certain involvment.
3. Yes, my ethnicity constitutes a significant part of my self identity. I come from a Scottish and Irish background. My Father's side being Gaelic Scottish and My Mother's side is Irish. As far back as I can remember my father would rock me to sleep every night to celtic music including Gaelic songs. When I wasn't at home I spent the alot of time at my grandparents house, who were Irish from NewFoundland. I heard alot of the same music there. My grandfather like to listen to the radio, alot. The Jack Pelley show, it played newfie tunes, Irish and Scottish music. Everytime my Dad picked me up from Brownies we listened to the Donnie Campbell Show, more fiddle tunes! I remember my sister and I always complained when we had to go on long trips in the car because we had to listen to fiddle tunes, but now that I'm older I really appreciate the music and my background. My Grandmother traveled around Cape Breton to different festivals to step dance. My mother is a step dancer, and my sister and I were also in step dancing growing up. My parents and there friends, who are musicians get together about once a month and have a jam session playing their celtic music and when I'm there, sometimes I do a little step with my Mom. Although I've come to appreciate musical part of my background, I vow that when my kids misbehave I will take them for a long drive in the car and play nothing but fiddle music!
4. basically, no.For me,i dont associate myself strongly to a strong feeling of ethnicity.If i were to cling to my concept of ethnicity as pertaining to my origins, be they religious or referring to where my family "came" from ,then i would say definately my ethnicity is not significant to my identity.I am ,for the most part what is losely called a heinz 57.In fact only this september after the death of my gandfather, did i find out that he was Polish, and not Ukranian as previously pounded into my head as a child.With my father's side of the family being a vast mixture also, I just dont associate myself with any distinct culture In a larger setting, i suppose I could define my ethnicity as belonging to the group known as "cape Bretoners".Indeed I was born in Cape Breton, and I reside here,but i dont feel any special ties here,besides of course my family living here.Most of my professional life was basd on th mainland, and the next 40 years of my life i hope to spend elsewhere.So as far as an ethnicity having to do with my feelings of similarities with a group and desire to maintain that closeness, I dont believe that type of ethnicity constitutes a significant part of my identity either. My identity,my sense of self identity is for the most part, a changing process.
5. I think my Cape Breton side is important to my identity. Growing up we never talked about my Maltese side, it has only been in the last few years that I have started looking into my culture. I was really happy when I happened upon my father speaking to his aunt back in Malta. It was cool to hear my language. Everything about me is Cape Bretonish. I am a proud Cape Bretoner.
6. I think my ehtnicity has a significant part in my identity. I see my self as a young woman who grew up in a small area where lobsterfishing fiddle music and gaelic were a strong part of the community, I grew up in North Shore but ended up moving to Baddeck when i was 8 so i spent the rest of my childhood years with friends who had very different view how to live during the summer, although only being 45 minutes away from where i had started my life, it was very different. and more civilized I was surprised when my friends laughed at me when i said i played in the dirt pile for fun.
   now when i think back I miss thoes days! and i think it has made me become a stronger more independent person. I still look forward to my lobster fishing adventures and fiddle and gaelic music are a huge part of my life now, i am always listening to it. I loved growing up where i could have some space from my parents. When living in north shore I could remember my parents being alot more easier on me when it came to rules. but when i moved to baddeck they wern't just knowing that i would be out near a street scared them, but knowing that i would be playing in the woods didn't ...funny thing eh??
7. Ethnicity can be defined in many different ways with regards to racial, national, or cultural group. I consider myself a Cape Bretoner above any other ethnic group I may be a part of because it constitutes a significant part of my identity. There are parts of my personality that ultimately comes from living in Cape Breton and being engrossed in the culture all of my life. The way I view the world around me has been shaped by my experience growing up in Cape Breton in a home that is enriched in Cape Breton traditions; such as its music and stories. To me explaining why identify as being a Cape Bretoner is hard because it is not something I can explain; it is something I feel. I am proud to be from Cape Breton it is my home.
8. consider that my ethnicity does impact on my self identity in a number of ways. In many ways, the effect is stealthy. I don't feel I have any real connection to old traditions or folkways until I meet someone from my own culture who is immersed in them. Half of my family is Irish, and the other half is Scottish. It's a fairly even split with a few anomalies. I haven't lived in Nova Scotia all of my life. When I went to Alberta, I felt most isolated. Even though there were plenty of people from Newfoundland or Nova Scotia, they didn't seem to be quite the same. Something of our ethnicity seems to be motivated or informed by our environment. Another way in which my ethnicity has impacted me, seems to be how accepted I am in society. I come "from here", and I'm accepted whether I'm walking in to a shoppe to talk to someone, or meandering into a fire hall during a dance to seek someone out. I get stopped to talk, I get calls of "Who do you belong to now?" from older ladies, and "Now did I know yer' father?" from the men. Something about the way I speak, the way I look, the way I move, or other intangibles, screams out my ethnicity to the air around here, and more often than not I will find that family ties reaching back a considerable distance relate me to total strangers.I feel that my ethnicity might not be as much of a defining factor as it would be if I were absolutely raised within it, but that it certainly has had a dynamic impact on not just my interpersonal relationships, but definitively upon how I think about myself. From the Scottish and Irish poetry I studied as part of looking into my own ethnicity (which actually drove me to begin writing as a hobby, and later a little more seriously), to the incidental knowledge I've picked up in ancient culture, rituals, and the legends of old Ireland, it's all informed by where my family's been before. And that seems like enough of a working definition for "ethnicity" to me.
9. this question has caused me to think quite a bit about what is being asked. for myself, i don't think my ethnicity is a significant part of my self-identity, but it is part of it. i am scottish cape bretoner, and very proud of this fact. i'm not 100% scottish, but it is the part of my backround i am most proud of. although i'm not a big klit wearer, or bagpipe player, i do enjoy the occasional celtic tune and dance. my father is very proud of his roots, and tells us all about our family history, how we came to cape breton, and what the mackinnon clan was like in scotland. i believe that without this knowledge and pride i have for my name, i may not be the same person i am now. to me, name doesn't mean everything, but it still means something.
10. Since I grew up in a Canadian community predominately populated by people of Christian/Caucasian/British ancestry– which I myself am also a part of– I never considered my ethnicity as a part of my self-identity. The majority of the people around me all practiced the same traditions and customs that I did; i.e. Christmas, Easter. When the chance came to practice traditions or customs that were not part of my own ethnicity, I was unsure whether to participate or not because I felt that these were not my own to practice. I realized then that my ethnicity is a part of my self-identity as it can subtly prevent/cause me to participate in everyday activities.
11. I am a mutt. There are so many different bloods in me that I fail to remember them all if I am asked. It is because of this "muttness" that I go out of my way to identify with one of my backgrounds or groups. One example of this is my French heritage, which my family has uncovered thanks to a simple project that began in grade nine. We now acknowledge ourselves openly as part French as well as part Irish, English, Scottish and a myriad of other ethnicities. The best part of this is that I can connect my family to pretty much anyone who has family in L'Aoirdois. Weird. Regardless, French is part of who I am, and even though I do not speak it well, I am happy to be part Frenchie.
12. Yes ethnicity makes up a part of my identity because ethnicity includes ethnic traits, background, allegiance and association which are part of my identity which makes me who I am and gives me a chance to learn more about different groups and lets me have a "sameness" with who I am already similar.
13. I have always defined ethnicity as where your roots lie. As in where your parents. and grandparents are born. Holding to this I would define myself as Canadian technically, as both my parents were born and raised in Canada. However my dad's parents were not, so because of this, while I still consider myself Canadian, I recognize that I have significant Indian (from India, just to specify), roots as part of my ethnic background. On my mum's side though, her family has been in Canada forever, but it is the best guess that her roots lie in a mix of French, English, Scottish and Irish. I don't believe that my ethnicity constitutes a significant part of my self identity because I grew up in Canada, with out any influence from either the White Christian heritage of my mother, or the Indian Hinduism heritage of my father. As both my parents were raised away from their respective roots, I too was raised in a mixed household that allowed self-exploration through interests and personality rather than that of where my families had come from.
14. Ethnicity plays a role in my life but only to a certain point, my hometown constitues a significant part of who I am but besides that, Im my own person. I consider my hometown as a ethnicity because it played a role of who I am today. By being a part of a community of approx. two hunrdred people played a role as me being friendly to everyone, knowing everyone within the community and learning alot more about neighbours, history, etc.
15. When it comes to ethnicity I really don't think that it really shapes who you are. I think if I was part of a different ethnic group I would still be the same person. The way I was raised makes me who I am today not my race. We are all the same in many different ways. My family taugh me right from wrong and how to act in different situations. My family is a very close nit family and everyone in it had a part of raising me. I am who I am today from all the experiences in life I had, and from my family raising me to be who I am today.
16. Yes, I think it affects me. I didn't really understand the question that much just because I never actually sat down and thought about it affecting my life in anyway. The only things that I could actually think about was how some things we do are different from other countrys or even other provinces. For example, some gestures we do could mean a totally different thing to someone not from around here. It doesn't affect me in everyway. I was raised, I believe, just like any other child. Other people may think the way I was raised, or what my mother did was wrong or weird but the only way I could see what she did differently would be to go to another culture and see how they do it. It would be very interesting to be able to see how different everyone in the world actually is. Its different from the amount of food you put on your plate to the way you wave, so I definitely believe it affects my life in many ways.
17. think my ethnicity play a part of who I am, my self identity becuase I think its hard for it not too. I am proud of who my ancestors are and love to hear about there struggles and triumphs. On my fathers side I am english and on my Mothers side I am Dutch. I try to learn some dutch when I am with my grandfather and hear about their stories. We follow some traditions around the holidays that were passed down from different generations. I am a strong roman catholic. My Grandfather on my fathers side is very religious and hold some morals, beliefs close to his heart which have become very important and sacred to me. Theses different things make me proud of who I am, where I came from and help me make sense of why I believe the things I believe.
18. When I think of ethnicity I think about where people come from. Not only their ancestors but also where they grew up, their language, religion, and family life; all play a part in someone’s ethnicity. I think that my own ethnicity does constitute a significant part of my self-identity because what I went through made me who I am today. My grandfather was German and my grandmother was Scottish I grew up to see parts of me that come from their backgrounds. I never grew up to know my other grandparents and therefore do not see any of my personality coming from there backgrounds. However my grandparents backgrounds are only part of my ethnicity because I am born and raised a Cape Bretoner, and that where most of my ethnicity comes from. It is not only where you come from that makes your ethnicity but also where you are right now. That is why my ethnicity is a significant part of my identity.
19. Yes, I defiantly believe that my ethnicity is an important factor in my self-identity. My ethic background plays an important role in my beliefs, values, and of course my personality. I believe that ethnicity helps define a person’s background, where they came from, who they are, and also helps shape and impact their future. It helps people identify with other people, and also it helps them relate to other people about such things as religion and cultural traits. Some of these issues are very important in a person’s life, including my own life and also my families as well.
20. It's hard for me to tell how big an influence ethnicity plays in my identity. My identity as a white person is not something i am conscious of on a day to day basis. Even being of scottish heritage I don't participate in any traditions that would be considered strictly scottish or celtic but i still consider myself scottish. My ethnic characteristics don't distinguish my identity. I believe my personality makes up my identity, but where you come from still plays a small part.
21. Being out of my own country and studying in Cape Breton where my race is obviously the minority, I do find myself defining myself by my ethnicity. My ethnicity is a major part of my self identity, it is probably one of the more known ways I or people define me. I’m not white, yellow or black, I’m brown and I’m from the Caribbean. People ask me if I’m Indian, and even though my ancestors are Indian, my answer is usually no, I’m Trini. I am from Trinidad and Tobago and it constitutes a major part of my self identity because much of our customs are different and can be quite noticeable in the way I present myself, in my accent, slang and music.
22. I think my ethnicity somewhat affects my character, maybe because the way I was raised. The reason why I think this is because many ethnic groups have different beliefs and morals when teaching their children. Other cultures also have different traditions that set us apart from one another and maybe affect our character.
23. I think ethnicity does constitute a large part of your self identity. It should anyway. Whatever you consider your ethnicity which maybe your home town, province, country or family orgin. I for one am thankful of all 4. I am proud of my Scottish backround, you have to believe that many of your ancestors have the same traits as yourself and I like to think that Scottish people as a whole are very friendly. The same thing goes for Canada and Nova Scotia in general.
24. My ethnicity affects my identity. I have an English and Irish background. I celebrate some traditions that trace their roots back to these countries (i.e. the celebration of Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day etc.) The main thing about having this background is that I don’t have unique traditions for this area because people with these backgrounds are part of the majority. However this part of my ethnicity is not the most important component of my heritage. Being Canadian is what makes me who I am. I feel it is important to celebrate Canadianness (yes I just made up a word). As a Canadian I tend to act in the way Canadians are thought to act (i.e. being polite, generous, honest, etc.). This is just a great country and we enjoy so many rights and freedoms that it is hard not to love this country. It is a significant part of my identity because I am proud of being a canuck. I participate in government by voting and do what I can to better my community through volunteer work. When I was in England this past summer it was awesome being a Canadian because everyone looked up to us. This example just goes to show how respected Canadians are on the global scale.
25. In some aspects my hellenic 'ethnicity' constitutes a minor part of my self identity but not a major part whatsoever. While I enjoy Souvlaki and more roasted lamb that i can stick in my face, I do not participate in the cultural activities that the other young adults of my culture participate in. I do not observe the cultural holidays in which I am expected to celebrate. For example when it is my name day I am likely to thank the person who is wishing me a happy name day rather then to tell them I do not celebrate it at all.

C'mon people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together, learn to love one another right now

Ethnicity

Electrifying class today: very cool. So, keeping with that, this week's question:

Does your 'ethnicity' constitute a significant part of your self-identity? Why or why not?

As always, you should describe what you mean by 'ethnicity.'

I'm a little slow in adding last week's answers, but they will be up by tomorrow at the latest.

By the way, unless the bookstore is back in stock, I have some photocopies of the next reading outside my office door. There are about seven, which hopefully is enough to fill the gap.

Answers: Folk groups

A little late off the mark, but here we go: answers to the folk group question. Again, you see a broad range of things, from family (including interesting sub-groups within a family, like 'the women' or a pair of brothers), to sports groups, to Cape Breton, to fan cultures. Some of you have noticed groupings (like "Occupational" or "Ethnic") that crop up later in the semester, so, um, good for you. Some even suggested that affilnity for a particular activity - hackysack - makes one part of an international community: the 'common interest' is enough for wholly new groups to emerge (and disband).

1. At an early age I have become very interested in music. Not at first was I making music of my own, but I always loved listening to music or watching people performe. As years went by, I finally got my first guitar at age of 9 and began to take lessons. As years proceeded further, my interests grew. I expanded my musical abilities from guitar, to bass, to drums, to piano, and am still increasing. It was around the age of 13 when i formed my first band. Although we sucked horably, we loved it. We learned old school rock covers and eventually started to play little shows such as birthday partys and house partys. That band didnt last too long though, after many member changes we decided to split up. Going from band to band i began meeting alot of new people who shared the same extreme interest in music as i did. After years of band changes i finally found the one in which i thought was right. We worked really hard and eventually recorded a cd and were getting pretty good exposure. Now we are curently on a major break writing new songs so we can make a new cd and tour in the summer. The 3 years of this band consisted of alot of hard work to get where we have gotten. Each member learned to coop with one another and each take part in there own responsiblitities. We work as a group, all focused on the same goal. We practise alot, play shows alot, and write new material alot. It wouldn't work like this if one of us wasnt as dedicated as we are. Also, it wouldn't work if one of us weren't focused on the same factor. We are indeed a fold group. We may not look upon ourselves as a folk group, but we are in fact one. I believe a band that works good within its limits and is focused on the same common factor is deffinitly conciderd as a cultural folk group.


2. I am, by nature, a very solitary person, and so cannot lay claim to being a part of many groups. Those that I am a part of, however, can be seen as very important to the identification of myself. One such group is that of "Star Wars" fandom, whose members range from the fans of the movies to those people who dress up, go into parks and fight with one another using plastic lightsabers. I am in the middle here, having a venerable library of book and memoribilia, and yet do not go and partake in aforementioned events. Oddly enough, I have been unable to find another who shares the same interests in this franchise. Regardless if I am the only one who participates in the celebration of a ground breaking movie saga, it is a group that I can call friends, and if I stretch it, maybe even Family.


3. Folk groups are surrounding, no matter where you stand your a part of a certain folk group. An important folk group of where I belong would be my hometown. Labrador is my hometown, where I grew up, met friends, went to school, learned everything about life that I needed to know. I consider Labrador my folk group due to the fact that I know so much about the place, it made me proud of my people and most of all our traditions such as mummering during Christmas. Labrador as a whole stands for more then I actually know but from being from the Southern Labrador Coast I sure know of where I stand as a true Labradorian and it will stick with me until the day I die. Yes, I’m now a part of Cape Breton but it doesn’t have the same meaning of folk group as what my hometown does.


4. A folk group that i consider myself being a aprt of would be Scouts Canada , I used to be a Beaver Leader since 1998, and i althought i no longer do it I still help out as often as i can wether it be a sleepovers or bake sales. I beleive this could be a folk group because we all have the same values about being a beaver leader and we all feel that volunteering our time to help younger kids is worth while I could be involved in many other folk groups but this is the only one i thought of.


5. A folk group that I am a part of would probably be my MacDonald family members, that I spend time with during the holidays and other family events. We usually eat a family supper and enjoy each others company. My family is a folk group because we share the same heritage and a certain bond with one another.


6. One folk group in which I am a member of is as a resident of New Waterford. There are many things about the people of New Waterford and the town itself that make us distinct. At 8:30 pm every night our local Volunteer fire department sets off what is known as the Eight-Thirty Whistle which started as a curfew and continues as a tradition to this day. As children we were told that we had to be home or in our yards when the whistle went off. Our community has many celebrations such as Coal Dust Days; a weeklong celebration of our community usually around the third week of July. Every February our town hosts the Annual Coal Bowl Classic which is a weeklong basketball tournament. My town also commemorates the death of a minor who was shot to death On June 11 by the coal company security forces at Waterford Lake during the miners’ strike of 1925; it is known as Davis Day. My community takes pride in our mining history along with our cultures and traditions.


7. A folk group that I am a member of is a religious folk group. My family & I are catholic, and attend church on a regular basis. I believe that being part of this group means a lot to our family and the way we interact with each other and also other people. Religion helps identify who I am and shapes my values, beliefs, and of course my behavior in every day life. I believe being catholic is an example of a folk group because this is an example of a group I belong to where two or more people share common factors and beliefs.


8. Folk group in which i am a member : University student What makes it a folk goup : we all share the common interest of learning. the things we learn in university are communicated from one generation to the next (prof to student).


9. I participate in Tae Kwon Do. It is very traditional. We learn about the culture and heritage of Korea while learning this awsome martial art. Tae Kwon Do was passed down from father to son for many, many generations. It is how Korea trains their military now actually. The only aspect of Tae Kwon Do that has changed is that we don't try to kill each other now a days. It is meant for self-defence, good health, pride and self- confidence.


10. A folk group which I am of member of is one made up of about eight females in my family and extended family.Each year in December my mother, sister, aunts, cousins and myself travel to Halifax for a weekendto go on a Christmas shopping trip. We stay in a hotel and go out to eat at a nice restaurant. We all share an interest in shopping. It is a weekend for us females to bond and have some family fun. We share lots of laughs and memories and plan on continuing this with our kids and grandkids.


11. As a fan of the Harry Potter book series, this connects me to other fans of the Harry Potter books series because we all share this common interest; therefore myself and other fans are all part/members of a folk group. Aside from reading the books, members of this particular folk group may discuss the books’ characters and the plots with other members, watch the film adaptations of the books, or collect paraphernalia related to the series.


12. I took highland dance lessons for 5 years from Forrester Dance, I think it is a folkgroup because we all had the same interest in learning part of our Scottish heritage, highland fling, sword dance etc. because they were dances they had in the old days and still passing on the tradition in this generation.


13. One folk group I am a part of is the Sydney Academy Boys division 1 basketball team. My boyfriend is the head coach of the team and I mark score and help out with tournaments. We also fun raise a lot so any time they need help with that I'm there as well, working in the canteen or even just selling tickets, 50/50 or on baskets. This past weekend I drove a van of kids to Halifax for a tournament, and everyone else who is a part of this group all car pooled together. The folk group consists of the teams members, coachs, and also their mothers and fathers. We all love basketball who is a part of this folk group and we all meet at the games, usually, every tuesday and thursday nite to chear on our team. Sometimes we will get together and wear all blue and white, because thats our teams colors. We even make signs or noise makers to really get loud and chear for our team. The kids that go to Sydney Academy would also be a part of this folk group too but there are a certain few of us that are there consistently there every week being a part of the team.


14. One folklore group that im a part of would be the Macdonald Elementary Girls Basketball Team. One of my friends is the head coach and then me and two other friends help assist her with coaching. We practise on Thursdays and Sundays, and usually have one game a week. The girls range from grade 4 to grade 6. There is 12 girls on the team. The four of us coaches usually get together and talk about games, practises, and how the girls are doing. We also set up fundraisers and we had a Christmas party for them. We are invited to two tournaments this year so we will have to put aside two of our weekends for the girls. These young girls look up to us so we have to be rolemodels for them. I think this is a folklore group because all 16 of us have something in common, basketball. Us four coaches all love every part of the game and want to share our skill with these young athletes. We take time out of our day to teach the girls and to make sure they learn and have a fun year playing basketball. The 12 young girls all come to basketball every week hoping to learn something new and we hope that we can teach them so they can go on to jr. high and play at a higher level.


15. I am a part of a few folk groups. I am of Irish and English ancestry. This constitutes a folk group because it is something I share this with other people. This is a very general folk group. A more specific example of a folk group I am a member of is air cadets. I was in it since I was 12. Air Cadets is a folk group because it is a meaningful organization that brings people together. Cadets has many distinct behaviours, customs and traditions. They include marching, music, dress regulations, orders etc. People act in a certain way and tend to do the same thing. Cadets is something I share with people and because it is done basically the same way everywhere. It is meaningful because people attend routinely and make it part of their lives, they feel they are gaining something by being a member. Being a volunteer for the Salvation Army may also be considered a folk group. Everyone who volunteers with this organization shares the same goal. This goal is to raise money for the needy and people work together to do this. I participate in the annual Christmas kettle drive. People in folk groups share something that is meaningful; this can be anything really from a charitable organization to a musical group. Everyone is a part of a folk group in one form or another; in fact one could argue that folklore, the course, is a folk group. Everyone in the class shares the meaningful factor that we want to pass and we have to participate in the traditions of assignments, homework and an exam and of course folklore itself should just be meaningful to everyone.


16. A folk group I belong to is one in which I live, Cape Breton. I have taken part in the well known, "kitchen party," and I have endured many hours of the Rankins, Rita MacNeil, and Natalie MacMaster.


17. I belong to the folk group of " Forrester School of Celtic Dance " It is a dance company that shares many interests and activities. We all love celtic music uncluding all of the instruments involved. We all share a passion for fiddles, bodhrans, piano, bagpipes vocals and of course our steppin feet! We all travel together and perform both traditional and modern dances, step dances. They mean a lot to us and are proud to carry these traditions on.


18. When asked the question “What folk group are you a member of?” I immediately thought that I was not a member of any folk group. But after further investigation of what an actual folk group is, I found that I was part of one. The folk group I am part of is the group of brothers. Some of the “guidelines” in determining which folk group a person belongs to are as follows: two or more people who share a common interest, identity markers, etc. The folk group to some would not necessarily be an actual group, but based on these guidelines, it is. As I was reading my notes on folk groups I noticed that a folk group didn’t necessarily mean it had to be an actual physical group such as Alcoholics Anonymous etc, but it could be a group in which two people share at least one common factor. The bond between me and my brother is a bond that we cannot break, which is the first common factor that me and my brother share, the relation of brothers. The second common factor that we share is our blood type, we have the same parents, therefore we have the same blood, and his blood is my blood. Thirdly, we have the same parents, you might not know by how the two of us look so different, but we do. Fourthly, we have the same family; cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents etc. Based on these common factors we are a group. These factors are more that factors however, they are identity markers that we consider meaningful, as would any other relationship. Sure my brother and I have our ups and downs, but this comes with the fact that we are bothers and the fact that I am nearly a decade older than him. I live my life, and he lives his, but we find time to bring our lives together and really just be brothers. Whether is it playing video games, watching a movie or just talking, the activities that we do bring us together. Being away from home being own my own, making mistakes and having only myself to rely on, just living out my life on my own has been hard, but the fact that I have family and talk to them has helped. Out of everyone that I have left behind I miss my brother the most, it seems strange because we live out or own lives, and it is just a fact of life that people move on, but the common factors that we share keep us together.


19. At my work two sets of folkgroups exist. I would consider all the associates that work during the day a folkgroup and all the associaters that work weekends and evenings a different folkgroup. I've been apart of both because i didn't attend school last semester so i usually worked during the day. Since i went back to school i've changed shifts and also folkgroups. What makes each of these a folkgroup is the different experiences, the different kinds of work, and relating to that work, for example during the day every time we get a cycle count we talk about how much we hate them, but the evening crew don't have to do them so they can't relate the same way the day shift would. These are the things that give future shop two folkgroups instead of the whole store being one folkgroup.


20. The folk group in which I associate myself with most would be the NSGA (Nova Scotia Golfers Assotiation). This was the first thing that came to mind because golf is so important to me, it takes up a good amount of my time over the summer. I think it is a folk group because it has many of the characteristics of folk. It is very important, the people part of the group share the same feelings and many of the same characteristics of one another. I also feel a folk group should have some tradition to it and the NSGA has many years under its belt (1920's) and golf even more history. For this I feel the NSGA would be considered a folk group.


21. I belong to a very elite folk group; the group is known as the Cape Breton Hackeysackers. Us “Sackheads” are quite close knit and even if we have never met, anyone can walk into one of the random circles that pop up everywhere one goes and be greeted with a smile. At first one may not think of this activity as a folk group, in fact I am inclined to think of it as a sport, but if one were to leave the island they would realize something I have just learned recently and should always have known. This being that the tricks I have grown to love so much are known by completely different names, also depending upon where you are the calling of hackysack varies significantly.


22. I am still unsure about what is consider a folk group and because I do not belong to many groups the only one that I can think of that has traditions, and ceremonies is the church I belong to. We all have a common believe in God and our religion. We have weekly services that keep us together as a group. Besides the weekly services we have other distinct services like getting a baby dedicated to the church, or getting baptized and becoming a member of the church. We also have a day at the first of December where anyone who goes to the church can sing or read, or do something that they want, giving people a way to interact with the church. I think that because of the history and the traditions that my church has that it is a folk group.
23. One of the folkgroups I am a member of is the one that we (me and some of my friends) do every Wednesday that America's Next Top Model is on. This is a folkgroup because it is a significant factor that four or five of us every single week gather together to watch it. We always watch it in Chantel's room, with subtitles on. Every week we always guess at which girl is going to have the top photo, and comment on which girls took the best pictures. We even always have certain places that we sit when we watch Top Model. This is an important folkgroup because even though we all live in different residences, we always come together and do certain things every week that we watch Top Model.
24. I belong to many folk groups but the one that sticks out the most in my mind is the ability to cook. I can not think of many of my friends that can cook or follow a recipe. I'm not being mean they just suck. Well that did sound mean but my friend Karen is trying to get me to teach her how to cook the basics and I have tasted more burnt food and swallowed more uncooked food then should ever be allowed. She has her hart in the right place but she just doesn't get it. My parents taught me how to cook, well mostly my Dad. He was a house husband, who when starting out over cooked everything but in the end was one of the best chefs I have ever had the pleasure meeting. My Mom's family all bake and cook but most do the baking part a lot better then the cooking. Each aunt and uncle has their own dish that they make for all the family gatherings, and now I start to bring my own dishes. Being able to cook is something that sets me apart for most of my friends. They are just starting to lean and I am well on my way. (At least I think I am.)
25. I guess I would be a part of the Hellenic (Greek) folk group although my presence and participation in those folk activities has dwindled. As a Greek we eat.... a lot. Furthermore love to dance listen to loud Mediterranean music and enjoy large family gatherings. We are a culture very much in Diaspora and we relate to the social and cultural norms of our homelands of Cyprus and Greece and eventually wish to return there.
26. I somewhat understand this question I think ..... For as long as I could remember my old bus driver "Ralph" drove our route everyday... he was old.. and drove a couple generations before me.. he eventually retired.. I am part of the folk group that used to go on the "Ralph" bus???? I am on a support group for breast feeding mothers.. is that one? It should be I guess. uhh.. I dont get it.. lol I attend the CBU and have my own little part of the building called the MCI (Mi'kmaq Center Institute) where all of us Mi'kmaq people hang out.. And it's been here since the University was made I guess..

Pretty rich melting pot we got here, n'est-ce pas?

Folk Groups

The reading for Tuesday: Chapter 1 of the Introduction.

The question for Monday @ midnight:

What folk groups are you a member of? (Implied is an identification of why it constitutes a folk group, what are its distinct behaviours, performances, etc.)

Traditions

Here, in no particular order, are some of the answers I received. (BTW, I don't attach names to them, although class discussions may reveal identity. I also don't correct them, or change them in any way, save for getting rid of paragraph breaks so that they fit nicely.)

Perhaps not surprisingly, Christmas and New Year's feature prominently, in part because they have both been recently celebrated. But there are summer traditions (the mission to St. Anne at Barra Head), weekly traditions (baking banana bread on a Sunday morning, cadets), and daily traditions (prayer). Many have to do with direct familial connections (hiding the pickle in the Christmas tree), some are recognitions of ethnic traditions (Lebanese food on New Year's Day), some are participations in a larger, sacred community (again, the mission to St. Anne's), some are participations in larger, profane traditions (Star Wars fandom), and some are personal, individual traditions that nevertheless serve to organise and orient the practitioner in his/her week.

1. One tradition in my family is how we celebrate New Year's Day. Not once have we ever missed celebrating it together. We are a very close knit family and between school and occupations it is hard to get together throughout the year. We know that we are able to see everyone (mostly, I have an uncle that lives out West) on New Year's Day. The only thing about our tradition that changes every year is where we celebrate. We take turns holding the party at each other's houses. This is also the time that we exchange presents with our extended family. One thing I look forward to are my Uncle Brian's meatballs. They are so good and he has been making them for our party for as long as I can remember. The reason my family's New Year's Day celebrations are a tradition is because it happens every year at the same time... literally. It is always at 2:00 pm. Our family is so close but we can not always meet together so New Year's is the one day that we get off work and school to get together. It is also special because my grandmother loved seeing us together and since she has passed we keep the tradition alive.
2. An example of a tradition which I undertake, as to a greater extent do the older members of my family, is the wake. A "wake" is a funerary ceremony with its roots in ancient Ireland primarily, but with analogues in a great many other cultures. In the simplest form, it is a revel or party -intended- to begin when somebody dies. It is celebrated differently by many subsets of the local folk group, but most traditionally our family have done it absent the body. In the original ritual from which the modern wake we practice was derived, the body would be stretched out on a table for the two hours following death, with a nearby window held open. My Grandmother once informed me that it was always considered bad luck to cross through this space during the time with the open window. The window would be closed after that time, so the spirit didn't come rushing back into the body. Gotta love those Irish zombies. In the modern form, we traditionally have food and drink, and often a party, celebrating the life of the dearly departed in the form of a revel or general party. Alcohol tends to flow freely. The body is absent during this time. I was told also that it used to be otherwise, and that the body would be attended for a full day following death, and they'd stop the clocks and get rid of the mirrors. Now these traditions are celebrated piecemeal.As we discussed in class, what makes this traditional is that it is something celebrated by a folk group (two or more people who share a commonality which is meaningful to them and forms an organizing principle, in this case mostly those of some Irish or generalized Celtic heritage), which is done habitually and observed because it holds meaning for them. It is not just arbitrarily repeated, but is considered an important and meaningful ritual following the death of a friend or loved one. It is a way of marking the death with some significance, and generating good memories of food and revelry to counteract the overly dramatic urge to mourn. And it is more often than not likely that the deceased would like to be in attendance if they'd had the chance, which some might consider the most fitting of tributes.
3. Every Sunday morning, I make banana bread while I listen to Bluegrass/Gospel music and online sermons. This originated from my belief, as a Christian, to participate in church regularly on Sunday. Unable to find a church that I felt was right for me, I ended up listening to online sermons. To keep my hands busy while listening, I decided make banana bread. To motivate myself while I prepared the bread, I listened to Bluegrass/Gospel music. As the bread baked, I listened to the sermon; later I shared the banana bread with friends. I enjoyed this so much that I decided to do this every Sunday.
4. My example is the Christmas Eve dinner that we do at my mother's house. This tradition has only been going on a few years now, because my parents only split up fairly recently. Every year we pick out a dinner to do, it usually consists of some soup, salad, meat of some sort and a dessert. The four of us (my two sisters, one brother and I)pitch in together to create this dinner. Also part of this tradition is the huge argument/fight that occurs sometime around four. This usually results in all of us yelling at each other and then storming off in opposite directions (which is possible in my mother's kitchen)and then coming back together to work on dinner again about 20 minutes later. This is a meaningful tradition because it is one of the few times of the year that all five of us are around at the same time, because during the year I am here at CBU and my one sister lives at my dad's house. It is one chance where there is nothing else going on and all of us can sit down and have an evening together as a family.
5. Every February on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday my mom makes my sister and I pancakes for breakfast. It's a tradition that we don't even know the origins of, but it's done every year in my family. This includes when my mom was little my grandmother made pancakes every year for all her children. The tradition has even undergone some changes though the years. My grandmother always put a dime wrapped in tinfoil in the pancakes. My mom did that when i was young but I didn't like the idea of tinfoil or money in my pancakes so taht part of the tradition didn't continue in our house.
6. Something traditional I do is make and cook cabbage rolls each and every christmas. I suppose it could be described as customary lore because it is something I do every christmas. Our family has never forgotten to do it,it is sort of done without thinking about the reasons anymore,it has become so integral to who we are as a family.I believe it is traditional because up until my mother was injured in a car accident she did it, and my grandmother did it before her,her mother before her,and now myself.I suppose once they are created and sitting in the pan,we could call them material lore. The look and taste may have deviated slightly over generations,but the act itself remains imortant to me,as it was my grandmother who showed me how to do it and it helps me feel close to her and part of something.Making cabbage rolls may not be that interesting or meaningful to outsiders,but it doesnt have to be-it means something to us.
7. An example of something that is a tradition in my life would be the celebration of birthday’s with my friends. My friends consist of 6 friends, people who have been together for nearly a decade, a decade in which many memories and life long lessons have occurred during. Every year what I and my friends do is, the night before someone’s birthday we go out to out favourite restaurant, Jack Astor’s, and celebrate there. We all order our meals, and then give our gifts. Then when we are about to leave, the waiters come out with a birthday cake and sing Happy Birthday, while the person is on top of a chair. This happens every year, so the whole cake bit is kind of predictable, but we all react though it was not. Many memories have come from these gatherings, and I’m sure many more will come with out ages reaching the age of majority! This gathering among friends is a tradition because it is something we do for everyone’s birthday, every year, and it is something we all enjoy doing. This gathering is really a time to escape from our busy lives, between work and school, we see each other, but not as much as we would like. We have a laughs, out cries, our fights but among all these things, we have each other, and that’s what matters. This may seem cliché, but it truly means the world to use to have each other. This year has been epically rough because we have been going our separate ways, most going to university in different cities, provinces, and even countries. But we all keep in contact, and continue to make new traditions when we are away form each other, we are friends with a bond that is glued with the strongest glue in the world, it’s a bond that will never break, and a tradition that will not soon end.
8. An important tradition in my family is the celebration of Old Christmas. We celebrate it every year on the sixth of January with very little changes throughout the years. This tradition has become very important to my family throughout the years and remains an important part of our Christmas celebrations. My great grandmother came from Czech and my great grandfather is of Celtic decent and Old Christmas was one of the traditions my family had that kept their heritage and traditions alive. The tradition was passed down to my grandmother, then to my mother and now to me; who will pass it down to my children. It is important and meaningful to myself and my family because it allows us to keep our heritage and our culture alive and it also signals to us the end of our family’s Christmas celebration.
9. I am, by nature, a very solitary person, and so cannot lay claim to being a part of many groups. Those that I am a part of, however, can be seen as very important to the identification of myself. One such group is that of "Star Wars" fandom, whose members range from the fans of the movies to those people who dress up, go into parks and fight with one another using plastic lightsabers. I am in the middle here, having a venerable library of book and memoribilia, and yet do not go and partake in aforementioned events. Oddly enough, I have been unable to find another who shares the same interests in this franchise. Regardless if I am the only one who participates in the celebration of a ground breaking movie saga, it is a group that I can call friends, and if I stretch it, maybe even Family.
10. One tradition that my family follows is every Christmas Eve we go to church and then go to my mothers parents house for a late supper and we open the presents from my grandparents. All of my mothers brothers and sisters come with their families as well. As a child, we would then go home, leave cookies and milk for santa, and go to bed. My sister and I would wake up, a little bit later each year, and open our presents from Santa. My uncle cooks breakfast every Christmas morning for his family and mine so we would get ready and go down there after all our presents were open. I would look at all my cousins presents and play with them for a little bit. My parents are seperated so once we were done there we had to go to my dads. We'd spend a bit of time there and then go to my dads mothers house where we would have turkey with her and my dads sister's family. This was the same thing for me and my sister for 15 years. When my sister turned 19 she moved in with her boyfriend in Sydney. This made things a little different because for the first two years I'd have to wait for her to get up and get ready and drive to my house in Glace Bay before I could open anything. Then after 2 years she didnt want to have to get up and get ready in a rush so we started opening our presents from "Santa" after we got home from my grandmothers on Christmas Eve. I didn't mind that one bit because then I could sleep in until breakfast at my uncles was ready. This is a tradition every year for me because I do the same thing. It means a lot to me and my family to get to see everyone on Christmas. Things changed a little over the years for me, I use to live with my grandparents so I didn't really have to go to their house because I was already there and when I lived there it was right next to My aunt and uncles so I could just run through the feild on Christmas morning to see my cousins and eat breakfest. Its still pretty much the same thing to me every year. Ill probably still go with my mothers side of the family on Christmas Eve and my dads on Christmas Day when im 30, its what im acustomed to and I don't want it to change.
11. A tradition that my family does that i thought of when we were disscussing them in class, is that everychristmas eve we will go to church and then after the church we will come home all in our jammies and open one gift, we have done this for as long as i can remeber and are still doing it to thisday. my family has had alot of loss for example my dad died when i was 16 and i remember that christmas eve my mom and brother didnt want to go to church but i had put a huge fight to go to church and everything was normal, i often think about what christmas eve would have been like if we hadn't gone to church that evening, it might have started a new tradition.. but in my opinion i like the old one. no matter who is present or not i still feel like we need to do it to keep it alive, this year my brother and i had invited our significant others.. and it was still the same thing we do every year but with new people.now ths gift that we open seems to be from the same person everyyear, our aunt, i don't know how or why we started to open her gift christmas eve. it had just happened maybe when i was younger it could have been the biggest brightest gift under the tree .who knows but i kept that with me and still open her gift to me.
12. A tradition is a belief, story, or custom which is passed down from generation to generation. A tradition which I practice is praying every night before I go to bed. I was taught to do this by my mother, who was taught by her mother and so on. I believe that this is a tradition due to several reasons. Such as it has to do with my beliefs, it’s a custom which I practice on a regular base, and it was passed down to me. Praying is a part of my religion, which deals hand in hand with what I believe in; religion was passed down ever since civilization began. In my religion we practice praying as away to talk to god, and to those who have passed. I pray to ensure/ ask for the safety, well being, and protection for myself and those around me. It’s something that I strongly believe in. Praying doesn’t have the ability to over power everything, such as death and harm to those you love, but we all need some sort of faith in our lives. It’s also said in my religion that praying for someone’s soul after they have passed can insure their way into gods kingdom/ heaven. Praying for someone when they are hurt can help heal them emotionally. Customs are actions which occur over and over. Praying is a custom which I practice as well as my mik’maq culture. An example of this would be how every year on Indian day, mik’maq people travel to either Chapel Island, or Saint. Ann Debaupre. We travel to one of these two places to pray to the grandmother of Jesus. This is a custom carried out year after year. Praying every night is another sort of custom, due to the fact it’s done over and over. Praying every night was passed down for a very long time, it’s a tradition which is shared though many different religions/ cultures. Many other things are passed down through people, pretty much anything can be passed down. Everything from praying when you’re going to bed, to having turkey on thanks giving. I believe that these points which I have stated prove that praying before I go to sleep is a tradition. It has all the bases of which traditions are based on. I gave an example of how each is a tradition, I believe I stated and proven that this is a tradition.
13. Every Christmas Eve we have a family dinner which includes my mother's side of the family. My sister and I now that we are older help out by decorating, cooking, serving, cleaning up etc. Then we all gather in the living room where we open the gifts we got for each other, not all of them just the ones from that particular family ( my mothers 4 sisters and my cousin). This goes on every Christmas Even since i can remember. It's traditional because my mother did the same activity when she was a child, its important to her family and now is important to her children, my sister, brother, myself. It changed over the years, some people died, some are too old to help and now my sister and I , and brother help out with most of the evening. It will change as the years go on because her sisters are getting older so the event will hold and gain people as the years go by.
14. One tradition that my family has is having a big turkey dinner on New Years Day. My mom cooks the turkey and I usually get forced into helping. It is a tradition because my grandmother did it and so did my great grandmother. Now my mother does it too. My great grandmother’s logic was to start the new year with a good hearty meal. We all sit around the table and recap the year that has gone by and talk about things to look forward to in the new year while enjoying good food. It is just something we do every year and I will probably continue this tradition.
15. A tradition in my family is on Thanksgiving Day every year. My family and extended family gather at our summer home in Iona, which was also wheregreat, great, great Grandfather settled and we have a huge dinner. We listen to our parents tell stories about the people who lived there. Family isimportant to us and so is a sense of history and tradition.
16. A tradition that I have in my family is a dinner every January 1st, where we eat Lebanese food and say the phrase frutie-a-lakie which means “give me money” in Lebanese. My grandparents have passed this tradition on to my mother and to me and my cousins. This is known as a tradition in my family because it is done every year with the same members.
17. When it comes to birthdays in our house it is a huge celebration and a great time for family to get together. One thing that is always garanteed to be there is a Homemade cake baked by my father. My sister is 26 years old, I am 18 and my brother is 15 and we've never had a Birthday supper without one of his homemade cakes. My dad might not have always had the money to get us extravagent gifts but he always found the time to bake us a cake on our birthday and this is something that has become very important and a special part of our birthdays. It became such a tradition that my friends looks forward to my brithdays becuase they didnt just get another store bought cake.
18. I got a good one for you. I have been celebrating this tradition since the first summer I was born. This tradition began for me in the Summer (July) of 1985, but has been long since celebrated by my ancestors. I am a Mi'kmaq, and the Mi'kmaq annually celebrate the St. Ann's Mission in Barra Head (near St. Peters). The Mission itself is a tradition but the celebrations are very sacred to me. It lasts for 5 days on the last weekend of July every year and this is where we celebrate and renew our faith to the Mi'kmaq patron saint (St. Anne), and where our own government (Sante' Mawiomi) meet once a year for delegations. A quick brief of the history of going off on an Island once a year. It started before the European contact, where our government met (wasn't always on this Island), but has been celebrated annually for the past 400 years. In 1610 my ancestor Cheif Memebertou was baptized, and the Mi'kmaw adopted Catholosism. They later adopted St. Anne as our patron saint. And since then we've been going there to celebrate our faith and traditions. What is really intresting about this tradition is that it has rarely evolved. Minor changed have been made throughout the years, and it is sacred, and I don't think they will change. My great-grandmother introduced this tradition to me and she has went all her life before I was born. She was 80 when she died, and taught me that this tradition holds value to me as a Mi'kmaw and wanted me to pass this tradition down to my own. (I know this sounds like alot but I think you'd be intrested) The Island is not far off the reservation of Chapel Island, on the island there is a church, the third church since the beginning. The first two were struck by lightening and burned. The ceremonies are the same, we camp in cabins, with no electricity, plumbing, water, nothing. But besides the fact, I enjoy the 2 weeks I'm there every summer. The abundant resources are more cherished I find when I'm there and I think that teaches me at home. And I think it kind of grew on my these past 23 years. Last but not least, I have passed this tradition down. My first daughter went to her first mission when she was only 3 weeks old, and my second daughter has been to her first mission when she was only 3 months old. Rarely anybody I know does not celebrate the mission, some do not camp but my husband and I have been celebrating it all our lives, and will continue to do the same thing for years to come.
19. In my family, we have a special tradition that takes place during Christmas time. My mother hides a little pickle ornament within the branches of our Christmas tree. On Christmas morning after opening gifts, my brother and I both search throughout the tree to find it. The lucky person who finds it is the reciever of an extra gift. It is a tradition because it's been passed down since my great grandfather was a boy, and maybe even further.
20. The first thing that came to mind about a tradition that I do every year has to of course do with Christmas. When I think Christmas I think coming home from midnight mass and grabbing an oriental party pack for the freezer and sitting around the tree while every one gets their gifts ready. My mom always buys us way too many things and my three brothers always buy stupid presents for each other. This year in fact of brother got three Where's Waldo book and one of the others got the Strip Tease box set. I try to get everyone sensible presents but they never become the main focus, but I enjoy watching everyone opening their gifts that I spent months looking for. I call this a family tradition because we all stay up until three or four in the morning and just sit around and talk about everything that we miss about having my Dad being there watching us open presents that he thought would be just right. My family has done this tradition of opening the gifts after midnight mass every year for six years, and I plan on doing it the same way for a very long time.
21. Every Wednesday I attend Cadets as an Officer. I have done so every week since I was a Cadet at the age of 12. What makes it traditional is the fact that we have customs and ceremony's that I was taught by my Senior Cadets and Officers when i was young. It is now my turn to give back and teach those traditions such as Morning Colors and Ceremony of the Flags to the Cadets.
22. A tradition in my family that is practiced every year is held during Christmas time. Every Christmas Eve my family and I attend midnight mass. When we return from mass we always go home and each one of us get to open one present each. Also on Christmas day we have turkey dinner at my Nanny & Poppy’s house. Our whole family gathers for this, which doesn’t happen very often. Also on Christmas day is my grandfather’s birthday, so that is always celebrated as well. My grandfather passed away last February so that was our last Christmas with the whole family together. Although my grandfather isn’t around we still celebrate Christmas as a family. It’s just not the same without celebrating his birthday as well.
23. Since I was a young child, my family has always gone to church on christmas eve. My Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister, and Nannie would always go to church at 8 and then all come back to my house to open one gift each. Also, the gift was always christmas pj's, which we would wear to bed that night. Alot have changed since then. My Nannie has passed away, and my Brother lives in Halifax. My Sister lives in Greenwood and is married with a 5 year old girl (Emily), and is expecting another child. This haven't said, the tradition of christmas eve still lives on. Every Christmas my Brother, Sister, Brother-in-law, and niece come down and we all go to church, the same as we always have done, just with a few additions and one loss. But none the less, we still all go back to my house and open our one gift each. Although it isnt that amazing, nor is it actually fun, I still look forward to going to church and coming back to sit around the fire and open our gifts. I believe when I have a family of my own i will continue this tradition. Maybe ill have a few minor changes but id say it will be pretty similar. Hopefully my children will look upon this tradition with the same appreciation as i do.
24. My family has enough traditions to make any normal family run for the hills, but for us it is just a normality. One of the more memorable traditions we practise is the New Years Eve party. The whole Butler clan usually meets up at a family member's house and just parties the night away. The family is usually divided, however, into 3 groups: anyone under 19 having an old-school Mario Cart Tournament; the older guys watching T.V. (generally, a comedian, or even better Saturday Night Live), and the women sipping tea in the kitchen/dining room. Sometimes these groups mingle, but often keep to themselves until about 11:30 when everyone gets together and watches the countdown. This has been going on for time unmemorable, long before I was born at least, and will undoubtably go on long afterwards.
25. One of the traditions in my family happens on Christmas Eve. My family would always go down to my grandparents house to visit. We would always have something to eat and my grandfather would put on some Christmas music. My parents would always sneak out and go back to our house and put a gift under the tree. When we would come back home it was always there. My mom always told us that it was a gift from Santa. It always had a Christmas teddy bear and PJ’s in it, to wear to bed. Then the next morning we would get the rest of our gifts. It is crazy to think of what we believe when we are kids. However my grandparents are not around anymore, but my mom still gives me a gift on Christmas eve and it is always PJ’s. This is also a tradition that I plan to pass down when I have a family.

So there you have it. Stay tuned for more exciting folkloric adventures.

Greetings, 2008-ers, to the land of Intro to Folklore II!

For those who missed the class and thus the question when asked, you can find it here: I am presuming that you, or a loved one, died or nearly died, otherwise you would certainly have been in class.

Identify something that you do that is 'traditional' (and, explain what it is that makes it 'traditional').

Read Chapter 10 of the Introduction for next class (Wilson's "Documenting Folklore"). Today was another fun-time cavalcade of figuring out what this crazy thing called folklore is.

Feel free, while (if) you're here, to snoop around and look at some of the things from last year: it may give a sense about where the class is going, for those who are still frightened by all the rambling.