How Is Folklore Changing with the Urbanization of Our Society

Myths are of great importance in the Navajo community because it is believed that it was a way to connect to the Holy People. The myth helps recognize symbolized supernatural in chants, translates the meaning of songs, and explains the importance of the ritual objects (Lamphere 1969). For example, there is myth of the two heroes who had gone through some misfortunes but thanks to the supernatural’s aid, the two heroes created a

(Bowers, A.W., 1992) The village members that planned on searching out their enemies could be seen giving feasts to the older men for advice, checking their riding equipment and ceremonial bundles. Warfare was highly encouraged within the tribes and males hoped to show publicly their military accomplishments. The members of the tribe that were asked to remain in the village to help protect women, children and the elderly were praised just as high as if they returned to the village victories from

The diversity of culture is an incredible notion. It is unfathomable how the anatomy of the human race is so similar, yet so different in the behaviors and ideas that take place. The two primary cultures I am focusing on throughout this essay are the differentiation between popular culture, and indigenous culture. I will also make the point of folk culture, and how it has slowly transformed itself from its self sufficiency, to relying more on the ways of popular culture.

Myth – Is a cultural featured folklore story of some early history regarding a supernatural phenomenon or wild belief. Myths are often told by people in order to explain a particular history or the origin of a custom. This can include contexts to a story that is over exaggerated or truthful in some perspectives. For example, the folklore history of “Bloody Mary” and saying her name three times will make her appear.

Throughout history, many different cultures illustrate their history and their beliefs through various artistic objects that they create. These artifacts allow historians to better gage their lifestyle, their beliefs, and how their society operated. One example of this is the “Drum Beater” sculpting created by Karoo Ashevak that is especially famous for its illustrations of the shamans and the spirits. In this research paper, Karoo Ashevak’s “drum beater” will be dissected and analysed; from the Inuit culture itself, to the physical features of the sculpting, as well as the significance and symbolism of the sculpting as it relates to the Inuit culture.

Bill Ellis’s, “Death by Folklore: Ostension, Contemporary Legend, and Murder,” speaks to how cultural and societal fear can not only form and inform legend, but can inspire real world, physical consequences. These consequences are material acts known as Ostension. Ostension is the liminal ground where the narrative of legend meets personal experience. Ostension, and particularly legend-tripping, is, by necessity, grown out of the cultural source hypothesis, as both require knowledge of a legend before the experience can occur. The first stage of the legend-trip, according to Michael Kinsella in the chapter,“The Performance of Legend-Tripping,” is the telling or retelling of the narrative(s) of the site or ritual participants are about to embark

Momaday's book collapses conventional divides between myth and history: by fusing the two he suggests that the conventional white conception of history as an enclosed and protected category is inherently suspect, and without speaking of politics makes a claim for other, equally valuable ways of knowing. However, in this sense his method of storytelling is political, because he suggests that the Indian ways of interpreting experience are just as valid as

With our modern day technology and ever changing society, it is important to keep folk cultures alive and not allow them to slip away. “Piecing it all Together” by bell hooks describes how she remembers her grandmother patiently and skillfully telling the story of her life through the art of sewing a tedious quilt. Chris Rose in his article “Let the Good Times Roll” depicts the tragedy, perseverance of a community, and the total comment from all to rise up and move on and celebrate their heritage and traditions. Folk cultures are the backbones that shape and mold every individual during their lifetime blending together traditions and skills, foods, beliefs, heritage and shared values that are taught and/or passed down from generation to generation, providing a common identity or direction for people within a family or community.

As a student engaged in the American Education System the only time I was exposed to Native American folklore was when I was fortunate enough to take an American History course or read their stories in English class as examples to analyze. What we often times did not read, however, were the roles these folktales played as crucial to the customs of Native American society. Although, as I have begun to read more Native folktales within my undergraduate English course I can analyze the impact of folklore on the Native American Culture.

According to Nelson oral tradition and history are important to native communities because it is the primary pedagogical tool for Indian communities around the country (Nelson Pg98). Before colonization oral stories were the main way of exchanging information and teaching future generations of the natives for centuries. They shared stories of how to gather plants, what and what not to eat, how to plant certain things and how and when to perform certain ceremonies. There were also profane and funny stories which included gossip.

Folk is a musical style that is very lyrical and meaningful to the listener. Folk music is meant to be shared with a community and bring people together which is exactly what this program aims to do with our American Music Series. Folk music is set apart from other genres because it is not written for a profit but instead it is written to make the audience think about the life experience. Folk music often has very lyrical phrases that can sometimes

For us to properly learn about culture, we must understand the meaning of cultural relativism and ethnocentrism. The two concepts challenge one another. Reading the article, we must pull away from our ethnocentric views and think critically about the Nacirema people's. However, the description of the culture creates an ideology that is hard to agree with. For example, the Nacirema peoples take part in a rite that involves hog hairs and magical powders. The Nacirema rituals do sound strange and displeasing but, we have to learn to recognize our ethnocentric judgments.

Nowadays, the development of technology affects the way we search for the information. For instance, stories that have been told only within families or small groups of people can now be exposed to the internet, where these stories are shared amongst hundreds of people. Urban legend, by definition, is a humorous or horrific story that people usually believe, even when there is no proof of where it started from, or of the trustworthiness of that story. Urban legends have appealed to many ranges of audiences since this genre tends to attract many individuals. For instance, college students have taken an interest towards these legends, whether they like the strange stories or the actual messages behind it. Urban legends have taught college students the themes, which are based on the reflection of their conflicts or problems that they have dealt with. The two common themes of urban legends that represent the problem that college students are dealing with are the conflicts between college students and their professors and the paranormal and horror events that occur in their life.

Folklore is a term used to describe the traditional beliefs and customs that every community had which were passed down the generations through word of mouth. Each community had their own folklores whereby they used oral traditions such us proverbs, tales and poems to ensure that everyone in the community, especially the children, knew and was aware of the customs. This helped develop a sense of pride and respect for the people’s culture since they understood why some of the cultural practices were done and the consequences of going against these practices and customs. Folklores may lack substantial evidences but people still keep faith in their beliefs due to the respect and trust they have for their ancestors who were actually believed to

Mythology is the traditions that have been passed down orally, among a culture, for many generations. Myths can include several different elements, often varying slightly. Most include fantasy or unnatural characters, such as monsters, dragons, gods and goddesses. Myths generally tell a story which is the basis for many beliefs among a culture. Greek and Roman myths encompass the gods that the cultures worship. Myths often serve to teach a lesson or play on superstitions. The origin is unknown and because it has been handed down orally, there are variations in the story. The story often travels around to other cultures also. This leads to similar myths among cultures. Similar situations and characters