Showing posts with label #talesfromafar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #talesfromafar. Show all posts

Monday, March 26, 2018

Mutliculturalism Week and "Tales From Afar: Old Stories from New Residents" Booklet Launch

As part of St. John's Multiculturalism Week, last Thursday HFNL, in partnership with the Local Immigration partnership (LIP), launched a new booklet titled Tales From Afar: Old Stories from New Residents. 

We collected stories from new Canadians, recent immigrants, refugees, internationals students and log-time residents who have made Newfoundland and Labrador their forever home. They shared ghost stories, myths, legends, fairy tales - anything that had been passed down by word of mouth. These stories came from all over the world: Scotland, France, Germany, Croatia, Ukraine, Nigeria, Syria, Iran, China, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, and the USA. We took these stories and arranged them into a booklet.

Nadia Sarwar. Photo by Terra Barrett. 2018.

Depute mayor, Sheilagh O'Leary, emceed the event. We had participants share their stories. We heard a tale about how one should never give up. We learned why chickens scratch the ground. We were treated to a traditional Korean drum and dance, and heard the story of the dreadful dried persimmon in both Korean and English. We learned about the importance of respecting your parents. And we heard the cautionary tale of Tiger Grandma.


Jae Hong Jin. Photo by Terra Barrett. 2018.

The day finished with some delicious, traditional Taiwanese food made by The Smiling Sisters. The event was a great success, and showcased the rich multiculturalism we have present in St. John's.

If you would like to read these stories in full, you can download a PDF version of the booklet by clicking here.

Thursday, November 2, 2017

Tales from Afar - Iara, the freshwater mermaid of Brazil. #FolkloreThursday



"Tales from Afar: Old Stories from New Residents" is a project to share traditional stories which have come from away, created by the St. John’s Local Immigration Partnership and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. This is one of the tales we’ve collected so far. 


Iara, the freshwater mermaid of Brazil
As told by Sarah Nivea and Vinicius Tomé 

Iara can be described as a freshwater mermaid. From the indigenous Tupi language: “Mistress of the waters”. Half woman, half fish, she lives in the waters of the great Amazon River, using her long black hair, brown eyes, indescribable beauty and voice. She usually baths herself in the rivers and her chants attracts the men who she wants to marry, dragging them to the depths of the rivers. The indigenous people from the Amazon region have such a strong belief in this legend that they avoid rivers and ponds at dusk. XVI and XVII Century writers used to depict the character as a male who would devour the fishermen, named Ipupiara. Later, in the XVIII Century, the legend changed, representing a seductive female.

According to the legend, Iara was the best fighter of the tribe and used to receive many compliments from her father who was the Pajé (Chief). Her brothers were jealous and planned to kill her, but Iara heard the plan secretly and killed them first. Frightened of her father’s reaction towards her, she ran away. Her father found her and threw her in the water between the rivers Negro and Solimões. Shortly, several fishes helped the lady and turned her into a beautiful mermaid.

Vinicius is a student at Memorial University, and Sarah manages Terra Nova Mandalas. Both are from Brazil. Image: Gordon Browne, Fairy tales from Hans Andersen


How can I share a story?

Stories can be submitted in written form, or participants can sit down with a collector and record a spoken version of their story. To share a story, you can:

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Tales from Afar: A short story about the lunar eclipse. #FolkloreThursday




"Tales from Afar: Old Stories from New Residents" is a project to share traditional stories which have come from away, created by the St. John’s Local Immigration Partnership and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. This is one of the tales we’ve collected so far. 

A Short Story about the Lunar Eclipse
As told by Xingpei Li

In the old days, people had no idea of astronomy, or how and why the lunar eclipse happens. People believed that there was a dog up in the sky who bites and swallows the moon sometimes. That is when and why the moon disappears. It was not a pleasant experience in old days without electric lights available in the night.

So people were very scared by the darkness when lunar eclipse happened. To drive away the dog who devours the moon, people used to make noises, such as by ringing bells, beating drums or any metal utensils they could find at home. In this way, they wished they could get the moon back soon, as well as the light.

There are different versions about this story in China, but the main plot is as described above.

Xingpei Li is a Chinese student enrolled in the graduate program, Department of Folklore, Memorial University. Image from Fire Dogs and Angry Demons.

How can I share a story?

Stories can be submitted in written form, or participants can sit down with a collector and record a spoken version of their story. To share a story, you can:

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Tales from Afar: Why Chickens Scratch the Ground. #FolkloreThursday



"Tales from Afar: Old Stories from New Residents" is a project to share traditional stories which have come from away, created by the St. John’s Local Immigration Partnership and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. This is one of the tales we’ve collected so far. 
You can learn more about the project at our Adapting Heritage Forum Oct 25th.



Why Chickens Scratch the Ground

As told by Marissa Francisco Farahbod


Do you know why chickens always seem to be scratching the ground as if they are looking for something? There is a story behind that.

Once upon a time, a hawk soaring in the blue skies noticed a beautiful hen on the ground. Dazzled by her beauty, the hawk came to the hen and asked for her hand in marriage. The hen accepted and asked the hawk to wait until she could grow wings so that she could fly along with the hawk. Upon her consent, the hawk said that he would wait for her and gave her a ring to mark their betrothal. The hen happily wore the ring around her neck.

But alas! She was being deceptive! When a rooster that she had promised to marry before saw her ring, he got angry and convinced her to dispose of the ring and keep her promise to him. Seeing that the hawk was gone, the hen threw her ring away.

But the hawk came back sooner than she expected and was surprised to see the ring gone. When he enquired about the ring the hen lied to him and said that she had lost the ring by accident. But the hawk saw through her lies and cursed the chicken. He told her that she must find his ring and that he would always observe the hen carefully and make her scratch every patch of ground until she has found his ring.

The curse has not yet been lifted as even today, chickens are scratching the ground still looking for the hawk’s ring.

A Visayan folktale from the Phillipines, learned from the storyteller's mother as a child.  Marissa Farahbod is a graduate student in the Department of Folklore at Memorial University. Image: The Little Red Hen, Wikimedia

How can I share a story?

Stories can be submitted in written form, or participants can sit down with a collector and record a spoken version of their story. To share a story, you can:

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Tales from Afar - The Devil’s Tramping Ground. #FolkloreThursday



"Tales from Afar: Old Stories from New Residents" is a project to share traditional stories which have come from away, created by the St. John’s Local Immigration Partnership and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. This is one of the tales we’ve collected so far. 
You can learn more about the project at our Adapting Heritage Forum Oct 25th.


The Devil’s Tramping Ground

As told by Grace Dow


They say somewhere in the forests around these parts you might come across a strange clearing where the earth is completely bare, in the shape of a near perfect circle about forty or fifty feet across. This is the Devil’s Tramping Ground, the one place in this world where the Devil can truly be alone. Not even his demons dare to disturb him when he’s in this ring, for here he paces back and forth plotting mankind’s destruction, or he dances and twirls and stomps his feet—which is why the earth is so barren and packed down.

You will know it’s the Devil’s Tramping Ground because no plants can grow inside it, and no animals will dare to go near. Birds won’t even fly above it. If you leave something in the circle and come back the next day, you’ll find it somewhere in the woods nearby, as if it was flung out of the way with great force. It doesn’t matter how heavy it is. The Devil doesn’t like things getting in the way of his dancing. And whatever you do, don’t stand in the circle after nightfall, or you might just see a pair of glowing red eyes staring back at you from its center.


Grace writes, "I grew up in Monroe, North Carolina, in the suburbs about thirty minutes outside of Charlotte. The first story, about the Devil’s Tramping Ground (Bear Creek, NC), was one I heard frequently at slumber parties or told around campfires as a kid in the ‘90s. I’ve found out in recent years that it’s an actual place you can visit, about 50 miles outside of Greensboro in Chatham County. But growing up, I never knew that. When I heard the story, it always sounded like the sort of place you might come across by chance when walking alone in the woods." Image: The History of Witches and Wizards, 1720, Wikimedia.


How can I share a story?
Stories can be submitted in written form, or participants can sit down with a collector and record a spoken version of their story. To share a story, you can:

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Tales from Afar: The Legend of St Nicolas. #FolkloreThursday



"Tales from Afar: Old Stories from New Residents" is a project to share traditional stories which have come from away, created by the St. John’s Local Immigration Partnership and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. This is one of the tales we’ve collected so far. 
You can learn more about the project at our Adapting Heritage Forum Oct 25th.

The Legend of St Nicolas

As told by Celine Schneider

They were three little children
Who were going to glean the fields

Arrived one night at a butcher’s,
Butcher, will give us shelter?
Come in, come in, little children
For sure you can have lodgings

They were three little children
Who were going to glean the fields

No sooner did they enter
They were slaughtered by the butcher
Who cut them up in small pieces,
Threw them in a salting tub, just as pork pieces.


They were three little children
Who were going to glean the fields

Seven long years had passed,
When St Nicolas visited here
Arrived at the butcher,
Butcher, will you give me supper?

They were three little children
Who were going to glean the fields

Some salt meat would be nice,
The one you prepared 7 years past.
When the butcher heard St Nicolas
By the door he flew to run afar

They were three little children
Who were going to glean the fields

By the side of the salting tub,
St Nicolas went to sit
Places three fingers above it
The three wee ones raised up

They were three little children
Who were going to glean the fields

The first said : I slept well
The second said: So did I
The third one concluded:
I thought I was in Paradise

They were three little children
Who were going to glean the fields

A story-song from Lorraine, a region in the northeast of France, as told by Celine Schneider, who learned it when she was three years old! Image: Saint Nicolas Heures d'Anne de Bretagne, Wikimedia.

How can I share a story?
Stories can be submitted in written form, or participants can sit down with a collector and record a spoken version of their story. To share a story, you can:

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Tales from Afar - The Legend of Snail Island. #FolkloreThursday



"Tales from Afar: Old Stories from New Residents" is a project to share traditional stories which have come from away, created by the St. John’s Local Immigration Partnership and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. This is one of the tales we’ve collected so far. You can learn more about the project at our Adapting Heritage Forum Oct 25th.

The Legend of Snail Island

as told by Tanyan Ye


It is said that about two thousand years ago, there was a poor single young farmer who lived alone in Fuzhou (at that time it was called Houguan侯官). He was a nice hard-working young man, but he was so poor that he could not afford to marry a woman. One day, when he went to the farmland to work, he suddenly found a huge snail appearing from nowhere. He picked up the snail, and brought it back home. He didn’t want to cook the snail, as other poor farmers might have done, but kept it in a water vat.

From that day on, every day when he came back home from work, he would find hot food on the table ready for him. He was very confused, because as mentioned above he lived alone and so there should have been no one to cook for him. He asked all his neighbors, but none of them admitted that the food was from them.

After a few days, the young man decided to find out the truth. One day in the morning, he pretended to go to work, but secretly hid at home, watching the kitchen. When it was about lunchtime, he saw the snail crawled out of the water vat, onto the ground, and a most beautiful young woman appeared from the snail shell. She started to cook lunch deftly. The young man creeped into the kitchen, grabbed the snail shell and hid it, and then asked the woman, “Who are you? I really appreciate what you’ve done for me.”

The young woman panicked at first. She tried to fade into the snail shell, but couldn’t find it. At last, shyly she answered, “I am a fairy from the heavenly river (that is the name Chinese people give to the Milky Way). Since you are an honest man, I came down to earth to help you.”

They got married, and lived happily ever after. Since the woman appeared from the snail, she was called the Snail Girl. A few years later, the couple had a few lovely kids. With the help of the Snail Girl, the family gradually became rich. At the same time, the kindhearted Snail Girl helped their neighbors to overcome all sorts of difficulties and earn a better live as well.

However, one day, the Jade Emperor, the highest ruler of the heaven, found out that the fairy of heavenly river secretly descended to earth. This was against the rules in the heaven. He was very angry, so he sent a god to capture her. The god, accompanied by hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the heavenly court, went to where she was to take her back to heaven. The Snail Girl didn’t want to be separated from her husband and children, but she was not able to resist. At last, out of desperation, she jumped into the Minjiang River, and turned into an island. To commemorate her, people named the island the Snail Island.


Tanyan writes, "My hometown is in Fuzhou area of Fujian Province, which is in the southeast of China. I heard about a few legends about the names of places when I was a child. One of them, which I can still remember, is about an island in Minjiang River(闽江), the longest river in Fujian Province. The island is called Luozhou Island (螺洲岛), meaning Snail Island literally. The island is named this not because there are many snails there, but because of the woman in the story."



How can I share a story?
Stories can be submitted in written form, or participants can sit down with a collector and record a spoken version of their story. To share a story, you can:

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Tales from Afar - The Frogs in the Bucket. #FolkloreThursday



"Tales from Afar: Old Stories from New Residents" is a project to share traditional stories which have come from away, created by the St. John’s Local Immigration Partnership and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. This is one of the tales we’ve collected so far. You can learn more about the project at our Adapting Heritage Forum Oct 25th.


The Frogs in the Bucket
As told by Antje Springmann

I’m going to tell you about a couple of frogs. Now these frogs—it was about three hundred years ago, and these frogs found themselves in the larder of the pasture. And there was a bucket of milk, and they fell into the bucket of milk. And they couldn’t get out, because there was nothing for them to catch their feet on. They couldn’t touch the bottom, so they couldn’t jump back out.

So both of them were swimming and swimming and trying to stay above the surface of the milk. And it was very, very hard work. And one of them said, “What’s the point? We’re going to drown anyway.” So he gave one last gasp, and sank beneath the surface of the milk.

But the other frog would not give up. And he kicked, and he pushed, and no matter how much he was ready to lose hope, he kept kicking and pushing, all night long.

And then in the morning, when the sun started to rise, and it just was creeping over the edge of the pail of milk, he suddenly felt something under his feet. And he realized that from all this kicking, he had churned the milk into butter. And there was a big lump of butter at the bottom, and that’s what he used to push himself out of the bucket. So the moral of the story is that you don’t give up, and that all of your hard work will come to something in the end.

Antje Springmann was born in Peine, Germany. At age two, she moved to Vöhrum, Germany and then emigrated to Canada at age twelve. Her mother was lured by a German book titled “Canada: The Land of Unlimited Possibility." The family first lived in Toronto, moved to Calgary, and ended up in Newfoundland. Image from Inspirational Stories.



How can I share a story?
Stories can be submitted in written form, or participants can sit down with a collector and record a spoken version of their story. To share a story, you can: