Traditional/Indigenous/Folk Cultures

TWO GOALS (ways to preserve local culture)

Keep your members! Keep outside people/customs out

Folklore

Paul Bunyan, Iron John, Brer Rabbit stories

local culture

a group of people in a particular place who share experiences, customs, and traits. They work to preserve these differences and distance themselves from others

stable

change happens very slowly

folk medicine

chicken noodle soup

Folk food

crab cakes, fried green tomatoes, Boston baked beans

small

each culture has a small number of followers

folk games

jumprope, hopscotch, patty cake

rural

located far away from cities

Assimilation

loss of unique cultural traits & a blending into the dominant culture

homogeneous

mostly the same people participate

Cultural appropriation

process by which cultures adapt customs & knowledge from other cultures & use them for their own benefit

commodification

process through which something not intended to be bought/sold becomes something to be bought/sold (groups can sell clothing/jewelry/handicrafts/beliefs/games)

authenticity

real; questions about this come up when you are selling culture many people want to purchase a stereotype rather than the more complex reality!

folk songs

she'll be comin round the mountain, yankee doodle, amazing grace

remnants

we only have __________ of these cultures left in the US