Chapters in this book

1. Front Matter i
2. Contents v
3. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii
4. The Folklorist’s Endeavor: An Introduction 1
5. Being or Becoming a Folklorist 6
6. Rock and Word 8
7. Shelfscapes 10
8. Travels 15
9. Work Song 21
10. Instructions for Installing Blinds 23
11. Barbara 24
12. “Affectionados” 26
13. Women and Water in Senegal 32
14. In Search of Our Mothers . . . and Our Selves 39
15. Fieldwork, Folk Communities, Informants 54
16. Oral History 56
17. White Bluffs and Miss Lena 58
18. Margaret 60
19. Karl and Janie 61
20. Historical Sign 66
21. Opening Camp 68
22. Second Growth 71
23. Percy 73
24. from Bigfoot Stole My Husband 84
25. Performance 91
26. Legends, Rumors, Lore, and Revelations (Some Incomplete) Involving Leaton Troutwine, a Local Eccentric/Celebrity/Hero (and Gordon’s Owner) 93
27. The Storytelling Wake 111
28. Rant 112
29. from Kamp: A Memory Novel 117
30. Shins Around the Fireside (Jig) 122
31. Maybelle and Sara on the Porch 123
32. The Powers of Narrative 124
33. Ballad Girls 126
34. Stella Stories 128
35. Once Upon a Time 137
36. Legend and Myth 139
37. A Cosmology of Women 141
38. Absent Gods 143
39. Shadow 146
40. The Ramayana . . . as if Sita Mattered 148
41. Material Traditions, Material Th ings 171
42. One of My Mothers 173
43. The Quilters 178
44. Grandma Effi e and the Heirloom 179
45. My Great-Great Half-Uncle Horace’s Bone-Handled Jackknife 181
46. The Cane 183
47. Children’s Lore and Language 184
48. my mother’s garden 185
49. The Lulu Bird Nestles in the Daddy O Tree 189
50. From Lost in Redskirt Forest 191
51. Ritual and Custom 203
52. The Birthday Horse 205
53. In Praise of Bodies 207
54. Christmas Tree 210
55. Madhulika 211
56. Eating Alone 212
57. From Cabañuelas: A Love Story 213
58. Worldview and Belief 219
59. Salem, Massachusetts, Playground at Gallows Hill 220
60. Haints 221
61. Notes 239
62. Contributors 240