Why We Are Here and Our Culture

Lets start off with how my family got here! 

My Great Grandpa was killed when my Grandpa was only 4 years old. My Great Grandma and my Grandpa (Vic) moved to Brooklyn, New York from Palermo Siciliy, Italy when my Grandpa was 14 because he started to get in some trouble. When they came from Italy to the United States, our last name was Milazzo but was changed to Milatzo to Americanize it. They didn't agree with the name change but they had no choice. This makes it more difficult to find family history. In Italy, then men in our family worked as farmers or fisherman while the woman, such as my Great Grandmother worked in a factory. From Brooklyn, New York, they made the decision to come to Cheyenne, Wyoming once my Great Grandmother remarried. My Grandpa became a very successful barber here in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

My Great *3 Grandma and Great *3 Grandpa came to the United States from Spain by boat. They came with only a few chickens, a few goats and some family. They settled in Espanola, New Mexico. They were farmers in Spain and also started out as farmers in New Mexico. Once settled in New Mexico, the men were bus drivers and the woman were housewives. My Grandma continued on the tradition of being a housewife and has held positions at the church we attend.

As stated in our textbook, "culture is the body of material traits, customary beliefs, and social forms that together constitute the distinct tradition of a group of people" (Rubenstein 86). There are so many different cultures out there that I feel that people are naturally a mixture of many. I personally fall into popular culture but when I started thinking about it more, some of the things that I do stem from what my parents or Grandparents have passed down to me based off of folk culture.

In my family, we have many traditions. On Christmas Eve, we go to my Grandparent's house for a 7 fish meal. This is part of the culture in Italy that my family has carried on and passed down the line. We have done this ever since I can remember! As my family is Catholic, we always pray before we eat a big family gatherings. Some Spanish dishes that my family makes are lam, pig/hog, and potato cakes. My Grandma also makes what is classified as Mexican food such as tacos, tamales, beans, Spanish rice, green/red chili, and arroz con leche (sweet rice). Some say that we are Mexican instead of Spanish because of the food that has always been made in my family but my Grandma says that it is also in Spain and we are Spanish. Some Italian dishes that my family makes are pasta dishes, brusheloli, pinyolatas, cannoli's, fish and pizzels.

Another family tradition we have is to go to midnight mass on Christmas Eve/Christmas and all of our big family gatherings.

All of these traditions were passed down and were a part of folk culture at sometime. We may not always think of things being folk culture, but it is. Culture is a big part of our lives and helps shape who we are!