Indigenous cultures in North America engage in storytelling about morality, origin, and education as a form of cultural maintenance, expression, and activism. Falling under the banner of oral tradition, it can take many different forms that serve to teach, remember, and engage Indigenous history and culture. Since the dawn of human history, oral stories have been used to understand the reasons behind human existence. Today, Indigenous storytelling is part of the broader indigenous process of building and transmitting indigenous knowledge.
Though different Indigenous cultures have different oral traditions, across the board Indigenous peoples in North America interpret oral traditions similarly because they encode basic values that are consistent across cultures. Some common themes of oral traditions include respect for elders, origins, and respect for the environment. Oral traditions educated younger generations and maintained indigenous social, spiritual, and cultural systems for ten thousand years. According to Bastion and Michaels, colonialism, through the spread of disease and disenfranchisement, reduced the indigenous populations of North America, though their stories sustained.
Currently, Indigenous groups are using storytelling to reclaim their histories, push back against colonial narratives, and draw attention to issues such as environmental protection, often through indigenous collaboration.Jeff Corntassel, Chaw-win-is, and T'lakwadzi. "Indigenous Storytelling, Truth-telling and Community Approaches to Reconciliation." ESC: English Studies in Canada 35.1 (2009): 137–59)
Background
Terminology Storytelling falls under the umbrella of broader oral traditions and can take either the form of oral history or oral tradition. The difference between the two is that oral history tells the stories that occurred in the teller's own life while oral traditions are passed down through generations and reflect histories beyond the living memory of the tribal members. Both are believed to be accurate representations of events that are part of the shared history, according to Anthropologist Robert Mason.
Myths are another part of indigenous storytelling. Rather than passing on accurate events, they focus on the spiritual forces present in the natural world and explain how and why's of human existence such as creation stories, lives of heroes, and human being's role in sustaining the world. Myths can also support the indigenous social and cultural systems and customs. Lastly, myths, though different from oral histories and traditions, can function as teaching tools or healing methods.
Methods Regardless of whether in the form of oral history, tradition, or myth, Storytelling in indigenous cultures is passed on by oral means in a quiet and relaxing environment, which usually coincides with family or tribal community gatherings and official events such as family occasions, rituals, or ceremonial practices.Hodge, et al. Utilizing Traditional Storytelling to Promote Wellness in American Indian Communities. Stories are not often told in the same manner twice, resulting in many variations of a single myth. This is because narrators may choose to insert new elements into old stories dependent upon the relationship between the storyteller and the audience, making the story correspond to each unique situation.Silko, L. Storyteller. New York, New York: Seaver Books Pub., 1981.
The method of storytelling was selected, largely in part, for its reflection of how biologically the human brain remembers information and the ease by which it can transmit them. Many indigenous cultures consider stories as "the language of the human spirit" not only for their representation of tangible human experiences, but also for their use as an educational and developmental tool. Though different for the numerous different tribes of indigenous peoples, stories encompass metaphors and cultural histories significant for each and operate as a reflection of the significant elements that compose their world.
Development For indigenous cultures of the Americas, storytelling is used as an oral form of language associated with practices and values essential to developing one's identity.Archibald, Jo-Ann, (2008). Indigenous Storywork: Educating The Heart, Mind, Body and Spirit. Vancouver, British Columbia: The University of British Columbia Press. This is because everyone in the community can add their own touch and perspective to the narrative collaboratively – both individual and culturally shared perspectives have a place in the co-creation of the story. Oral storytelling in indigenous communities differs from other forms of stories because they are told not only for entertainment, but for teaching values. For this reason, both oral traditions and myths are part of the indigenous education system. As the stories are told, adapted, and developed, they become renewed expressions of communal knowledge. They not only teach and build a shared collective understanding, but also individual identity understanding.
Types of storytelling in Indigenous North America According to Indigenous writer Leslie Silko, there are various types of stories among many indigenous communities that may be used for coming of age themes, core values, morality, literacy and history. Indigenous American communication is rich with stories, myths, philosophies and narratives that serve as a means to exchange information.
Storytelling can be put into different types of forms such as textual, oral, personal, mythical, and sacred storytelling. Storytelling is a tool that is used to learn about life and as a way to witness and remember the past, sharing stories strengthens your bond to your roots as well as gives you a look into your ancestral past. We see through indigenous scholars through their writings the importance of storytelling and why it should be continued and expressed with their stories such as Thomas King and William Appess two important people showing the true importance of written storytelling. Having elders is important in the process of recovering traditions and resisting colonialism. Elders use their role to share their knowledge for good to reteach everything they know with all the traditional ways they have such as storytelling which is a major factor in it. "Elders are important in the process of recovery and resistance to colonial realities and in reinsertion of the importance of remembering our past and remaking our futures. Elders mentor and provide support and have systematically gathered wisdom, histories, skills, and expertise in cultural knowledge." "Histories are shared inform a discussion of (a) types of stories, (b) oral storytelling as pedagogical tools for learning life lessons, (c) the process of witnessing in storytelling to honor Indigenous traditions and ancestors and reflecting the processes of the ancestors in a modern world, and (d) sharing stories of spirituality as sources of strength." "Elders' stories inform discussions of (a) storytelling types (mythical, personal, and sacred), (b) storytelling as pedagogical tools for learning about life, (c) storytelling as witnessing and remembering, and (d) sharing stories of spirituality as sources of strength."
Morality Indigenous stories reveal moral norms to listeners and remind them of the cultural moral values. The stories feature characters who, by acting morally or not, explain the indigenous world and how to be a moral member of it. According to Cheney, morality becomes encoded into indigenous perceptions of their world through the stories and oral traditions.
In Apache stories, elders tell stories detailing social offenses to the values of their culture. In one story, a man decided to kill a cow off of a white man's reservation. The policeman who caught him was also an Apache, but he forgot to actually turn the man in. Though the elders of the tribe told him he should, he didn't, and instead chose to isolate himself from the community. The understanding of this story is that people who join with outsiders against their own community, acting as a whiteman, will face harsh pushback from their community.
In the Sioux culture, the character of Iktomi, a spider, illustrates the follies of selfishness, disrespect, pride, and other negative traits. An example is the story of Iktomi and the boulder. In this story, Iktomi is walking along arrogantly believing that he looks good and gives his cloak to a boulder. However, when it got cold he went back and took the gift away, a major mistake in Sioux culture. Due to his mistake, the boulder chased him and pinned him down, forcing him to be saved by the bats who picked away at the boulder giving them a square nose and creating lots of pebbles. Iktomi was covered in injuries and highly embarrassed with his looks and his actions. The story illustrated how pride and vanity lead to pain and embarrassment, and reminded members of the tribe to not be arrogant or prideful unless they wished to be hurt by their actions.
The Ojibwe (or Chippewa) tribe uses the tale of an owl snatching away misbehaving children. The caregiver will often say, "The owl will come and stick you in his ears if you don't stop crying!" Thus, this form of teasing serves as a tool to correct inappropriate behavior and promote cooperation.Hilger, 1951. Chippewa Childlife and its Cultural Background.
Parents in the Arizona Tewa community, for example, teach morals to their children through traditional narratives. Lessons focus on several topics including historical or "sacred" stories or more domestic disputes. Through storytelling, the Tewa community emphasizes the traditional wisdom of the ancestors and the importance of collective as well as individual identities.
Indigenous communities teach children valuable skills and morals through the actions of good or mischievous stock characters while also allowing room for children to make meaning for themselves. By not being given every element of the story, children rely on their own experiences and not formal teaching from adults to fill in the gaps.
Origin Hernandez-Avilla explains that origin stories allow indigenous groups to connect to their world and to understand their identities and how they fit into the historical space and time. Origin stories allow for reconfirmation of the relationship between creation and human beings, and for that relationship to be passed on through generations.
In Sioux culture, the story of The Great Race explains how humans became the dominant animal. In this story, humans and buffalo had a great race in which the winner would be the hunter while the loser would be the hunted. Humans were able to win with the help of the magpie bird, and thus, man became the hunter while buffalo supplied food, clothing, shelter, and other helpful things. In return, humans would respect the animals for their sacrifice. This story explains why the buffalo were so integral to the plains culture. It also helps explain why every part of the buffalo was used and not much went to waste due to their cultural respect for the animal. A similar story is called the Medicine Dance. In this story, the creator noticed that people were sick and dying. Therefore, he sent beings down to create the earth and the sky, teach the medicine dance to people, and to settle in the ground and grow healing herbs from their bodies in order to give people a way to heal themselves. This story helps explain how sickness originates and also how it can be cured.
Some origin stories are more historical in nature and deal with the location of sacred sites.
For the Cup'it Eskimo, their land origin story explains how Raven crafted their homeland of Nunivak Island by taking soil from the mainland and placing it in the ocean, where it then joined with a piece of ice floating. Raven then added mountains by pulling more soil and using the wind.