Sacred Journey into Indigenous Communities
Integrated Seminar 101
Learning Activity A, Second Exam - Re-Telling One's Own Component
To be completed after the first frost of fall and before the first thunder of spring.
Re-Telling One's Own - Storytelling. Part of the second in-the-round recitation is the re-telling of one "authentic" oral narrative using "appropriate" techniques of telling.
In
order to better appreciate an Indigenous community, from perspective of its
members,
you should participate in one of its critical cultural expressions:
storytelling. If
Indigenous culture is
to be appreciated, how a member of that community acquires understandings and
knowledge must
also be appreciated. In
particular, the stories, as expressed in narrative, artistic and ceremonial
activity, have been and continue to be the critical means for the
dissemination of the mi'yep, the "teachings," as well as the perpetuation,
affirmation and creation of the Indigenous world.
Issues of oral literature performance, techniques of storytelling, re-membering,
and translation will be considered in this seminar and are discussed during
class (and in Frey 1995 Stories That Make the World
and Frey 2001 Landscape Traveled by Coyote and
Crane). But if we are to
truly gain access to Indigenous culture, students must, to some extent, become
experientially involved. Given the pivotal role of the stories, you will be
asked to personally participate in becoming the storyteller and in "re-membering"
an oral tradition. You cannot simply read your story aloud from the pages of a
book.
Adhering
the practice followed by many tribes, American Indian Coyote stories (as either a central or
peripheral character) are to be shared aloud only after the "first
frost" in the fall, but before the "first thunder is heard" in
the spring.
Coyote's voice should not
to be heard during the summer!
Select your story appropriately.
Your
starting point is to select a story that somehow "speaks to
you," you have an interest in, it offers an insightful
mi'yep,
etc. for you. Consider, for example, the narratives in
Landscape
Traveled by Coyote and Crane or
Stories That Make the World.
These are stories that have been previously reviewed by elders for public
sharing. Some stories are not meant to be shared publicly.
While accessing these oral traditions through the
medium of a literacy-based format is certainly not the ideal approach, in Landscape Traveled by Coyote and Crane
and
Stories
That Make the World a concerted effort was made to retain some of
the oral nuances of these stories. The instructor
can suggest additional sources to consider. See
Bibliography for additional stories.
In attempting to re- tell a story from an Indigenous perspective, it is essential that you engage the story as close as possible to its original oral presentation by the storyteller. Try to engage a story that also has its interlinear transcriptions and a free translation, such as for the Coeur d'Alene with Reichard (1946 and 1947) and for the Nez Perce with Aoki (1979 and 1989) and Phinney (1934). In all instances, attempt to maintain the "bones" of the story, the essential storyline and teachings, what is perennial within the story since time immemorial. Remember, new "bones" are not added, and try to retain all the original "bones" remember these stories were created by the First Peoples (such as Coyote and Salmon) or other perennial human peoples (Burnt Face or Four Smokes), and not by the imagination of some human storyteller. When accessing interlinear transcriptions of stories you can more easily to get a sense of the use of repetitions, deictics, word structures, suffix endings, etc, the oral nuances of the original telling. So much of the oral literature, when published in a literacy format, has been modified to fit Euro-American sensibilities. It is then your responsibility, with your particular storytelling techniques, differing from other students, to reanimate the "bones" of the story, to bring the story alive so others, your audience, can participate within its unfolding story event.
After
you have "re-membered" and presented your story during the
recitation,
reflect
on any meanings or significances that you may have
"discovered" or were "revealed" to you in the story's
landscape during the act of telling. This is "reflective"
opportunity, and not an analytical exercise. Limit your written comments to no
more than one page of text.
Consideration Criteria: