ART
, Magic & Wisdom
OF INDIGENOUS
STORYTELLING
by Shannon Thunderbird, M.A.
(copyrighted)
INTRODUCTION In the time before The Change (arrival of Columbus at Hispaniola (Dominican Republic) - 1491), Indigenous storytelling was a "sacred" process and the soul of The People. Without a written language traditional culture and customs were handed down using the Oral Narrative as the base. They provided social, cultural and historical contexts, and acted as a social cohesive for the entire tribe. In other words, they constituted the 'cultural grounding' of Indigenous people. Storytellers were respected and were usually Elders or Spirit Doctors who carried the history and knowledge of their people and were much revered in the tribes for the simple reason that it was assumed that with age came wisdom and experience. Children were taught gently about their Nation's traditional beliefs. Hearing the words from an Elder who told it with solemnity and dignity added weight to the importance of the knowledge. In other words, the oral narrative was a highly developed, sophisticated medium supported by ages old teachings and explanations that were based on fact, observation, oral claims and contracts (in front of witnesses), and a complex set of social and cultural customs for dealing with the sacred and the supernatural. Native people did not distinguish between the physical and supernatural because everything was viewed as a vast continuum; whether it be animate or supernatural, the world existed in 'real time' and in a conscious state of existence. Every living thing was a member of one large family: the four elements (earth, air, fire and water), plant, animal and human worlds were connected to each other in often complex and sophisticated ways. In other words, every object that existed in the physical world or sprang from the rich imaginations of the storytellers was in effect in possession of ‘real’ life and co-existed in perfect harmony with all other living beings - all were considered human. Later science and technology explained a lot of the workings of Mother Earth, why the tides come in twice a day, why the world is in light and in darkness, the origins of the star nation, etc. In the time of the Ancestors, however, it was the rich imaginations of the storytellers who tried to explain the relationship of humans to their natural and supernatural environments. Just like any human, Native people were eager to understand their place in the cosmos and in the long winter months the storytellers obliged by weaving magical tales. Spectacular stories are found on the Pacific Northwest coast and all across Turtle Island for that matter. On the Northwest coast however, coupled with the great dance dramas which were an integral part of the feast (Potlatch) ceremonies The People were kept enthralled with the relationships between humans and animals, humans and the cosmos, they laughed and cried with Culture Hero Raven as he sought to bring order to the world. Stories and dramas abounded through the Sun Dance ceremonies of the northern Great Plains (Blackfoot, Peigan, Blood, Sarcee); the Central and Eastern Woodlands (Ojibwa, Cree, Huron, Iroquois); Inuit; the wondrous stories of the Mi'Kmaq and other maritime tribes. As noted above, speeches/Stories were a crucial part of ceremonial occasions, such as the Pacific northwest coast feast ceremonies. Again, without a written language, the dance/music/storytelling dramas sought to ground The People in their history. Often long and complex, they covered a variety of topics and claims in the the best of the oral tradition were designed to pass on knowledge, history and ownership of, for example, important crests, totems, names, beliefs, history and territory. Stories of how to behave, of overcoming obstacles, of exceptional courage and sacrifice, how to make clothing, prepare food, build long houses, carve totems, deal with cowardly denial, selfishness and jealousy, generally how to behave with others (i.e. manners, protocol), understanding the world of the supernatural, and explanations about the place of humans in the natural world were vital to the overall health and future of the tribe. Storytelling and Truth were interconnected and it was with the utmost trust that The People received the tales of those who had gone before. Most Native stories contained malevolent and evil-doing spirits which had to be confronted or counteracted by an opposing positive power. Power was an important concept for Native people. It primarily was the property of the spirit world, therefore the ‘crying for a vision’ to acquire guardian spirits was an important event in the life of a young person, since one had to possess at least minimal amounts of spiritual power in order to carry survive in often harsh environments. MISSIONARIES
AND THEIR DELUSIONS Of note, is the fact that there is no Indigenous word for "trickster"; each figure had its own name. It was simply beyond the pale for the average missionary to contemplate Raven, Glooscap, Napi or Coyote as akin to the level of Jesus Christ - that is a figure sent by The Great Mystery to bring order to the world. Clutching rosaries and muttering homilies, Christian missionaries scuttled about, "Raven, Jesus, Coyote in the same sentence?" "I don't think so!" and so, the culture heroes were relegated to the only other place in Christian sensibilities, hell and Satan.
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MYTH OR LORE? Indigenous Stories defy simple classification. 'Myth' seems to be a popular category. However, myth, by definition suggests the stories were not real because they referred to fictitious themes that included imaginary persons or things that were spoken of as though they existed. For the Ancestors, all beings whether they were physically real or from the visions of the Old Ones did exist, and in real time, albeit sometimes in an altered or supernatural state. On the Northwest coast the oral narrative past on important information - it laid claim to territory, crests, names. If labels are to be applied, 'Lore' is probably closer because it invokes a teaching, or the act of being taught by someone who has knowledge of a particular group or subject matter of a traditional nature. But lose the preface word "Folk"!! We are talking about a noble people whose rich, passionate 'stand alone' history, culture and social organizations were grounded in a certain set of non-folksy beliefs and values!
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A SINGLE DEITY OR SUPREME BEING? Unlike the Christian concept of a single, male God responsible for the creation of the world, Indigenous people, as a general rule, did not believe in a single supreme, autonomous, and eternal being who was all-powerful and established the conditions under which all beings would live. To believe this was to disbelieve that the seen and unseen worlds were inter-connected cohesive spheres of activity in which all living beings played an equal role. To the Tsimshian, for example, there are no Creation stories per se because it was assumed the world was always there. There are however, a myriad of Raven stories. Raven is not a Creator figure, but a Transformer figure responsible for bringing order to a pre-existing world. Raven brought food, light, fixed the tides, brought supernatural beings under control, gave humans their first conscious thought. For many tribes, there was no supreme puppeteer directing the action; each living being had its own gifts and talents, and as long as everyone knew their place and did their job, the world hummed in unison for another day. In other words, Indigenous people did not see themselves as superior to the rest of the natural world - everyone was thought of as equal, intelligent, self-directed and able to communicate their gifts and talents for the greater good of the whole. Such kinship, respect, dignity, celebration and honour was accorded to all because it was believed everyone came from a common beginning. This is why Indigenous people usually end with the words 'all my relations'.
Concession was given to the exalted God position in post-European
contact when many tribes adopted a Creator/Great Spirit/Great Mystery
figure. An important distinction is the fact that this figure was
non-gendered.
It
was a powerful deity made up of equal parts of the male and the female.
Over time, Indigenous people became lazy and simply started referring to
this entity as 'he' instead of Creator, Great Mystery or Great Spirit.
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MAIN CATEGORIES OF INDIGENOUS STORYTELLING The Creation of the World can be loosely categorized under two main headings: EARTH-DIVER STORIES (CREATION STORIES) - Like all the earth's people, Native people were no different in wanting to understand their origins. Where did they come from? Who sent them? How did they emerge in their present form on the earth. Many stories tell of a great flood that covered the earth thereby setting the stage for the magical creation of the earth, the origins of the cosmos and the interrelations of its elements. Here the Earth Diver myth of the Eastern Woodlands, Northern Plains, for example, has either the Great Spirit or the Transformer diving or ordering other animals to dive into the primeval water to bring up mud, out of which the Earth would be fashioned. There is a Lakota story in which the Creating Power "sings" a great flood into existence in order to destroy an unsatisfactory first creation; then, when a turtle brings mud back from the depths of the waters, the Creating Power "sings" an entire new world into existence. Music, thus, creates as well as destroys. There is also the bogus explanation that Turtle Island's Native people came across a land bridge known as Berengia (Bering Strait); wherein it sells books and satisfies the average academic's driving need for empirical evidence, there is not a thread of truth to it.
"There is a commonly held belief that thousand of years ago as the world
today counts time, Mongolian nomads cross a land bridge to enter the
western hemisphere, and became the people known as the American Indians.
The truth of course, is that Raven found our forefathers in a clam shell
on the beach at Naikun. At his bidding they entered the world peopled by
birds, beasts, and creatures of great power....at least that's a little
bit of the truth."
EMERGENCE STORIES - For many other Native tribes, people did not originate in an already created world (like the Garden of Eden), but, rather, they emerged from the womb of the Earth Mother; they were called out into the daylight of their Sun Father. Most widely developed among agricultural peoples, the Emergence story narrates the original passage from darkness to light, from chaos to order, and from undetermined to distinctly human form. The dynamic of evolution—that life evolves from one form to another—serves as a fundamental metaphor for transformations of all kinds. Examples from the Pacific Northwest Coast:
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MORE MAIN CATEGORIES Earth-Diver and Emergence stories are further broken down to include the following types of themes and stories: TRANSFORMER STORIES - Frequently, but not always, these stories represent the Transformer, as primarily a comical character who engages in buffoonery while stealing light, fire, water, food, animals and even humans; this character often lost them or set them loose to create havoc in the world. (Raven among the Bella Coola, Tsimshian, Haida, Hare; Nanabush among the Anishinabe; Frog in the Columbian Plateau; Coyote among the Blackfoot). This is a very superficial and not very flattering picture of a much loved, and very important Culture Hero figure in Indigenous Storytelling, who in fact, was responsible for the organization of a world that was originally created in chaos. Such biased thinking came out of the writings of early Christian missionaries who saw it as their duty not to compare such figures with Jesus Christ who was also sent, apparently, to help bring order the world. As a result these figures were relegated to the only other available option, that of Satan. Hence, the more common reference of 'Trickster' is used to describe these characters. Not only is this wrong, it is insulting born of prejudice and deliberate misunderstanding. Transformer or Culture Hero are the more appropriate terms - a beloved, magical, compassionaTE and practical figure in Native storytelling who helped change the external (physical) form of the world as well as the inner nature of it using often miraculous means to do so. In North America, Transformer is characteristically portrayed as a figure who was capable of traveling back and forth between the secular and supernatural worlds because at the time only a thin veil of mist separated the two. The magic of transformer was its catalytic magic to change the world. Transformer was a mystical/magic entity who used a perfectly balanced left and right brain to solve problems. Transformer had the ability, as well, to utilize a variety of human traits in the quest to settle the world. For example, logic, creativity, patience, impatience, honesty, dishonesty, love, hate, joy, sadness, greed, seriousness and humor were all employed in varying degrees depending on the situation. Many Creation stories revolve around the ability of Transformer to use these gifts to overcome complications quickly, and with a high degree of energy, physical agility, mental discipline, good humour and for the most part good intent. Very human! Transformer simply did what needed to be done and what had to be done. In other words, there was no difference between need and duty when good intention was the goal. CULTURE HERO STORIES - In these stories, the Transformer appears as a extraordinary human who possesses supernatural powers, and who brings the world into its present form by heroic feats. The events in these stories account for the origin of distinctive cultural beliefs, values and practices - (Raven (Pacific Northwest Coast; Nanabush (Ojibwe); Glooscap of the Mi’Kmaq, Maliseet, Abenaki), White Buffalo Calf Woman (Lakota), Gaqka or Crow went to the south and, listening to the earth, learned all the stories, and brought back storytelling to the Seneca. These figures were not Creator figures, but rather responsible for bringing order to the world. In the Columbian Plateau and Great Plains, there are said to be two Transformers (more precisely, a Transformer and a companion who is a brother, sister or other relative). They try to outdo each other in feats of strength, ability or cunning that result in the formation of the world as it now exists. Raven of the northwest coast has stories of a brother associated with him as well, known as the Lazy One, who is more likely to follow along and let his brother do all the work and then try to steal his ideas.
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MORE THEMES AND CATEGORIES Many stories tell the origin of the Sun, Moon and Stars. There is usually a tension between the heavenly bodies; e.g., the cool moon by night is said to be necessary to counteract the burning of the Earth and the killing of people by the heat of the sun in the day. An Inuit story tells of the sun and moon as brother and sister, but since they have engaged in incest in their human lives the are doomed to eternal separation. Another humorous telling, has Grandfather Sun and Grandmother Moon in perfect harmony with each other for the simple reason that they never see each other - ah! a lasting relationship!
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ABOUT STORYTELLING: AN OVERVIEW As Father Sky continued to turn (meaning as the years went by) more and more technology entered the lives of humans, the role of the storyteller began to fade. Modern travel shrunk the planet to a manageable size and people could move around wherever they desired even to the most remote places. It seemed, that this encroachment into unfamiliar territory included collecting and retelling stories without a real understanding of the culture from which the narratives came. The invention of the printing press further eroded oral storytelling as an insatiable demand was created for story books. The stories became words in books, but the subtle nuances, understandings and beliefs were lost. The stories became 'stand alone' narratives and the connections to the culture from which they came was irretrievably severed. Unfortunately, today the modern storyteller is seen merely as an entertainer primarily for children, who works for very little (expectation usually being no payment) and simply recites words. A far cry from the once important person who had professional status in the community. Storytellers need to reclaim the power, the honour and professionalism as chroniclers of cultural events. First, however, society needs to re-introduce itself to the full definition of what a Storyteller is and the important function they serve as cultural guardians and one of the most powerful voices of change within the modern world. This vital aspect of storytelling risks being lost in the mists of time as the world speeds up and our attention spans wane.
The true role of the
storyteller is to teach the culture, morals, spirituality,
laws, and social values, that govern a community. Using the Oral Narrative
as the forum, a true storyteller teaches these values, passes on
knowledge and beliefs to the next generation. |
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For a variety of stories and meanings |
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Note to Gentle Readers: Due to the almost mythical number of SPAM emails (average: 3,000/mo), anti-spam software has been installed - be patient and answer the question from IPermitmail; Thunderbird & Teya Peya look forward to hearing from you. |