Lecture 10 Flashcards
(15 cards)
Common types of stories
-Spiritual stories/ spiritual history/ genesis stories
: creation stories etc
-lived/ remembered history
-tall tales
:fun stories
Examples of spiritual stories in native culture
• ātayōhkēwina (Plains Cree)/ âcathôhkîwina (Woods Cree)
• E.g.: Part 2 (Sacred Stories) of Solomon Ratt’s The Way I Remember
• lii kont (Michif)
• Spiritual stories and characters
• stsptekwll
• Secwépemc (Salish nation in BC) have epic stories set in ancient times,
back to the time of ‘transformers’ (important protagonists in Salishan oral
history)
• The characters shape-shift between animal and human shape, and their
stories anchored in the landscape
• Contains moral messages about human action, embodying Secwépemc
law and environmental ethics
• E.g.: W7éyle: The Secwépemc Woman in the Moon
Examples of remembrances in native culture
Tellings of events personally remembered by the storyteller, or handed down to
the storyteller by someone in a previous generation who experienced the event.
• ācimowina (stories)/ kiskisiwina (memories) – Plains/Woods Cree
• E.g. Part 1 of Solomon Ratt’s The Way I Remember
• lii zistwer - Michif
• E.g.: Mr. Edwin St.Pierre’s stories in Remembering My Métis Past:
Reminisces of Edwin St. Pierre
• slexéy’em - Secwepemctsín
• tellings of events
Examples of tall tales
• Told in humour and for entertainment
• Made-up/ created/ exaggerated
• In Michif culture, traditionally within gatherings of men
• Told these stories in succession, topping each other’s stories
• People would gain a reputation for being the best storytellers around
Creation stories
-explain universe
- define the meaning of existence
- often introduce extraordinary events, spirits, characters
- talk about spiritual or religious beliefs
- explain the formation of group identity, social and kinship relationships
- explain other natural phenomena of the world
Dakota oyate and creation
-creation story is a testimony to ancient and sacred relationship between the Dakota and the landscape of their homeland
: Bdote is the place of creation (where 2 bodies of water join)(Mississippi and Minnesota river)
-wakantanka (the great mystery- creator) creates many children with Ina (mother) and Maka (the earth) before the first humans
: they call and rely on Mother Nature for sustenance comfort and safety
: Wakantanka craves children that can speak to him and call him by his name
: Wakantanka with the blessing of Ina Maka craves humans from the earth
Narrative memory
Oral tradition is a collective enterprise: one
storyteller/narrator, most likely, does not have
singular authority over a story and the said story is
validated by their peers. (Hansen 2009)
For example:
Cree narrative memory is “an ongoing conversation, a
constant play between present, past, and future.
Participants in this conversation have spoken many
languages and have had a variety of ways of seeing the
world. However, the Cree language and traditions are the
threads that hold this particular fabric together” (McLeod,
2007: 95)
McLeod situations oneself
Key value and other important values
Key value
Humility
Other values
-situating/ locating oneself and your relationship to the story
- open-endedness: no end to the story can be interpreted
Metaphor of the knife
A knife is used in storytelling tradition of the Cree.
• The knife is struck in the ground and symbolises the sense of responsibility both
storyteller and listeners have.
• They share a relationship, of kinship or friendship.
• The listener (younger person) is like the knife: if the listener does not listen
properly, they metaphorically ‘kill’ the story and the storyteller.
• They are part of a collective memory much larger than themselves (McLeod,
2007:13)
Oral tradition / narratives and co construction
The listener and the storyteller both play a crucial role in the transmission and the
telling of the story.
• The story is also the product of many storytellers’ perspectives, emotions, insights
and teachings.
• Co-construction:
• Where the listener and teller build meaning together
• Place the story within a conversation/an interaction
• Storytelling protocols
• Entrance talk (beginning of the story)
• Exit talk (end of the story)
Entrance talk protocol
Situating oneself
Situating the story
Value and teaching of humility
Protocols and permissions
In many Indigenous cultures, there is an important protocol surrounding
permission to share stories and other cultural practices (dances, etc.).
• Example of Haida (British Columbia) and the story of the Haida dogfish
mother:
• “There is a story that my father tells when we are about to perform the
shark dance. It is about a man who went out to the beach at low tide to
‘take care of nature’, and he heard an unusual sound. When he followed it,
he came upon a dogfish mother who had been caught on the ongoing tide.
She was in her last throes of life, and her chant was nothing like he had
ever heard before. The man memorized her song before returning her to the
ocean and it evolved to become the shark dance that we perform today”
Origin of shark dance and dogfish mother
Davidson’s father tells the story of the origin of the dance:
• In 1980, a group from Hydaburg, Alaska travelled to a feast her father was hosting (on the west
coast of BC) and performed the dance.
• Her father was so taken with the dance that he travelled back to Hydaburg to ask permission to
perform the dance and sing its accompanying song.
• He specifically asked a member of the yahgu jaanaas clan, the clan who owned the song and
dance and they are the ones who gave permission.
• Reciprocal exchange: Mr. Davidson ‘traded’ the Women’s Lullaby so that his nation (the
Massett Haida) could use the shark dance once again.
• Today, ownership of stories and other experiences are done in a more official
capacity in the Haida nation.
• Because her clan has ownership of the story, Davidson was allowed to refer and
work with the story as part of her doctoral research without further permissions
Rhythm
The first things babies access on language from the very womb is rhythm and prosody
Researchers have found that infant newborns are already familiar
with their language’s or languages’ rhythms.
.
How do they even measure this?
A method called the ‘high amplitude sucking habituation’
method, based on the principle that the more interested/
engaged a baby is, the harder they suckle. A pressure
transducer connected to a baby pacifier/soother can help
measure ‘sucking power’.
