Native American Storytelling

1147 Words5 Pages
Native American Storytelling Imagine a cold, wintery night, centuries ago before Spanish, Dutch, French, and English explorers invaded the homelands of the Native Americans. The winters are harsh, the days short, children restless, adults tired. Before bedtime, the family huddles together to enjoy a reality-bending, dream-sending story. The preceding statements could also be said about the present day. Many families today enjoy the traditional “bedtime story” with their children before sending them off to bed. The Native American tradition of storytelling was a part of the everyday activities for the Native American, enjoyed by both adults and children. The tribal storyteller was the most influential person in the tribe. He or she was the most knowledge about the tribal customs, history, and ceremonies. The tribal storyteller was the verbal voice of wisdom, moral instruction, and learning. Before the alphabet and the written word Native Americans used storytelling to teach, inspire, and entertain. The ritual of storytelling provided health, history, and social cohesion within the tribe and surrounding Native American villages. The stories told by the storyteller were meant to be enjoyed as an oral performance; many of these stories have been translated and written down for other cultures to enjoy. However, even the best translation loses the richness of the performance done during the storytelling by the storyteller. Native American writers use the literary conventions of allegory, symbolism, and onomatopoeia in their writing to reflect the tradition of storytelling and convey important historical and cultural events. Allegory, symbolism, and onomatopoeia are the literary conventions used in oral storytelling as well as Native American literature. Allegory refers to the hidden meaning within a story. The Way to Rainy Mountain written by N. Scott

More about Native American Storytelling

Open Document