INDG101 Quiz 3

Orality

verbal expression

form of education, transmitting memories, thinking, and interrelatedness.

panoply, as related to oral tradition

collection of information

• political speeches

• homeland ownership, geography, names

• protocols, codes of conduct

• food preparation

oral tradition story diversity

• could be sacred, historical, entertaining…

• individual to a community to a nation

• storytellers could be limited to certain individuals in a clan OR open to anyone who knows and cares

• reflect perceptions, relationships, beliefs, attitudes

Sisikwun

the rattle, representing the arrival of Spring when pointing East

Polaris is anchor star

Function of a story

• universal themes. shared humanity

• unique symbolism, metaphors

• way to understand our world

• preserve/promote knowledge, understanding

• recording oral stories is not enough! meant to keep traditions relevant

Tsonoqua

giant cannibal woman, could be outwitted, remind children to behave

Cajete reading

• stories are the most human forms of communication in INDG learning and knowledge systems

• stories are foundational in INDG education, transmitting cultural knowledge, ethics, ecological understanding, social responsibility

Story of water jar boy

• storytellers are living site of knowledge, provide insight, transmit knowledge to future generations.

• also for entertainment!

• benefit storyteller And listener

Importance of listening

• listening before thinking about response

• practicing silence after knowledge

emphasis on participation (talking) in Western classrooms.

• in oral tradition cultures, taught to listen, reflect on messages within story, then start response. thoughtful.

mistrust of oral narratives

• written language record is seen as the marker of civilization. thus oral tradition is uncivilized, illiterate. justifying colonialism

• use of metaphor, figurative language

• presence of supernatural, human, non-human beings, occurring in time-out-of-mind

• rely on memory, with variations depending on storyteller and audience.

oral vs written cultures

Oral:

• community-based

• keeper of the story reflects a community consensus.

• add to complexity of story by recontextualizing

• meaning of stories is often discussed by community

• SEEN AS: more subjective, less reliable, without history, less accurate

Written:

• written must be true/factual.

• privilege the author. (author must know best)

• documents interpreted ad hoc by individuals of community.

Case of Delgamuukw v. Regina 1997

• Restore lost lands, acknowledge ownership under Royal Proclamation

• Elders were able to write down maps of hunting grounds from memory

  • asked court transcripts to be restricted to protect stories.

Haida Gwaii origin story

Raven and First Peoples

Haudenosaunee origin story

Sky woman, turtle island

Inuit of Sikusiilaq origin story

Sedna

• explains how Inuit were attracted to and continue to survive in intolerable conditions.

• compassion towards others despite traumatic events

Tricksters in storytelling

• both learner and teacher role

• different forms (prankster, shape shifter, shaman, transformer, Raven, Coyote)

• “putting the world in order”

  • bringing salmon to People of the Plateau

  • transforming people, animals

  • teach lessons, learn from mistakes

historical view of Wendigo

supernatural cannibal, associated with greed, weakness, transformation.

first written account from Ojibwe woman, recorded by 17th century Jesuits.

Hudson’s bay company fur traders thought Cree were crazy.

view of Wendigo today

cautionary tale on the despair of isolation, danger of selfishness

linked to colonialism, consumerism, capitalism, greed. colonial forces like residential schools, intergenerational trauma

record keeping techniques

wampum belt

winter counts

sucker-fish script

birch bark scrolls

wampum

• clam shells beads, living record of a historical moment!

• accompanied oral narratives, treaties, agreements

• used to settle land disputes, agreements/contracts (two-row wampum belts)

  • recorded only after coming to an agreement.

  • Word is Everything

winter counts

• passed from person to person.

• Bison hide paintings of sequence of events (represented w different symbols)

• used with oral narratives

• valuable historical records, could be related with accuracy.

  • not always chronological. marked by significant events, recorded in a circle instead of linearly

sucker-fish script

Mi’kmaq writing system, named after the komqkwei. mnemonic device later used by missionaries to write Christian prayers. not allowed in residential schools.

birch bark scrolls

Anishnaabe Midewiwin practices

• learning about medicine, rituals, ecological knowledge

• hieroglyphics using coppers/red ochre to etch on bark.

  • rolled up scrolls then buried.

importance of maintaining oral tradition

• information lost from oral to written (gestures, body language, tone, audience, environment context)

• static, no longer adaptable.

• can be misrepresented/edited without consent