NORTHWEST INDIAN iTORYTfLlMl ASSOCIATION
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By Ron Karten
For three days earlier this
month, Native storytellers from
the Northwest and across the na
tion converged on Portland State
University to share stories and the
craft of telling them.
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Four Directions
Storyteller and Tribal Elder
Esther Stutzman (Coos and
Komemma Kalapuya) said that
the telling of stories is the "way our
people will live forever."
"Nobody knows where they began,"
said Storyteller Ed Edmo (Shoshone
Bannock, Yakama, Nez Perce), "but
stories are there to tell us how to act
in the future."
'They tell us how to be a human
being living in the world," said
Storyteller Roger Fernandes (Lower
Elwha Band of the Klallam Indians)
near Port Angeles, Washington.
During the course of the project,
stories highlighted issues as volatile
as blood quantum and the question
of Tribal membership, as difficult
as learning to accept the death of a
loved one and as common sense as
valuing the wisdom of all.
"Native American people tell the
oldest stories in the world," said
Fernandes. "At one time, all people
told these stories."
Pima Tribal Elder Rodney McAfee
talked about being authentic. "I
don't really know what a prayer is,"
he said before offering his invocation
to the Saturday evening, January 7th
events. "I'm 74 years old and I still
remember those prayers they forced
down my throat (in English). They
didn't mean anything. From what I
see here in the last two days, change
has taken place. Sometimes it gets
hard because I want to be real. To
get real, I have to use my own voice."
He then gave the invocation in his
Native Pima language.
Most of the rest of the stories
were told in English, but McAfee's
authenticity was the evening's
watchword for the standing room
only crowd that turned out for the
event's final evening.
"There's a need for this among our
Tribal people," said Rose High Bear
(Deg Hit'an Dine) from Portland, of
the crowd that attended. High Bear
"This Is How Our People Will Live Forever" Storyteller and Elder Esther Stutzman (Coos and Komemma Kalapuya)
spoke of the many stories that her grandmother told her over and over again as a child. It wasn't until later in life that
Stutzman learned that her grandmother's stories were actually lessons. The Northwest Indian Storytellers Gathering
was held at Portland State University's Native American Student and Community Center on Saturday, January 7.
Putting Stories On The Wind For Others
Northwest Native storytellers meet at Portland State.
is Executive Director and co-founder
of Wisdom of the Elders (WOTE), the
principle sponsor of the Northwest
Indian Storytellers Association
(NISA) that was formed only last
October.
'There is a heed for it among great
er community, too," said High Bear.
"I think there's a hunger for the wis
dom that can be found in Native story
telling. And I think we've created
a greater respect for Native culture
because of our gathering."
"I just love the commitment that
people have to keep the culture
alive," said WOTE Board member
Jane Grover (Abenaki of Vermont).
"I loved the storytelling," said au
dience member Marcia Van Orman,
member of the Heritage Committee
in West Linn. "Oh my gosh. I tell
my kids stories but they won't lis
ten." She came "to learn more about
Indian culture," she said. "It feels
like coming home."
A hundred or more came each
day of the three-day gathering of
the Northwest Indian Storytellers
Association (NISA), a project of
Wisdom of the Elders (WOTE), ac
cording to Project Director Bruce
Crespin (Juaneno Band of California
Mission Indians) from Portland, who
also is a member of WOTE's Board
of Directors. On Friday night, the
group put out two extra rows of
chairs to accommodate the crowd.
"We're seeing a great evolution
See STORYTELLERS
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