8.1 Telling Tales
8.1 Telling Tales
Storytelling and Oral Histories
Telling Tales
Humans seem to have always told stories! Stories of Greek mythology about various characters of Greek civilization date back 2100 years. Other stories are even older than that! Storytelling has existed since the first human used it to teach others about staying alive, about finding food, and about not becoming food!
Before the invention of written language, people used oral histories, stories of creation, and survival information to pass on new skills, strategies, customs, beliefs, and personal history. Communicating through storytelling from generation to generation brought our civilization where it is today!
A First Nations grandfather ('Kimosôm' is grandfather in Cree, one of many First Nation languages) preserves family history by telling stories of ceremony, language, hunting, trapping, and fishing to his son or daughter and grandchildren, who transfer it to their children. This oral tradition has been a practice of First Nations and other Aboriginal cultures in all places for hundreds, even thousands, of years. Think of similar information or skills passed through your own family. What stories and events of your great-grandparents, uncles, aunts, or parents might you share with your children?
Perhaps someone in your family has told stories about funny or embarrassing moments you have had! You may regret this sometimes, but these stories endure and are a part of your own personal oral history!
Storytelling methods have evolved from the oral tradition to books, novels, blogs, comments, status updates, tweets, photos, and discussion postings. Online , an average person can have the same size of audience for any creative endeavour as a professional author has!
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