Traditional Stories of the Plains Nations

Traditional Stories of the Plains Nations — page 3 — PEOPLE OF THE PLAINS West to east the Plains region spans the area from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River North to south it stretches from Canada to central Texas Many types of grass sage and plants cover the region Foothills and forests are found here too The weather can be extreme In the winter temperatures can fall far below freezing In the summer they THE POWER OF THE WORD Plains storytellers use their voices faces and body movements A storyteller may clap or speak loudly or softly He or she may make animal noises or imitate other natural sounds such as wind Some words also contain sounds from nature and animals These words can have more than one meaning in a story The stories often carry more meaning in their original languages than when they are translated can rise to more than 90 degrees Fahrenheit 32°C More than 30 different nations live in this area They include the Cree Nei yahw the Siksika

Traditional Stories of the Plains Nations — page 4 — The Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming lie within the Plains region the Mandan Numakiki and many others For the Plains Nations the landscape is bound to their oral traditions THE IMPORTANCE OF STORIES Today's storytellers may be men or women young or old Often the storyteller tells a traditional story the

Traditional Stories of the Plains Nations — page 5 — way he or she heard it PERSPECTIVES told Some storytellers may change stories to match new situations These oral traditions are important in people's lives today Stories share MODERN STORYTELLING Most storytellers agree each nation's stories are rooted in its language As a language falls out of daily use its stories may lose meaning or importance Modern storytellers may use their languages in videos or books They also use the Internet The Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre SICC website offers works in Plains Cree Dakota and other languages The SICC Animation Project for Youth even offers animated stories in many languages information about the past Some tell how the world was created Some are about heroes or tricksters Stories may warn people about seasonal danger They may tell how to care for the land A story may be told because it reminds the storyteller of problems people have lived through before Stories can also help people think about how old traditions apply to life today

Traditional Stories of the Plains Nations — page 6 — STRAIGHT TO THE SOURCE Philomine Lakota Hohwoju Itazipacola and Oglala Lakota and Stella Long Choctaw are modern storytellers In this article by writer Shannon Smith they explain how they think about their work I have a big fear that a lot of these ceremonies will be forgotten We have too much competition with the modern world Philomine Lakota said The oral tradition is also how history was passed down through generations With a written language developing later words and memories were the best ways to transmit information I don't always dig into the past because stories are out there now And someday what I tell will be history Stella Long said That's what a man told me one time Your stories are important It's stories of today but 20 years from now it's going to be history and people will be wanting to hear it Source Shannon Smith Native Storytellers Connect the Past and the Future Native Daughters University of Nebraska Lincoln n d Web Accessed October 24 2016 What's the Big Idea Take a close look at this passage How do the storytellers think about modern storytelling What do they think remains important about stories from the past

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