2-Hour Special Event
Final Native American Storytelling: Culture is Prevention
Starting in July of 2020, this special series of sessions featured traditional Native American storytellers from all over the country. We had many meaningful discussions from the stories that were told as well as ways these stories can be incorporated by Native American providers when working with patients. July 13th will be our final Storytelling event, so we are planning to extend the broadcast by one hour. Following Mr. Begay’s scheduled storytelling hour, we have invited all of our previous Native Storytellers from this series to join us during the second hour.
Thank you for all of your support and feedback over the past year. We hope these stories have been meaningful and supportive during these challenging times. Please note that while we encourage non-Native providers to attend these sessions to increase your cultural understanding and sensitivity, we ask that out of respect for cultural traditions, you do not use these stories as your own if they are not a part of your culture.
Native storytelling is an long honored way of teaching lessons of life. We, as Native people, need to laugh while learning. For example, laughing at how Coyote makes funny mistakes. This can teach people how to avoid behaving as Coyote does. Further, Native legends can offer stories about Creation or the Trickster. However, some stories can only be told during certain times of the year. For example, Coyote legends are only told during the winter time because that is often when Native people would be in their lodges practicing survival skills to help the tribe thrive in difficult times.
Traditionally, the storyteller needed to be an excellent psychologist and able to understand peoples’ perspectives. A story might be used in treatment to help a patient come to a realization in a culturally informed way.
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