Storytelling and The
Wisdom and Medicine of Animals
by Crede Calhoun, chief guide for
Camp Earth and
owner of Scenic Views Studios
May 2002
Storytelling is a great way to share our lives and the lives of our ancestors with others. The spoken word let's us create our own mental pictures and allows us to see the story in our own way. In the old days there was a tradition of storytelling. Indian tribes and even pioneer settlers of North America had a custom of storytelling around the open fire or fireplace. The family traditions and stories were collected and passed down from generation to generation. Stories were often funny, or sad, but most times the best stories had a lesson to teach.
Telling stories can help us to carry on a valuable tradition that is lost with all the hi tech stuff. A great video can tell a story, but somehow there is something special about a good story told only with words. A book I really like is called Wisdom Keepers. It was written by these two men who went around interviewing old Indian medicine men, tribal chiefs, and spiritual elders. The authors purpose was to collect the stories from these people before they were lost. It has some great interviews and stories as well as some really good pictures.
Here's a story told by Buffalo Jim, a Seminole Indian living in the Big Cypress Indian Reservation, in Florida. It was told in 1989 when Buffalo Jim was 100 years old.
The Woodpecker, The Turkey Vulture and the Raccooon
"After the Creator made the land, He sent out the
woodpecker to take a look. The woodpecker he flapped his wings up and
down, and sharp and hard like this." Buffalo Jim snaps his elbows
abruptly up and down. "When he flew over the land his wings hit the
ground and that is how mountains were created." "The Creator
sent out the Vulture for a look, too. The vulture, he flies flat, with
his wings out like tis." Buffalo Jim holds his arms out wide,
fingers outstretched like wing tips, as if gliding. "Where his
wings hit the ground, that was where we had the flat lands and
valleys." "Another animal around about that time was the
raccoon. When the world was made the Creator told all the creatures not
to walk on the land until the ground dried and got hard. But the raccoon
didn't listen. He started digging in the soft land for crayfish. That
was how swamps were created. The Creator got mad at the raccoon and
yelled at him that he wasn't supposed to do it. The raccoon started
crying. His hands were black with from digging in the mud and he wiped
his eyes like this. That was how the raccoon got his black eyes."
Buffalo Jim 1989.
Trying to explain how the earth came into being and how all this natural life came to life is truly a mystery. This story like all stories can be understood many ways by many different people. I like the way Native American stories use animals to try and teach us something. If we look at nature carefully we can see and learn about things by observing the way animals live. We can get in touch with the wisdom of animals by researching and learning about the way that each kind of animal lives its life. We don't need to watch a bear to learn about what the bear can teach us. We can read and learn from experts who have studied the bear and we can read old stories about how Indians viewed the bear.
Let's look at our dog. Now we know that each dog has a unique personality. Every dog is different and every dog has specific mannerisms or habits that only it has. In some ways they are like people because there are no two a like. However, all dogs have certain traits that are unique to the dog. These 'dog' traits can teach us what it means to be a dog and what dog has to teach us.
For example, dogs are loyal. They form strong attachments to their
family group (which can include humans). Dogs can teach us about loyalty
and how to love unconditionally, even how to love another species, for
many of us love our dogs as much as they seem to love us. They will
protect their family to the death in most cases. A dog can devote itself
to service to another like in how a seeing dog commits itself to helping
its blind owner. The dog is usually a kind hearted creature and one that
seems to return affection easily. In fact, dogs pretty much will love us
even if we are cruel to them. Dogs can easily be trained to work for us
and carry our loads. Before the horse was used, dogs were very important
to man for transportation hauling, hunting, protecting livestock, and
other duties. Dogs can teach us the importance of play and Dog can show
us how important a keen sense of smell can be. Have you ever seen the
way dogs can somehow smell danger? Dogs have saved many people from
burning buildings. Dogs are pretty
remarkable and we can maybe learn a little better how life works if
we take the time to understand how dog works.
All animals have things to teach us just like dog. Cats are independent, clean, ruthless hunters, and love lying around in the sun.
Bears teach their young stuff, sleep for 3 months, and are mostly shy and solitary. Many tribes and even individual Native
American families had an animal that they called their special protector animal or 'totem animal'. This was animal that had the
qualites the group most was like. There were Bear Clans, Eagle Families etc.
Each family or tribe would make a Medicine Shield that was a hoop of willow with rawhide stretched around the hoop like a
flat drum. These shield would be decorated with a drawing of the 'totem animal' and decorated with other things like feathers,
fur, special stones, etc. Each group would have stories that told the children about how the tribe or family came to be
associated with a particular animal.
Stories and symbols can be a fun and important part of the history of our families and cultures. When we remember important
events with a good story we bring the past alive. That way we can learn from experience and remember things that maybe
helped shape ourselves and our families into what we are today. The next time you get a chance, ask an elder to tell you a story
about their life or something they have always remembered. This person can be a grandparent or any older person. Then you
listen carefully and try and rmember the story so you can tell someone else. With practice, you can learn how to tell stories
really well, and to learn stories well, you have to first learn how to be a good listener.
Next month will have a lesson in craft skills with nature and mask making.