Date

2010

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Department

Teacher Education

Abstract

In this action research thesis, Indian elders give suggestions on storytelling curriculum about traditional tribes. To see where we are going, we must know where we have been, who we come from, what we do and should do, and how to sense the hand of the Trickster. Human beings are rooted in traditional tribes, ancient future societies such as those we are documenting. Indian Country is a world apart, under siege and, as renowned activist Leonard Peltier has said, prison is the fastest growing reservation. Educational standards require children know of broken treaties, massacres, and internecine warfare, but not that Euro-Americans broke treaties and exterminated Native tribes. Acclaimed Native novelist Leslie Marmon Silko has said, "Through the stories we see who we are ... language is story." Interviews with elders suggest the value, purpose, content, theme, and audiences of storytelling. The overall goal is to develop a book and film devoted to storytelling as a means to define identity, further pan-Indian knowledge of Natives, and promote societal contribution.

Comments

Thesis (M.A.) Teacher Education Department

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