Story is the second Indigenous knowledge we will be working with. In the below lesson we will look at how sense of place and story relate to each other and help form our identities.
"Oral traditions create a space for interacting with the environment, and for many First Nations people, the landscape that holds these stories becomes an aid to learning their histories and a guide in decision making and problem solving." -Erin Hanson
Oral Tradition
Unlike written work, oral stories can change slightly with each telling. However, each story needs to be past down from generation to generation with complete accuracy. In order to ensure this there was often one person in each community who held the story knowledge and was responsible for passing it down to the next generation. Stories could be used for entertainment or to pass down knowledge. Some stories were told at specific times in people's lives, or during certain seasons or events.
Types of Stories:
The Halq'eméylem speaking people of the Stó:lō Nation have two main types of stories. These two story types are:
1) Sxwōxwiyám: Stories that explain how things came to be. Origin stories.
2) Sqwélqwel: True "news" stories from the recent past. Sometimes referred to as family history or family truths.
Activity:
Part 1:
1) Listen to me read the book "If you're not from the prairie..." by David Bouchard.
2) Participate in discussion around place and identity.
3) Class brainstorm of features of B.C. which we identify with.
Part 2:
1) Split into table groups.
2) Each table gets one feature of B.C. to work with from the brainstormed list.
3) Fill out the provided template to create your own "If you're not from B.C." story page.
4) Select someone from your group to read out your page to the class.
5) Class gets back together and each table group reads out their page.