Idaho Commission for Libraries

Stories that Make the World: An Introduction to the Oral Literature and Storytelling of the Indian Peoples of the Inland Northwest (1995) blends commentary about the traditions and contexts of oral storytelling with poetic transcriptions of tales told by Coeur d'Alene, Nez Perce, Crow, Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d'Oreille elders. Arguing that oral literature must be understood in terms of its cultural functions and its communal perform-ance, Rodney Frey's book explores and richly illustrates the "aesthetic and spiritual" truth of the stories it contains, while providing some poetic and linguistic guidelines for interpreting such texts.

Rodney Frey is an anthropologist who teaches for Lewis-Clark State College and directs the college’s Panhandle Area Programs in Coeur d'Alene. He has done research and published articles and books on the Indian peoples of Montana and Idaho and has worked with public schools since 1974.

http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~rfrey/
Rodney Frey's web site at the University of Idaho

http://libraries.idaho.gov/node/499
Read an essay on Stories that Make the World.

Return to the Tough Paradise Theme Page

Return to Top