Idaho Commission for Libraries

A conversation between a grandfather and his grandson reveals the tradition of storytelling.

By Rodney Frey

A deep sense of place is expressed throughout the oral literature of the American Indian. In the telling of the stories, every mountain and river, valley and ridge, and every animal and fish associated with these natural features is given its particular significance and meaning. In this defining process, the critical values and relationship’s between human, animal and land are clearly enunciated. The oral literature thus speaks of what is most cherished and sacred, it "speaks to the heart of the people."

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.