NAV - Native Voices Today Lesson
Native Voices Today Lesson
While it may be tempting to think that once writing systems were created the oral tradition met its end, that is not what has happened. The oral tradition among Native Americans continues to this day. The stories, poems, songs, and nonfiction writings of contemporary Native Americans demonstrate that the oral tradition still plays an important role in helping Native Americans - young and old alike - understand their identities, relationships with others, and roles in the world.
You will now read short works by two contemporary Native American writers, Leslie Marmon Silko and Sherman Alexie. As you read, listen for how mythology, the oral tradition, and storytelling have been transformed for contemporary audiences.
Leslie Marmon Silko
Now, let's meet Leslie Marmon Silko and her work, Ceremony. Silko is of mixed ancestry – Laguna Pueblo, Mexican, and Anglo-American – but identifies most strongly with her Laguna heritage. Born in 1948, she grew up on the Laguna Pueblo reservation in northern New Mexico. The brief poem you will read by her was not published separately but is part of the opening poem of her 1977 novel, Ceremony. Ceremony tells the story of a young half-Laguna man named Tayo who struggles to return to life on the reservation after fighting in World War II and witnessing the death of his cousin. Let's read the poem now.
Reading Assignment from Ceremony
It is now time to read a poem by Leslie Marmon Silko.
from Ceremony (poem) Links to an external site.
Sherman Alexie
Now, let's meet Sherman Alexie. Alexie is a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian. Born in 1966, he grew up in Wellpinit, Washington, on the Spokane Indian Reservation. The excerpt you will read by Sherman Alexie is "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona," a story from Alexie's 1993 collection Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. This short story was then adapted into the 1998 movie, Smoke Signals. In this excerpt, a young man on the Spokane reservation, Victor Joseph, learns of the death of his father, who abandoned him and his mom several years earlier. He travels with another young man from the reservation, Thomas Builds-the-Fire, to Phoenix to collect his father's ashes and belongings.
Reading Assignment from "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona"
Read the short story, "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona." Links to an external site.
Self- Assessment
Complete the following self-assessment over the three Native American texts you have studied.
Your Oral Tradition
The oral tradition is not limited to Native Americans. Your own family likely has tales that are told to help explain the origins of this world, your environment, the purpose of your life, and the values your parents want you to live by. Sometimes these values are shared in the form of nursery rhymes, picture books, popular stories, or movies. Sometimes they are shared in more formal religious settings through religious texts or sermons or in academic settings as historical narratives about the American Founding Fathers or other historical heroes.
At other times these tales come straight from your parents' or grandparents' mouths. When your mother tells you about your extended family or your own birth, she is continuing the oral tradition. When your grandfather shares his experiences in the Vietnam War, the decisions he made, and how he feels about them now, he is continuing the oral tradition. When you get upset with your baby brother for tricking you and remind him about the time he was punished for the same behavior, you are carrying on the oral tradition.
RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.