Our first rendering of the oral tradition went well in class I would say. From Rose hips to bare-behind possums, everyone was great. I noticed great eye contact, fantastic props, and above all, humor. Trickster tales are funny. They are told funny, written funny and are supposed to be performed funny. I believe there was a bar set last week for all of the later tellers.
Now, the sad part of my blog. Our class will be ending soon. While I am a senior, I will still be around for a couple of more semesters. That being said, I can honestly say that having been a part of this class, I come away from it having been affected in the desired manner of its creation. Connection. The Indian storytellers instinctively tap into a psychological connection that all human beings must have. That is, when stories are told orally, there seems to be a bond between the teller and the listener. I am a super senior, meaning I have been at this school off and on for almost 6 years starting in 1998. I can't tell you the names of about 5 people I have ever been in class with, but this class has been different. The trip to Cherokee really didn't connect me to the Indian culture of WNC, but it did let me experience that telling of stories...magic. The group I had in my car seemed to be the perfect amalgam of life experiences and culture. We related tales and thoughts from our lives that will equate to more than a head nod and wassup on the quad. In this way, the Indian tradition works, and worked beautifully. I can't believe that any of us will be naming our children after one another, but there is definitely a tremendous amount of respect for each other and our incredibly diverse thoughts on life, culture, ethnicity, faith and viewpoints. Thank you, fry-bread for your incredible mystical properties that defy all gastro-logic.
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