Winged Messenger Nations: Birds in American Indian Oral Tradition
What is Oral Tradition?
Even since written language, oral traditions have and continue to be maintained and in some cases, further developed. The role, purpose and value of oral tradition varies between cultures but often it preserves critical information that would not survive otherwise, perpetuates a community’s identity, provides spiritual, religious or moral guidance, educates the younger generation in important life lessons and often times entertains or otherwise reflects an aesthetic expression or value.
In what is now the United States, oral traditions have been important in many cultures, with more recent acknowledgement of its pervasive expression in the Native American and African American cultures. The more recently occurring form developing as a product of American slavery has at its core the oral “literature” or orature from Africa. When circumstances separated Africans from their home, they adapted their oral traditions to fit their new realities. They did so most often by using oral tradition in the two places that they were somewhat more free to do so: in the fields and in church. Some spirituals and work songs were created by African Americans in order to pass their time working in a more enjoyable way by telling stories, passing along news, and allowing them to express their feelings. Some songs also served far more specific and immediate purposes, such as to facilitate escapes. For example, Follow the Drinking Gourd is a famous African-American spiritual that was created to help fugitive slaves escape. This song refers to the Big Dipper and its lyrics helped slaves on their journeys on the “Underground Railroad.” In this manner, much of American oral tradition has served some very practical purposes. This is just one such example of such traditions in North America.
Munda (north-central India)
~
“Sing Bonga created man from the dust of the ground, but they soon grew wicked and lazy, would not wash, and spent all their time dancing and singing. Sing Bonga regretted creating them and resolved to destroy them by flood. He sent a stream of fire-water (Sengle-Daa) from heaven, and all people died save a brother and sister who had hidden beneath a tiril tree. God thought better of his deed and created the snake Lurbing to stop the fiery rain. This snake held up the showers by puffing up its soul into the shape of a rainbow. Now Mundas associate the rainbow with Lurbing destroying the rain."
Floods of Oral Tradition: Déjà vu All Over Again
Ojibwe oral tradition
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“Long ago, after the Great Mystery, or Kitchi-Manitou, first peopled the earth, the Anishinabe, or Original People strayed from their harmonious ways and began to argue and fight with one another. Brother turned against brother and soon the Anishinabe were killing one another over hunting grounds and other disagreements. Seeing that harmony, brotherhood, sisterhood, and respect for all living things no longer prevailed on Earth, Kitchi-Manitou decided to purify the Earth. He did this with water.”
Micronesian (Palau Islands) oral tradition ~
"The stars are the shining eyes of the gods. A man once went into the sky and stole one of
the eyes. The gods were angry at this and
came to earth to punish the theft. They disguised themselves as ordinary men and went door-to-door begging for food and lodging. Only one
old woman received them kindly. They told her
to make a bamboo raft ready and, on the night
of the next full moon, to lie down on it and
sleep. This she did. A great storm came; the
sea rose, flooded the islands, and destroyed everyone else."
Do these stories sound familiar?
These sorts of flood “myths” are pervasive, found throughout the world’s cultures and communities. Accounts in the Bible continue to draw our attention as is evidenced by the recent release of the movie, Noah. In fact, the majority of the earth’s people have a version of a worldwide flood contained within their oral tradition and estimates hold that there are over 600 global flood stories. So, why is this important? Does the abundance of flood stories indicate that massive floods actually occurred in the earth’s past? Maybe, maybe not. Regardless, this simple example illustrates the broad awareness and universal nature of oral tradition across virtually all human communities. It is the oral traditions of the past that has inspired this contemporary research we call the Winged Messenger Nation Project. We hope that the information presented will provide you background on the general nature of oral traditions, its role and value to American Indian cultures and more specifically, its importance in understanding Native American relationships between “Nations” – Animal and Human.
For a time in “modern history” oral traditions were often discounted or disregarded by academics and scholars. Emboldened by a greater confidence and “faith” in written accounts, such experts pointed to inconsistencies, the presence of supernatural elements and the belief that orally telling stories results in multiple versions or a distorted version of the truth. Historiographers prefer to cite written sources, even if the origin of a source is questionable.
Contemporary historians, ethnographers, cultural sociologist, anthropologists and other social scientists, however, have now revisited this source of information. They now see greater value in this research resource acknowledging important realities. Among them, experts point to modern cultures, particularly Western cultures themselves, with strong ties to oral tradition. Classics such as the Odyssey and Beowulf, stories kept alive only by word of mouth for generations, were only later written down. These “epic” stories would not have survived if oral tradition was an unreliable way of transmitting information. Viewed from the proper perspective and in context, modern scholars now find much research value in oral traditions.
Is oral tradition reliable?
Image from http://kids.britannica.com/
"oral tradition
has been an essential component in the development of cultures around
the world..."
The method of orally passing on information is, in many instances, as reliable as non-oral methods which also have their demonstrated shortcomings – political agendas, revisionist objectives, limited perspectives or simple errors. In preliterate cultures, the preservation of oral history was highly valued and often highly structured, managed or otherwise controlled. In some cultures, one is not allowed to tell stories until he/she is older, had demonstrated competence in its content, or had otherwise gained acknowledgement or respect from the elders of a community.
In some Native American communities, mnemonic devices or timing factors were employed for storytelling such as consistent repetition of phrasing or only telling stories at a certain seasonal time. Certain behaviors are also followed by storytellers, such as spitting on the ground at the end of a story or the use of traditional phrases or an introduction or conclusion. Due in part to the cultural, structural and technical elements integrated within Native storytelling, many oral accounts are found to be far more reliable than once thought by particularly Western scholars. Although some stories may vary in small details from teller to teller (for example, two elk become two deer), the heart and central message of most oral narratives have been preserved and successfully passed down through generations.
In addition, recent scientific evidence supports the reliability of oral tradition. In Welch & Stekler’s Killing Custer: The Battle of the Little Big Horn and the Fate of the Plains Indians (1994), Welch offers the Lakota, Cheyenne, Crows and other Indian nations’ perspective of the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1867, which were all passed down orally. Recent topographic and archeological research of the battle has filled in knowledge regarding this battle, such as “who-fell-where.” This science is supported by the first-hand Indian testimony, which was previously discounted as unreliable due to language barriers and perceived Native fears of reprisal. In the 1990’s, historians began to confirm the validity of Indian accounts of the battle, such as oral accounts that the battle “was over in the time that a hungry man ate his dinner.” Around this time, the Indian perspective began to be included in “official” accounts of the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
In sum, oral tradition has been an essential component in the development of cultures around the world, enabling societies to hand down knowledge and belief systems from generation to generation, in both pre-literate and post-literate times. The multitude of worldwide flood narratives is one example of an intriguing commonality that unites us in a human story that transcends geographic, cultural, and linguistic boundaries. Besides informing the next generation, oral tradition has and continues to serve many purposes. Although some from a Western viewpoint may discount oral tradition for a time, its strong structural guidelines, tellers’ respect for the craft, and even scientific evidence lead us to conclude it is a valuable source of the past that can contribute greatly to our level of understanding about a particular culture or our common human experience.
Examples of Contemporary Oral History Research
Oral tradition is fast becoming a common area of inquiry, not only for ethnologists and cultural anthropologists but also for historians. As evidenced by these recent studies, oral tradition is becoming more and more a part of contemporary mainstream historical inquiry:
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Columbia Center for Oral History. Retrieved from http://library.columbia.edu/locations/ccoh.html
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Lakota stories: Bringing Lakota stories to the classroom and beyond. (2014). Retrieved from http://lakotastories.edublogs.org/
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StoryCorps. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.storycorps.org
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United Nations Intellectual History Project. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.unhistory.org/
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Zinn, Howard. (1980). A people’s history of the United States: 1492-present. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
References
Boyd, N. (2013, June 25). Native American Oral Tradition: Heritage and Literary Influence. Education Portal. Retrieved from
Folk literature. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/212142/folk-literature
Isaak, M. (2002). Flood stories from around the world. Retrieved from http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html#Lakota
Karkavelas, W. (1997, April). Review of Welch, J. & Stekler, P., Killing Custer: The Battle of the Little Big Horn and the Fate of the Plains Indians.
Humanities and Social Sciences Net Online. Retrieved from http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=954
Oral tradition and the blues. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/theblues/classroom/deftradition.html
Oral Tradition. Indian Country Wisconsin. Retrieved from http://www.mpm.edu/wirp/icw-14.html
The Creation Story – Turtle Island. Retrieved from http://www.gct3.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/creation_story.pdf
The Four Creations. Retrieved from http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/CS/CSFourCreations.html