Mr. Starblanket began by telling us about the history of storytelling in world cultures, and the importance it holds to First Nations people. He talked about the human need for stories and how it helps our brains to establish the concepts of family, place, history, and culture. He also talked about the way that, in his own culture, stories were most often shared during the winter months.
Our class learned about Wisakechak, the Trickster, and his roles in Cree stories. Mr. Starblanket explained that Wisakechak was sent by the Creator, and was half human and half spirit. He was responsible for many of the inexplicable and chaotic things in the world. We were told that Wisakechak stories were only told during winter months, and to share them during any other time of the year was extremely unlucky.
Then, Mr. Starblanket introduced the personal memoir as a form of story. He divided his own life experiences into four parts - early childhood on his reserve, his experiences at residential school, his life immediately following residential school, and his time later in life in which he followed a spritual path towards healing. It was interesting for the students to think about how their own lives could be divided into four parts as well!
On Tuesday, February 25th, we have been invited back to Scott for an evening of soup, bannock, and story sharing! I am very excited to hear what all of the students wrote about!
