8: So, What Does it Mean? Mysterious Practices of Indigenous Storytellers

Both Native Americans and Euro-Westerners use stories to convey moral lessons. However, Native American Storytelling is very different from Euro-Western storytelling traditions. In this chapter, I discuss these differences, and suggest ways the Euro-Western world might adapt and adopt indigenous storytelling methods, especially when storytelling is used to impart a moral lesson.

I begin with a story which might sound like an indigenous story at first, but it is different in several significant ways. I offer an alternative “indigenized” version of the story to demonstrate those differences. I conclude with ways to adapt your own storytelling to be more indigenous-like by using the “5 I’s” of indigenous storytelling methods.