The folks at the Rome-Floyd County Commission on Children and Youth asked me to share some stories online for the kids stuck at home in our area during the coronavirus pandemic. This is one of the ones I recorded for them.
This story is based on a story that I first heard from wonderful Native American storyteller Joseph Bruchac. I asked his permission to tell some of his stories at Arrowhead and he graciously agreed. Joe Bruchac has written over a hundred books for children and adults. You can find some of them in your school library. You can also find videos of his storytelling on YouTube. Also check out the links at the bottom of this webpage. You can find other versions of this story online as well.
You will notice that I said my story is "based on" a Native American story. It is not an effort to tell a strictly traditional native American story, since I am not a Native American. That would seem a bit dishonest to me. As I have told these stories for the last seven years they have evolved. Since I tell stories not just for fun but also to illustrate things I want to teach as a naturalist at Arrowhead Environmental Education Center my version differs significantly from the traditional story. For example I already have a "playing dead" story ("Is It Deep Enough?") so I decided to add the "washing food" habits of raccoons in this story.
Some folks really object to making changes to stories from other cultures. I understand the wish to preserve traditional stories, and I certainly want to do that. But I also grew up in the tradition of the folk process. I could never tell any story exactly the same way twice. Even my family stories change. I do not tell my Daddy's stories exactly as he told me. One of my sisters (also a storyteller) and I have differing versions of our stories that were born from the same shared experience. I try to respect original sources by noting them and, when possible, noting ways to enjoy more original versions. But I tell stories from the pictures in my head, and those pictures seem to change a bit from time to time and new elements make their way into them. The characters seem to take on the forms of folks I know and the settings become the places I know. What comes natural to me is telling stories to fit my time, the settings that I know, my goals, and my culture. I don't think that is disrespectful of the original sources but instead honors the traditional folk process of storytelling. I suspect that all folktales over the centuries have been changed to some extent by each generation, whether they are stories from Native American, African, Jewish, Hawaiian, Arabic, Appalachian, or any other groups.
Here's my version... (about 25 minutes)
After you listen to my version of the story above, take a few minutes to see the wonderful animated version of the more original story produced by the Oneida Indian Nation that I have imbedded below... (about 12 minutes)
Raccoon & Crawfish from Four Directions Productions on Vimeo.
Here are some links:
• Joseph Bruchac's homepage. You can order many of his books from the website or even schedule a visit from this outstanding storyteller to your school or group.
• Order Joe Bruchac's CD of Iroquois Stories
• Hear my version of Turtle on the Warpath
• Terrell Shaw's YouTube Channel
• Arrowhead Environmental Education Center Facebook Page
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