No One Hears Words on a Page: The Native American Oral Tradition

The impact of contemporary Native American authors is not diminished by the fact they fail to fully transcribe tales of the oral tradition into an equally successful literary story. The basic elements of the oral tradition are technically adhered to but the interaction between audience and the teller is absent. The lack of personal interaction with the histories and ethical tales changes the culture of Native Americans. Literary stories are generally published for public consumption. The public, not sensitive to Native culture, then controls the success and future publication of the stories. Societal accountability impacts the marketability and perhaps the integrity of the Native story. The conflict of interest between the working author and the integrity of the Native experience is worthy of mention, if not examination. Contemporary Native authors can not successfully transcribe oral tales because the vital element of interaction and participation are not present in literary transcriptions.

African American playwright, August Wilson, tells us, "When an old man dies a library is burned to the ground"(Branner). Value of wisdom is one vital element of the oral tradition. For hundreds of years historical and cultural elements of the Native American experience has been relayed orally. Oral tradition tales are generally identified by specific elements. Personification of nature and animals, the presence of a trickster character, explanations of the origin of mankind, animals and the world itself, are all elements of the oral tradition. The oral tradition is moralistic or explanatory in tone and carries in the breath of the stories, the breath of storyteller and his audience. The stories survive because they are living tales. The s...

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...e the warm breath of life that caresses the back of the neck when words are whispered into the ear. The change in a story from teller to teller, from generation to generation is part of the experience of adding a bit of the listener's knowledge of life to the tale. The experience is altered. The meanings of the words are altered. The story hearing/telling experience is altered. The culture is altered irreparably.

Works Cited

Branner, Mark. Lecture. Antelope Valley College, Lancaster. 19 Sept. 2005.

Tolar, Debra. Lecture. Antelope Valley College, Lancaster. 22 Sept. 2005

Vizenor, Gerald. Native American Literature: A Brief Introduction and Anthology. New York: Addison-Wesley Educational, 1995

Apess, William. "A Son of the Forest." Vizenor 20

Marmon-Silko, Leslie. "Call that Story Back." Vizenor 182

Vizenor, Gerald. "Heartlines." Vizenor 152