Hello my friends,
I met a storyteller long ago named Michael Lacapa. He was an artist, a writer and a storyteller of Hopi, Tewa and Apache descent. He died in 2005. He was featured at one of the St. Louis Storytelling Festivals and at one of the Spring weekends sponsored by MO-TELL. I think of him this time of year because he told us of the tradition of his tribes of only telling stories in the wintertime. The tribes could tell their tales after the first snow had fallen and before the last snow had melted. In a lot of tribes, it was really a practical reason for doing this. There was no planting or harvesting during the winter and the people needed to stay warm. The stories told of traditions, history, nature, creation, relationships and gossip. Of course, they told of much more. They acquainted the young ones with life. They learned to listen to and carry on traditions. The stories often entertained as well. The elders and the grandparents told the stories. Each generation handed down to the next generation these stories of community and they were told with love.
What a gift storytelling is! Share your gift this winter with as many friends and family as you can and keep the stories alive.
Blend your new stories with your old ones and share them all.
Keep telling your tales,
Joyce Slater
President, MO-TELL
“Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can’t remember who we are or why we’re here.”
-- Sue Monk Kidd, author
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