This article focuses on the concept of "letter" in oral folklore. The main research material is examples from the older folk songs of Seto, where a letter, a book and other items referring to literacy are mentioned. Texts under consideration are poetical and the meaning conveyed in them is not always very clear. The term…

'It is the belt!' This is how middle school teachers in a science teaching professional development program rationalized why they believe Orion is the most recognizable of all constellations in the night sky. It was from this foundation that we chose Orion to be the focus of a four-phase ethnoastronomy-based project reported here. Ethnoastronomy,…

One of the best-studied, least-discussed texts of Native American oral literature is a long Mojave "epic" taken down from a man named Inyo-kutavere by Alfred Kroeber in 1902 and published in 1951. The text was published in twenty-nine pages along with forty-eight pages of commentary and twenty-five pages of notes. In 1999, Arthur Hatto, an…

In this article, the author proposes to offer the narrative "The Boy Who Could Not Understand" for review and criticism as a manifestation of Native philosophical organicism. It is his contention that the tale represents a form of Native auto-criticism resulting from experiential encounters with youth who had returned from white boarding schools.…

Discusses how the stories passed on from Native American tribal elders can preserve Indian cultural history, mutual dependence, respect for nature, and values rooted in tribal culture. (HTH)

"Traditional Literature" is defined by Carl M. Tomlinson and Carol Lynch-Brown in "Essentials of Children's Literature (Allyn and Bacon, 2001) as "the body of ancient stories and poems that grew out of the human quest to understand the natural and spiritual worlds and that was preserved through time by the oral tradition of storytelling before…

Argues that no real divide exists between oral and written transmission, but rather a dynamic relationship between the two, an approach described as the "ecological" model. The article selects examples from Talmudic tradition that reinforce this model. The article concludes that although historical exigency requires written storage of…

Explores the role of language and the related linguistic skills (oracy) in traditional, indigenous African education, addressing the role and nature of proverbs, riddles, word games, arithmetic puzzles, dilemma tales, and fables, myths, and legends as well as the use of praise songs and praise poems in traditional African communities. (Author/SM)

Suggests that studying myth, and what it can tell of the history of people's perceptions of values, will provide a basis for future growth. Provides various examples from literature that define myth and relate the power of myth in modern society. (AEF)

Non-Native scholarly interpretations of The Three Bears--a traditional story of the Nlha7kapmx Nation--focus on mythology as simplistic science to explain the physical world. In contrast, a Nlha7kapmx interpretation illuminates connections of land to people. Such stories reinforce cultural identity and teach young people about the spiritual power…

Among the American Indians of western Washington State and northwest Oregon, stories have served as educational tools by presenting lessons concerning the traditional culture. Several types of instruction have been noted in the oral literature of these Indians of the Southern Northwest Coast. Today these stories present another type of insight and…

Examines seven Hopi narratives that focus on the first death that occurred after the Hopis' emergence into this world. Provides questions to use in teaching this myth and other cultural texts, including questions concerned with use of sacred texts, parallels with Anglo stories, translation issues, audience, storytellers, quality, art of the…

Native Americans have oral traditions that are distinct from the European literacy consciousness, having different modes of discourse, different kinds of metaphorical thinking, and different conceptions of teaching as storytelling. Storytelling is important in children's education, but to be effective and respectful of Native culture, school…

Argues that the inclusion of ethnic folktales into a social studies unit can reinforce stereotypical assumptions unless it is balanced with accurate and insightful social and cultural instruction. Summarizes and discusses a number of Latino folktales and how they could be used as springboards for appropriate instruction. (MJP)