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.…

Suggests that major works of orally grounded literature, like "Beowulf," are the result of collective engagement with the question of what wisdom is. Claims "Beowulf" is the result of a set of cultural transformations and a means by which such transformations took place. Suggests it speaks to traditional verse's role in the consolidation of new…

This paper discusses the concept of character formation as it can be positively impacted by folk arts in education. A long-standing tradition in U.S. education is for the teacher to take a leading role in molding the character of young people, as outlined through the years by such scholars as Thomas Jefferson, Horace Mann, and Rachel Davis DuBois.…

Addresses the importance and features of Native American oral literature, discusses the heightened interest of publishers in producing books with Native American stories for children, and describes problems in many of these works. Issues of authenticity are discussed, and examples of nonfiction and fiction works that provide accurate information…

Argues that, by reading literature that incorporates folklore and oral traditions, students learn to recognize and appreciate how oral traditions have influenced all cultures. Argues that a study of contemporary American written literature which incorporates elements of the oral tradition introduces students to old and deep wisdom and to a diverse…

Describes an intergenerational literacy English-as-a-Second-Language program. Stories were used to foster language and literacy development in English and participants' native language. Activities were built on the oral tradition. (Author/VWL)

Describes Southwest Virginia's rich tradition of folklore and culture and the need for its preservation. Summarizes the author's time-consuming process of preparing an inventory and indexing the vast archival collections gathered by students in American Folklore classes at Mountain Empire Community College and by the Southwest Virginia Folklore…

A special theme issue of this biannually published journal illustrates a range of topics that public folklorists in New York state have addressed in their work. The first article, "Forty Years before the Mast: Sailing the Stormy and Serene Seas of Public Folklore" by Bruce R. Buckley, introduces the volume by setting public folklore in…