The Storyteller

Stella didn’t expect anything to happen in that dusty field
just outside of San Diego. She was attending her first Pow Wow
to become familiar with the traditions of her Native American
ancestry but she didn’t see anything romantic about the poverty
and disconnection she felt among the group.

The elders sat on crude benches while the children kicked up
dust chasing each other in a game of tag. Stella wondered how
the guest speaker was going to get the attention of the audience
under these conditions.

When the storyteller, dressed in full tribal regalia, struck
his drum, a quiet settled over the group and even the flies
seemed to listen as he told the story of the rabbit and the
coyote. The world disappeared in that moment.

He beat the drum quickly when the rabbit was frightened,
slowed it down when the coyote was coming, and offered
a thunderous peal when the rabbit triumphed.

The audience laughed, and gasped and cheered in unison.
They were held captive listening to how the rabbit tried
again and again to outsmart the coyote and survive in his
desert environment.

At that moment Stella knew she wanted to be a storyteller too.
She asked for his advice and was told to get a drum, a
collection of stories and the blessing of the tribe.
He also suggested she needed to let her hair grow long
and to buy some turquoise jewelry from the Navajo tribe
to complete her ensemble.

She learned that according to the Native American traditions
drumming provides relief from anger, gives courage when
one is afraid and unites the drummer to all life forms.
The drum contains thunder and lightening and when struck
calls the attention of the ancestors and the creator.
The drummer must discover the beat to sooth the mind and
to restore balance and harmony to the tribe.

Stella made every effort to model her craft after that
first desert experience. She learned how to find the pulse
of a story. Whether it was the prey running from the predator,
the warrior fighting in battle, or a child sleeping in his
mother’s arms, she discovered each had a beat, a cadence
that invited the listener to tumble into the story and
struggle with the characters to find solutions to problems,
learn valuable lessons, or become inspired to try something new.

She collected and learned the tribal stories. Through meditation
she called upon the creatures of the earth to reveal their
tales so she could teach the tribe how to live successfully
in this world and peacefully with one another. She chose
stories to accentuate heroism, tribal values, spirituality,
courage, compassion and hope and to warn against dishonesty,
trickery, and cruelty.

Today she stands before the audience and beats the drum, this
artifact from her tribal ancestry helped her find the heartbeat
of past generations and assists her in telling stories to
remind her audience to be in harmony with the earth and to
use their existence to give glory to the Creator.