Section 4: The Importance & Relevance of Oral Histories, Storytelling, & Audio/Sonic Mediums

4.1 - Oral Histories & Storytelling in Indigenous Nations & Communities

As many Indigenous writers, scholars, and creatives have been saying since time immemorial, oral histories and storytelling are an essential part of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and culture and allow such knowledge to be passed on through time. Unique bodies and systems of knowledge and information “held by individual Indigenous Nations have been transmitted orally over centuries,” each with their own distinct cultural content (Younging 12). Storytelling thus plays a critical role in Indigenous cultures as it “sustains communities and validates the experiences and epistemologies of Indigenous peoples” (Iseke 559). Because storytelling simultaneously “provides opportunities to express the experiences of Indigenous peoples in Indigenous languages and nurtures relationships and the sharing of Indigenous knowledges and cultures,” it carries great significance in maintaining and sustaining healthy relationships with others and the land (559). The significance storytelling has to relationships between Indigenous peoples and their communities and cultures allows Indigenous storied memory and storytelling to be “thought of as a bone needle: a useful tool for sewing, mending, and bringing Indigenous stories, storytellers, and listeners together for meaningful engagement” (Archibald 240). Storytelling, as demonstrated by Lily Armstrong in The Pocket Desert (see annotation 4.1), and the carrying of oral stories thus works to maintain and sustain communal and cultural relationships in a personal and engaging manner that transcends time.

Along with its relevance in upholding and maintaining communal and cultural relationships, Indigenous storytelling and the Indigenous epistemologies told through oral stories are intrinsically linked to relationships to the land, as demonstrated by the oral story and the poem in The Pocket Desert (see annotations 1.1, 4.1, and 4.2). As Indigenous stories “are simultaneously evolutionary, ecological, spiritual, psychological, and creative,” they have the capacity to “chart the development of human beings in relationship to the places in which they have lived” and can reflect significant aspects of history going back hundreds of years (Cajete 13). Further, as Indigenous storytelling presents central ideas of “interdependence and respect for plants, animals, places, even tools, and for those behaviours that have assisted human survival in the natural world,” all of the basic components of Western scientific thought and application are “metaphorically represented in most Native stories of creation and origin” (13). The personal and experiential geographies conveyed in the narrative form of storytelling ultimately provides a useful and effective blend of “the cultural perspective into research on Indigenous understandings of land and place” (Lilomaiava-Doktor 123). Understanding the blend of cultural perspective and Indigenous ways of knowing through storytelling and oral histories therefore reveals how storytelling and Indigenous knowledges uphold and practice reciprocal relationships between individuals, within communities, and to the land.

4.2 - Storytelling as Syilx Okanagan Epistemology & Pedagogy

Storytelling plays a crucial and essential role in Syilx epistemologies and pedagogies and in numerous ways that are unique to Syilx culture and language. Syilx knowledge embedded in captikʷɬ (oral stories) reflect and represent the interdependent and intrinsic relationships between tmixʷ (all living things) and the tmxʷulaxʷ (lifeforce-place, the land). Central to the Syilx social paradigm is the transferring of Syilx collective memory through captikʷɬ as “captikʷɬ conveys the Syilx people’s inextricable connection to the natural world and is fundamental to the dissemination of the Syilx environmental ethic” (Armstrong, Constructing Indigeneity 106). As discussed under Section 3.2, the Nsyilxcən language is made up of distinct features based in Syilx Traditional Ecological Knowledge that constructs complex and metaphorical visuals in addition to literal meanings (Armstrong, “A Single Strand” 97). Along with the many literal and/or metaphorical meanings they can hold, Syilx captikʷɬ can reflect Syilx Traditional Ecological Knowledge centred around the concept of tmixʷ in their very construction. Specific kinds of captikʷɬ, for instance, “are characterized by featuring specific tmixʷ in the form of animal” as characters who “people the story,” however do not actually portray the animals the characters take the form of (93). Rather, “these tmixʷ are not magical or mystical deities, but exist in captikʷɬ in the true state of being tmixʷ as a whole system,” which humans cannot truly see “because humans only see concrete things by differentiating between things” (94). Syilx captikʷɬ have the capacity of presenting a concept that is “ever present although unseen” through the visual and metaphorical elements of Nsyilxcən (94-5). In a similar manner to how The Pocket Desert presents numerous different ideas and meanings through literal, formal, anecdotal, and creative forms of speech and sound, Syilx captikʷɬ allows for the knowledge and meanings stored in Nsyilxcən and storytelling to be heard, understood, and practised in very purposeful and effective means.

As examined in Section 3, Syilx captikʷɬ reflect Syilx Traditional Ecological Knowledge including the concept of tmixʷ and the subsequent reciprocal values in egalitarianism and relationships that are upheld to maintain regenerative systems over time. In The Pocket Desert, the story shared by Lily Armstrong has many direct references to natural elements but, as she explains after telling the story, also carries significant meaning upon closer examination that reflects egalitarian and regenerative values and paradigms (see annotation 4.1). Each genre of captikʷɬ is explained to serve distinct purposes “based on intent of delivery to different societal milieu” but all captikʷɬ “are multilayered in meaning and serve different levels of audience in the same telling” (90-1). In addition, the Syilx custom of storytelling carries awareness that most “captikʷɬ are told with all ages present and information delivered is accessed depending on the level of ‘knowledge’ of the listener to interpret different layers of meaning” (90). As it is up to the listener to make their own interpretations based on their knowledge, interpretation “never takes place in the telling” of the story unless “the application of its information is being solicited for a specific purpose” (see annotation 4.1) (90-1). Thus, in Nsyilxcən and Syilx captikʷɬ, “there are complex and unique literary features, beyond aesthetics and a structure conducive to oral presentation, which are specialized features of captikʷɬ functioning as a knowledge documenting system” that is orally transmitted to succeeding generations (Armstrong, Constructing Indigeneity 308-9). As demonstrated through Lily Armstrong’s telling of the story with Dr. Armstrong’s English translation followed by Lily Armstrong’s concluding remarks (see annotation 4.1) in The Pocket Desert, the layers of meaning are presented in numerous ways that are about or related to the land to varying extents and in a way that can be told and continue to hold relevance over time.

4.3 - Resistance, Memory, & the Transcendence of Time in Oral Histories & Audio Archives

As discussed in Section 1.1, the prioritisation of writing inherently excludes countless ways of sharing information, such as oral histories, sound, and Indigenous storytelling. In academic and scholarly contexts, it is no secret that Western and colonial institutions privilege writing and usually only esteem written works after undergoing publication through peer review (Gone 50). Even today, as Western academic institutions implement “decolonizing” initiatives and are introducing courses and workshops focussed on teaching Indigenous histories and Indigenous studies, “oral sources and ancient stories have not been fully incorporated into scholarly understandings of land and ‘place,’ which remain couched in economic terms and treated as abstractions in dominant theoretical conceptualizations” (Lilomaiava-Doktor 121). The exclusion and delegitimization of Indigenous oral storytelling is intentional when it comes to upholding “the settler version of history” (Corntassel 178). As noted in Sections 1.1 and 3.3, “Canada’s education system has forever been rooted in attempts to coerce Aboriginal people to assimilate to a white supremacist status quo,” including––and not limited to––Canada’s residential school system, which “were committed to instill shame, self-hatred, and a sense of inferiority within Aboriginal children” (Gahman and Legault 50-1). Today, higher education in Canada continues to dismiss Indigenous epistemologies and continue to uphold “white” and Western standards in administrations, curricula, research methods, metrics, language requirements, and general knowledge production despite Indigenous epistemologies, pedagogies, and storytelling being necessary to understanding Indigenous Peoples, cultures, and the lands of which they are from (51). Similar to how the erasure of Syilx Peoples and the destruction of the natural landscape was intentional to create an acceptable and comfortable environment for settlers, benching critical methods of communicating Indigenous knowledge such as storytelling derives from the colonial need to keep “decolonising” initiatives digestible for settlers. Properly acknowledging and understanding Indigenous storytelling and the vast depth of knowledge and meanings within is then necessary to understanding Indigenous histories and the human relationships between the land and each other.

Despite the deeply rooted and ongoing violence of colonialism and as demonstrated through the stories and oral accounts shared by Syilx speakers in The Pocket Desert, storytelling continues to play a crucial role in the lives of Indigenous peoples. The story of the white weasel woman told by Lily Armstrong demonstrates how storytelling continues to be “essential to the survival of Indigenous people because stories pass on culture, tradition, historical facts, and life lessons” (see annotation 4.1) (Thomas 178). Although the “storied memories of Indigenous people have been assaulted through decades of colonization,” oral stories and histories continue to survive in many Indigenous communities and be sustained by storytellers (Archibald 238). Even in the face of ongoing disruption of storied memory and storytelling practices due to ongoing colonial regimes and legacies, Archibald affirms that “[l]iving storied lives has become important for culture and language recovery and revitalization and for appreciating Indigenous people’s resiliency and resistance to colonization” (238). In regards to Syilx captikʷɬ, the use of “scripts” help trigger memory, for both listeners and those who are telling the story, and are essential elements of structure that must be “interpreted correctly to fully understand captikʷɬ” (Armstrong, Constructing Indigeneity 114). For listeners, the “scripts” and genres of Syilx captikʷɬ aid in cultivating their attention and understandings as captikʷɬ often continuously build on the actual intent of the story throughout (114-5). Oral story structure thus poses a “central challenge” of “maintaining coherence through the heuristic act of listening to the content while at the same time realizing the intent,” requiring listeners to engage fully and wholeheartedly in order to understand (114). The enforced engagement between listeners, the story being told, and the storyteller through oral stories combined with the oral stories’ intrinsic connections to the land ultimately allows for the meanings and understandings of the stories to be applied to everyday life while generating and building memory. Storytelling therefore “plays a powerful role in the way we create and recall memories,” including when “learning the oral traditions from ancestors and elders, being on and with the land, and helping the younger generations learn from and with Indigenous traditional and lived stories” (233). Oral stories’ didactic content, compelling engagement, and timelessness allow them to be continuously enacted, upheld, and therefore remembered.

Through their oral presentation, Indigenous storytelling––and in the case of The Pocket Desert, Syilx captikʷɬ––remain resilient in the face of ongoing settler colonialism and assimilation efforts. As Syilx captikʷɬ are informed by and reflects ecological knowledge that underpins their relationships and way of life and are presented in a way that requires collective and ongoing engagement, they demonstrate how Indigenous storytelling is undeniably connected to the homelands of Indigenous nations and are “crucial to the cultural and political resurgence of Indigenous nations” (Corntassel 137). By presenting complex knowledge and layers of meaning within oral narratives and captikʷɬ that are understood to be spoken in the present, the knowledge and meanings remain unrestricted by time and continuously relevant (Armstrong, Constructing Indigeneity 95). To emphasise the relationship between time and captikʷɬ, Armstrong provides the translated the words of John Kruger, a Syilx medicine man and Elder, who stated: “We have made a mistake saying these stories (captikʷɬ) are coming from the past. We are the stories. What the story does is speak in the present and bring the past forward, so we can have a future” (qtd. in Constructing Indigeneity 95). Similar to how digitised audio and sound recordings transcend time by bridging the past to the present through their “real-time quality” (see Section 1.3) (Camlot 3), Syilx captikʷɬ “are characterized by features of language and structure that serve to move the listener between the past, present and future time as well as universal time” (see annotations 4.1 and 4.2) (Armstrong, Constructing Indigeneity 95). As Syilx captikʷɬ continue to be told and play critical roles in maintaining and sustaining Syilx epistemologies and pedagogies, Syilx interconnected relationships to the land and to one another are reasserted and reaffirmed. The audio format of The Pocket Desert allows for Syilx captikʷɬ and accounts to be shared in a similar way as captikʷɬ can be heard and loosely translated in the present tense (see annotation 4.1) and the demonstrations, conversations, and explanations of Syilx traditions, culture, understanding, and knowledge (see annotations 1.1, 1.2, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.2, 4.1) are brought from the time they were being accounted in the past to the present, necessarily reaffirming their ongoing relevance as seemingly constant and everlasting.

Collage Description/Caption: A collage of multiple photos taken in and around Osoyoos (including photos of mountains, an area of oxbows hidden below brush, kɬlil’xʷ or Spotted Lake, and grasslands) with a digital drawing of strands weaving within the photos to join a twisting strand being coiled towards the centre of the collage. Photos taken August 6, 2022. Collage completed August 10, 2022.

4.4 - References

Archibald, Jo-ann (Q’um Q’um Xiiem). “Indigenous Storytelling.” Memory, edited by Philippe Tortell, et al., Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, 2018, pp. 233-41.

Armstrong, Jeannette. “A Single Strand: The Nsyilxcin Speaking People’s Tmixʷ Knowledge as a Model for Sustaining a Life-Force Place.” Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Learning from Indigenous Practices for Environmental Sustainability, edited by M. Nelson and D. Shilling, Cambridge University Press, 2018, pp. 95-108.

—. Constructing Indigeneity: Syilx Okanagan Oraliture and tmixʷ centrism, University of Greifswald, 2009, https://d-nb.info/1027188737/34.

Cajete, Gregory. “Chapter 1: Telling a Special Story.” Native Science: Natural laws of Interdependence, Clear Light Publishers, 2000, pp. 11-56.

Camlot, Jason. Phonopoetics: The Making of Early Literary Recordings. Stanford University Press, 2019.

Corntassel, Jeff, et al. “Indigenous Storytelling, Truth-telling, and Community Approaches to Reconciliation.” English Studies in Canada, Edmonton, vol. 35, no. 1, 2009, pp. 137-159.

Gone, Joseph P. “Considering Indigenous Research Methodologies: Critical Reflections by an Indigenous Knower.” Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 25, no. 1, 2019, pp. 45-56.

Iseke, Judy. “Indigenous Storytelling as Research.” International Review of Qualitative Research, U of Illinois, vol. 6, no. 4, 2013, pp. 559-577.

Lilomaiava-Doktor, Sa’iliemanu. “Oral Traditions, Cultural Significance of Storytelling, and Samoan Understandings of Place or Fauna.” Native American and Indigenous Studies, U of Minnesota Press, vol. 7, no. 1, 2020, pp. 121-151.

Our Elder Stories: Sharing Our Métis Truths - One Story at a Time. Our Elder Stories, https://ourelderstories.com, accessed 23 July 2022.

Thomas, Robina Anne (Qwul’sih’yah’maht). “Honouring the Oral Traditions of the Ta’t Mustimuxw (Ancestors) Through Storytelling.” Research as Resistance: Revisiting Critical, Indigenous, and Anti-Oppressive Approaches, edited by Leslie Brown and Susan Strega, Canadian Scholars, vol. 2, 2015, pp. 177-198.