Learning Through Story

It has been well documented in psychological journals and other scientific studies that the human brain organizes knowledge by storytelling. With each new life lesson, experience, and event, a memory is created and when you recall that memory it is stored and retold as a story.

The stories of your past evolve and change as you grow and transform as a person. The facts stay the same but which memories/stories one chooses to tell or how one tells them reflects a persons’ current thinking or state of being and creates a narrative for one's life. For example if someone is an engineer and suddenly decides to become a teacher they may recall a past story about their favourite teacher to validate their life decision. The memory was always with them but now it becomes a central story in the shaping of a new life path.  

Studies have also shown that storytelling is also one of the best ways to teach lessons and to communicate to other people. In all cultures stories have been used to pass down knowledge and life lessons especially in First Nation communities where storytelling remains and continues to be an integral part of their culture.

For the Dene people storytelling serves many purposes from teaching life lessons, sharing their strong and rich history, to passing on practical skills. Some stories are as old as time and others are as new as the moment. Most of these stories are not written down but passed orally a tradition that has lasted for thousands of years. For the Dene storytelling builds and bonds people and family members from different generations together. It is one of the many reasons why Elders are so highly respected. In Dene culture the Elders are the archives of the past and a bridge to the present. They have experienced and learned many life lessons making them libraries of stories which they pass along to future generations.

Science is now proving these time honoured techniques of knowledge sharing. Research is verifying what many cultures like the Dene have known for thousands of years, that the human brain remembers best when knowledge is shared not as facts but as stories.

Children's Author Michael Kusugak Comes to Fort McMurray

 

Frosty Michael and Geraldine

The Rotary Club of Fort McMurray and the Fort McMurray Public Library are pleased to present A Family Evening of Storytelling, featuring award winning children’s author, Michael Kusugak. All ages are welcome to attend this event which will be taking place tomorrow at the Fort McMurray Public Library, 6:30pm– 7:30pm.

Michael Kusugak grew up in Repulse Bay, NWT (now Nunavut). Until the age of twelve Michael and his family lived a traditional Inuit lifestyle, living in igloos, travelling by dog sled, hunting, fishing and storytelling. In Inuit culture storytellers learn their craft as children by listening to the tales of their elders.  These ancient and compelling legends are told over and over again, changing only slightly with each new teller. Michael’s performances are said to leave audiences both young and old mesmerized and wanting more.

Michael currently lives in Rankin Inlet, on the west coast of Hudson's Bay. He is the author of seven picture books, including Northern Lights: The Soccer Trails, winner of the Ruth Schwartz Award; Hide and Seek; My Arctic 1, 2, 3; and Baseball Bats for Christmas; and was co-writer of A Promise Is a Promise (with Robert Munsch). He was awarded The Writers’ Trust of Canada award and The Vicky Metcalf Award for Children’s Literature in 2008. 

The Vicky Metcalf Award honours a Canadian author of children’s literature whose body of work is judged to demonstrate the highest literary standards. This is what the jury had to say about Michael's work;  

Michael’s children stories are primarily set in the 1950’s of his childhood in Repulse Bay, a small Inuit community of only 100 people, at the north end of Hudson’s Bay within the Arctic Circle. He draws upon personal experiences of living in the North. He reflects upon the beauty of the Arctic landscape, its variety of seasonal change and animal and human activities, the close knit life of the Inuit community, the presence of mythic imagery and belief. Kusugak’s voice is unique with Inuit diction and metaphor — falling stars are “star droppings”. Kusugak writes of family love, folk tricksters, residential school, pre-contact era shamanism in a unifying spirit of place and culture, offering Canadian child and adult readers a living version of a rich way of life.  (-2008 Vicky Metcalf Award for Children’s Literature Jury: Jean Little (Guelph, Ontario), Susan Perren (Toronto), and Judith Saltman (Vancouver)).

Don’t miss this unforgettable night of storytelling with one of Canada’s greatest storytellers, tomorrow, 6:30pm-7:30pm at the Fort McMurray Public Library. For more information please contact the Fort McMurray Public Library’s Children's Help Desk: 780-743-7804. 

Call for Volunteers for The World Meets in Wood Buffalo

The Multicultural Association is looking for volunteers for their performance of The World Meets in Wood Buffalo, a cultural dance showcase featuring a spectacular array of costumes and dance styles. A part of the Alberta Culture Day festivities, this dazzling show brings together eighteen different cultural performances on one stage encompassing dance, music, poetry and story-telling from around the world. Please join us and help make this spectacular celebration come to life.  

September 27th, 7:00 to 9:00 pm

September 28th, 2:00 to 4:00 pm

Suncor Energy Centre for the Performing Arts at (Holy Trinity High School, 230 Powder Dr. Fort McMurray, AB, T9K 0W8)

If you are interested in volunteering or performing, please contact Krystell O’Hara by email at events@multiculturefm.org or give us a call to 780-791-5186

For more information about Alberta Culture Days in Wood Buffalo, Please visit www.woodbuffalo.ab.ca/culturedays