Tonight was the Chickasaw storyteller at the Native American Art museum (the Choctaw one was in March; the Choctaw are the main tribe here and we are on Choctaw land).
It was a similar set up to before, even with a similar menu, but it was served buffet style, I presume because the student workers who would act as waitstaff had gone home for the summer. The food was still pretty good (the green beans were a bit larger and more mature than I like them). It was turtle cheesecake for dessert (I think I enjoyed the lemon dessert from before more, but the cheesecake was fine)
The storyteller told several stories - a couple of creation stories (one, of how the land was formed by the crayfish and the vulture, and how humans then came up out of the pile of mud the animals made). The other was about the creation of butterflies by Ababinili, which is the traditional Chickasaw word for God.*
Basically, God created them from all the beautiful colors He could find, as a gift to the children, so they could be happy, and it was also said in the story that if a butterfly landed on you, and you breathed a prayer to it, when it flew away it would take that prayer directly to God.
I found the story surprisingly touching.
(*I know that the folks dubbed by the colonizers "the Civilized Tribes" were probably heavily influenced by Christianity; most of the Choctaw people I know are Christian, and even if the Tribal people aren't Christian they seem to be monotheists and I do wonder what the pre-contact ancestors believed. But her description of God and how God loves his creatures is definitely in line with what most Christians believe about God)
There was another, more comic/more child oriented story about "Who Wants a Wife," that almost was like a riddle (the punchline being the "courting couple" were the first birds of spring).
And another one, about a sad old man who was healed when the red-headed woodpecker (again, sent by Ababinili) taught him to make a wooden flute and play it - so he would always have music.
The storyteller said she based some of her stories on ones shared by Te Ata, a Chickasaw storyteller from the early part of the 20th century (Well, she lived to be 100; her life actually overlapped with mine). She shared stories with FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt, and with King George VI. She was also an actress but Donna (the storyteller) emphasized her heritage and storytelling. (And Te Ata is not a Chickasaw name, it is a Māori name that someone along the way gave her (her birthname was Mary Frances Thompson) and apparently she preferred her new name?
At any rate, it was a very enjoyable program, and again reminded me: yes, this is why you choose to live in a university town even if the town itself is kind of small and limited in some ways; the cultural programs are definitely worth it. They are trying to plan another storyteller for July, and I should take a day during my summer break and just go spend some time at the museum; it has two floors (I didn't realize it had a lower floor). It's a very attractive building; lots of natural light, lots of windows, and situated so most of the windows have a view out on wooded areas. It's also next to the old outdoor amphitheater, which I would love to see brought back and some programs given in it.
And yeah, I was tired when I got home after working on samples all day and at first wondered if I should go (Also, I have to pack some time, though I DID wind off the yarn I wanted to take with me before going over to the program**) but it didn't go that late, I got fed, and it is really good to hear a talented storyteller - having a live human tell you stories is different and better than watching tv or listening to an audiobook.
(**Priorities)
And I think it was relaxing and refreshing. I woke up very anxious today for some reason (perhaps because there's a fair amount to still get done before 1:30 pm Thursday when I have to be on my way out of town) and then I realized I had BETTER take my car in for an oil and filter change (both to be sure nothing was unsafe about it I didn't know about before having to drive about 150 miles to Mineola but also someone on bluesky panicked me a little with the comment that "Walmarts and Costcos on the west coast are reporting shortages of engine oil are probably coming" and I thought "what if you come back in two weeks and that's widespread, and you're already overdue for a change timewise if not mileage-wise). So I got that done, but that meant I didn't get quite as many samples as I planned on done....but it really should be OK, I think.
Another thing I should do this summer is make time to go to some of the Shakespearean festival plays; I used to do this every year for a couple years and then got out of the habit. (And this year, one of our student-singers at church is a director for it, so it would be nice to support her by going). Probably I need to slowly work back up to being more "social" - I admit I was nervous eating tonight (I didn't know the people next to me and the museum crowd seems "fancier" than most people I hang out with) and I realize my table manners have gotten a little feral. (And I spilled salad dressing on my white shirt; hopefully oxyclean and washing it right after I got home will prevent permanent stains)
No comments:
Post a Comment