Song, Story, Speech: Oral Traditions of Puget Sound’s First People
“All that is good about our
culture is embedded in our oral traditions; everything we need to know to learn
how to live in this world can be found there.” —Vi Hilbert
This
multimedia installation affords an exciting experience of a wide variety of
oral traditions from our region, in the form of recorded song, stories,
speeches and recollections that have been captured in video and audio. The
exhibit features a short (20 minute) documentary on a Native teacher,
storyteller and weaver, Bruce subiyay Miller; a “talking Grandmother cedar”
video station where students can see short stories told by important
storytellers and elders; and computer kiosks that form a kind of “living
archive” where visitors can browse through more than seventy-five selections
drawn from Native archives and University holdings. Seattle Art Museum Curator,
The
songs, stories, oratory and works of art presented in this installation are
aspects of encyclopedic cultural knowledge that comprise the ancestral
teachings known in the Puget Salish language as huchooseda. One of the meanings
of the root word huch is intellect,
which for indigenous people of
Although
most Native families and individuals possess songs, stories, dances or
ancestral names as part of their personal and collective wealth, there are
designated specialists entrusted with the remembrance of family histories and
songs, sacred knowledge, and symbolic designs and patterns. It is to these
keepers of tradition—the artists, song composers, storytellers and cultural
leaders—that this exhibition is, in part, focused; because they are the
transmitters of these intangible, yet powerful, traditions.
Because
Puget Sound First Peoples did not record their language in written form, very
expressive and precise oratory methods were developed to convey essential
information. Powerful, gifted speakers—whose booming voices echo the length of
the great longhouses—welcome visitors to potlatches, relate the significance of
gatherings that bring people together, memorialize the lives of important
leaders and uplift the hearts of those in need.
Children learn about their tribes’ histories and family genealogies
through legends recited by cultural historians over many hours. Stories also
link living Native peoples to their mythic ancestors—such as Grandmother Cedar,
Raven, and Bear—through tales of encounters and the bestowal of names, dances
and songs, upon their human relatives. Practical advice about health and
hygiene is imparted through stories, as well as knowledge of the plant and
animal world. The origin of basket making, weaving, and other handed-down
creative pursuits also make up the repertoire of oral literature. Works of art
“tell their own stories”: about the experiences and motivations of the artist,
how group-held beliefs are transformed into patterns and designs, and their
journeys from owner to owner, from generation to generation.