Contemporary Connections: Trickster and the Oral Tradition

                                                               The Oral Tradition

            Within the book "Trickster" there are many Native American stories. Perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of compiling a novel like this is the factor of authenticity. The way that Matt Dembiki made sure to honor this was letting each tribal member tell their own story orally. This has been a part of the Native American lifestyle for as long as Natives have been around. It is important to share these stories in the way that they were meant to be shared. An interesting thing about telling every story orally is the minor differences between the lines of the story because every aspect of the plot line is not set in stone or down on paper some people may tell it a little differently. That could have been a concern in the creation of this book but people are used to hearing these stories a bit differently depending on who is telling them. Also as states in the back of the book Matt Dembiki took another step to make sure these stories where culturally sound because he even had the storytellers re-check the story boards just to make sure they were illustrated exactly appropriately. In todays world it is hard to make sure these stories continue to be shared because as we learned from the Ted Talk watched in class, these stories can be lost with each loss of an elder if not shared of if the next generation is not as passionate about sharing them. It was a great opportunity for each tribe involved in the creation of "Trickster" to be able to share their tales for years to come.