Unit Warm-Up
What do stories tell us?
Humans tell stories and, if we listen, our stories "tell us".
Before explorers sailed to these shores and lived to tell their stories, other stories existed. The people who started here told them again and again as a source of strength, understanding, and spirituality.
The Walam Olum is one of the most ancient Native American texts. Unlike most Native American literature, it was written down—sort of. The words have been passed down through an oral or spoken tradition and translated into English, but the pictures were carved in stone.
Listen to the story and look at the original drawings that accompanied the telling of the story, and think about the kind of people who drew such pictures and told such stories. What does the story tell you about the people who told it? What does it tell you about humanity in general?
