ISU Indigenous Storyteller Middle Ages Renaissance Discussion

After listening or reading King’s Part III, and watching one of the film options, answer the prompt below. Make sure to demonstrate that you have engaged the materials and can apply them to the prompt.

During his lifetime, Ohiyesa negotiates a world increasingly dominated by non-Indian individuals and culture. Born in 1858 and just four years old at the time of the U.S. Dakota War, Ohiyesa grows up during a period of significant change in American Indian lives. The dispossession from their land, bounties on their lives, and exile for many Indigenous peoples created an apocalyptic world. In his memoirs, Ohiyesa recounts his educational experience and experience of being Native in an increasingly White world. He never ceases to be Dakota as he navigates his way through life.

Mary Frances Thompson, a Chickasaw woman growing up in the early 1900s finds theatre and storytelling as a gift. She goes on to perform at the White House for the United States President. Her sharing and performing of Indigenous stories brought national attention to Indigenous oral tradition and folklore.

In King’s Part III of The Truth About Stories, he writes about the double-bind of expectations that others often have for Indigenous peoples on what they believe “Indian-ness” means vs. what being “an academic” or a “modern” person means. Taking what King writes and what you read from Ohiyesa’s writing and what understandings you gain from the documentary about his life, answer the following prompt:

Prompt:Identify and describe at least 2 “challenges” that Indigenous storytellers/leaders face when engaging with non-Native audiences. Use and reference examples that reveal the complexities of being an Indigenous storyteller/speaker/leader. Hint: It has to do with how outsiders understand Indigenous identity and what outsiders see as “entertainment” and “authenticity” of Indian identity. Make sure to use King’s text combined with one of the films and the mini-lecture.