snowymountains Posted July 1 I started to wonder about aboriginal story telling. I'm opening the thread with an eye at @Nungali who I gather does have familiarity with aboriginal culture. I'd like to visit them in retirement, but retirement is not anywhere near, nor is Australia anywhere near, so a visit there is not happening anytime soon. Some questions that come to mind Is storytelling limited to stories related to dreamtime or it goes to other topics as well? Is there any structure as to how they tell a story? Are there ceremonial parts in how they tell a story? What about those that listen, what do they do after they've listened to the whole story? What I was wondering is if there are any translated transcripts of real indigenous storytelling and if so, in which books can someone find them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nungali Posted July 1 (edited) 6 hours ago, snowymountains said: I started to wonder about aboriginal story telling. I'm opening the thread with an eye at @Nungali who I gather does have familiarity with aboriginal culture. I'd like to visit them in retirement, but retirement is not anywhere near, nor is Australia anywhere near, so a visit there is not happening anytime soon. Some questions that come to mind Is storytelling limited to stories related to dreamtime or it goes to other topics as well? All types and subjects ; some are 'kids stories', some teach culture and social obligations , some are about navigation and way finding including food and water sources and some are myth and sacred ./ secret knowledge and some have all those levels going on at the same time ! Is there any structure as to how they tell a story? The written structure usually follows the necessity of the oral form and descriptions in a string of language with a lot of descriptive stuff ( eg ' and then he said .... and she replied ' would not be said , just different voices or tones might be used and just the quote spoken. Actions and gestures are used as well .... it works well in story telling but not so much in written form . Also it is usually left in a form of 'broken English ' eg " Two fellas, come down this way , they see a rock , one throws his spear at it , oh, no good - missed . "What happened ? " Ooooo ... sore arm, cant throw . " Another one throws his spear , he hit it, bang, water came out . ' Are there ceremonial parts in how they tell a story? Special ones ... say for example , in initiation ceremony . But there is ceremony all around them ... and 'ownership ' . For example I often tell the story of the local 'Old man in the Mountain ' and point to him and show people his head sticking out the mountain (it very clear from my place ) . Also its been published in a few places , including the local national Parks web site . I know a young Aboriginal man and some of his older relatives died , including his father a few years back . He is one of the people to be in line as elder and guide (if he gets through it and takes it up ). I was talking to him about this story and he said ; " When I become an elder , that will be one of my stories and then I will be able to tell it . " What about those that listen, what do they do after they've listened to the whole story? The WHOLE story ! Wow ! - all the little bits all over the place are parts of the whole story .... I suppose if you heard all that you would become the archetypal Australian Aboriginal spiritual man . . . . but that might not even be the whole story , as their is the 'woman's stuff' and one is kept separate from the other . What does one do after hearing A story ? That depends ; contemplate , understand how it relates to you, your journey and culture , talk to your teacher about it ...... etc . He is one that causes an interesting reaction for some : Spoiler Once there was a young boy and he had a much older girl friend , she was cheeky and mucked up a lot . People wondered why she hung around such a young boy all the time . Anyway, eventually it came time for his initiation, so the elders came " Go away girl , you are trouble , not wanted - men's business ! ' and sent the girl away and took the boy and some others to the secret place for their initiation . But the girl followed them and spied on the ceremony (at this part , to an indigenous audience , this is shocking and disturbing ... and that keeps happening ) . S he watched the circumscision from outside the circle hiding in some bushes . The elders finished the ceremony and left the boys to be alone for the rest of the night in the circle . But the girl sneaked into the circle and woke the boy up . She wanted to see what they had done to him . he was trying to keep quiet , but she became fascinated by the injury and wanted to have sex with him, right there in the circle (outrage ! from the audience ) . But due to the injury it was painful and the boy cried out , this woke the elders and they came rushing to the circle with their weapons . The girl saw them coming and knew she would be killed so she got up to run away but the boy, due to his injury had swelled up inside her and they where stuck together , so she stood up, picking him up and pu his legs around her hips and his arms around her neck and she ran off across the desert with the elders chasing them . They ran right across the land to the edge and then she ran up into the sky taking the boy with her , the elders followed they threw boomerang and throwing stick at them .... and there they are , up there , still today - those two back there (pointing ) are the guardians casing them , those two in the middle, thats the throwing stick and boomerang, and there at the front thats the boy and girl still stuck together . - this is what we know as the asterism Scorpius ; the boy and girl being the head starts and the other going back to the tail . Its rather curious that something we know as scorpio is related to this story with such 'scorpionic themes' ( sex ... and 'weird sex' , breaking taboos, secrecy , ceremony , deceit , crime punishment , etc . What I was wondering is if there are any translated transcripts of real indigenous storytelling and if so, in which books can someone find them. Heaps ! There is a local one and many local areas have their own publications . There are many publications made otherwise . I recommend to start or if you want a great visual story ; 10 Canoes ..... a story about the telling of a great traditional story https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Canoes Edited July 1 by Nungali 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
