The grandmother stories : oral tradition and the transmission of culture

• Main Author: Sterling, Shirley
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 1997
• Subjects: Nlaka'pamux > Legends; Nlaka'pamux > Oral tradition; First Nations > Oral tradition; First Nations > Storytelling; First Nations > World view; First Nations > Spirituality; First Nations > Legends > Creation; First Nations > Legends > Owls; First Nations > Legends > Spiders; First Nations > Legends > Moon; First Nations > Legends > Chipmunks; First Nations > Legends > Chinook; First Nations > Legends > Ice; First Nations > Legends > Muskrat; First Nations > Residential schools > Impact; First Nations
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/7345

The grandmother stories explore the meaningfulness of two Nlakapamux oral traditions, speta'kl (creation stories) and spilaxem (personal narratives), which are both study subject and study method and the methodology which drives the research. Each of a series of linked critical essays begins with a grandmother story and then provides an analysis of what the story explicates in terms of personal meaningfulness and contemporary educational theory and practice. The purpose is to examine how oral traditions have survived among the Nlakapamux of the Interior Salish of British Columbia and through transmission provide pedagogies, philosophies, histories and healing. Oral traditions are one of the most lasting methods of Nlakapamux education, and they can inform educators and restore cultural relevance to what and how we teach Nlakapamux children and other learners in the classroom today. Education, Faculty of Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of Graduate