Oral Histories

Oral traditions and expressions including language as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Native American views of the world as represented in these mythologies contrast strongly with Euro-American perspectives. Recognizing this is absolutely essential for later discussion of the differences between Anglo-Americans and Native Americans over questions of land, social organization, religion, and so on. In other words, if one can identify these fundamental differences through the literature very early on, then later it becomes easier to explain the differences in outlook between Native American peoples and Anglo-American peoples that often lead to tragic consequences.

Contemporary Native American literature is grounded in the oral traditions of the various indigenous groups of peoples who have and who do live on the American continent. While the differences among the many different cultural groups are great, there are commonalities as well among these orally based traditions. The following is a general overview of the Native American oral tradition which informs the works of contemporary Indian writers.

Indigenous Foundations, University of British Columbia.