Snow on the ground means time for Native American storytelling

NINA MOINI: Well, it's cold and snowy days like these that many Minnesotans, especially the region's Indigenous people throughout history, gather together and tell stories. Traditionally, snow must be on the ground to tell sacred Ojibwe stories. Hope Flanagan is an elder who has been a teacher and storyteller across the state for decades. She joined me to talk about the importance of seasonal storytelling, and Hope kicked off the conversation by introducing herself.

HOPE FLANAGAN: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

So what I was saying this is my Ojibwe name. I work at Dream of Wild Health. I'm from the Snapping Turtle Clan. I've been working a long time with this, telling the legends that were passed on to me.

NINA MOINI: And how did you first get involved with being a storyteller?

HOPE FLANAGAN: Years ago, when my mom passed away, I ended up getting really sick. I couldn't go anywhere. Everywhere I went, I couldn't breathe. And for a few months, I suffered like that. And then a friend of mine told me about they were opening an Ojibwe school, an Anishinaabe academy. And she said, but you can go because it's outside. And I could always breathe outside.

So I went. Oh, my goodness. It was just a treat. And I could breathe inside the building. I'm like, oh, this is no coincidence this is happening. So I asked him. I said, do you have any positions available here? And he said, we have one left. That position is storytelling.

And I said, oh, gee, I'm no Ona Kingbird. And she was this amazing storyteller from way back in the '70s. And she would do all kinds of stories for children. My major responsibility was to bring [AUDIO OUT] from all over the state of Minnesota. Eventually, when Ona was getting much older, we were at a storytelling event, and Ona publicly passed on her stories to me. And then I carried that as a lifelong responsibility.

Part of what I do now is I'm looking for young ones that are willing to take on that responsibility. To me, the way I was told is you have to live in a good way because you're talking to these really powerful beings. You don't want to just call them to show up, you know? Because maybe you're calling on the spirit of fire, or you're calling on the spirit of water, or you're calling on things to come hear what you're saying about them.

So you want to thank them for the gift of water, for the gift of fire, for all these beautiful gifts. And feast them. Offer them food. Offer them tobacco. So you can carry on their teachings that they give to humans on how to live in balance in this world.

NINA MOINI: And as I mentioned, there are stories that you can only tell this time of year, when the conditions are right. Can you tell me more about why that is?

HOPE FLANAGAN: Sure. There's different kinds of stories. Like, personal stories would be the [NON-ENGLISH]. So I could tell you things that have happened to me and maybe even things where you'd go, gee, that's miraculous, or holy cow, that's really something different.

And then the [NON-ENGLISH] are the legends that talk about the origin of the people, the plants, how things were named, how things came into being. And it really does direct, how do you live in this world without destroying it? How do you live in this world with humility and honor and respect?

NINA MOINI: And I understand that these traditional stories, they should not be recorded. Is that correct? So you can't--

HOPE FLANAGAN: Yes.

NINA MOINI: --share some of the traditional ones.

HOPE FLANAGAN: Well, here, let me explain why. We come here to this world to learn and to work and to help each other and to remember how we fit into this fabric of all different kinds of life. So in the language, you hear it all the time. If I'm going to talk about a plant or an insect or even a microorganism, you call it [NON-ENGLISH], my fellow living being. So you're honoring all forms of life. So you're thinking about that.

So when they rest in the winter time, a lot of those things will be resting because there's frozen ground. And this is the time you would say that winter maker is cleaning off the face of Mother Earth, because the ice and the snow will kill off a lot of negative organisms or fungi or diseases that might be detrimental to some plants or animals, sicknesses that need to be cleansed off with ice and the snow.

But in the stories, you'll hear people say this. So often, I'll hear if you tell these stories, those beings are going to want to hear what you're saying about them. And if the ground is frozen, if the trees are resting, if the plants are resting, the insects are resting, some of the animals are, like the frogs and snakes and salamanders. They're all resting.

They're not going to be able to carry away the stories so that we forget them. So one of the things you might hear is, you'll wake up with a frog in your bed. So you might hear that.

NINA MOINI: [CHUCKLES]

HOPE FLANAGAN: But the real meaning of that is, you will go into a dream state where you will forget why you're really here on this Earth. And if you're doing that, those helpers or some of the specific characters in the legends, they'll carry away the stories because you haven't done your work.

So if I was to say, oh, it's like watching a cartoon, I don't respect that. I won't say, this is precious. This needs to be honored. These are living, actual true beings. I need to offer tobacco. I need to offer food. I need to do the work to show that I truly honor these beings. And if I don't work, I won't get to find out why am I actually here and what am I doing here.

NINA MOINI: So there's obviously a great benefit to the community in sharing these stories and to making sure that the culture lives on and continues to thrive. And I understand that when you were a teenager, back in 1978, the Indian Religious Freedom Act passed at that time, which also made it so that the federal agencies had to consult with tribes to review policies and procedures that may affect those tribal religious practices, right? I'm curious how that time and that passage impacted the stories that you heard and how you felt about storytelling throughout your life.

HOPE FLANAGAN: When I was younger, there were still a lot of those things being practiced. Like, you cannot tell the stories. You should not speak the language. So a lot of things went underground. My mom was alive at a time when she didn't have the right to vote, that she wasn't considered a citizen of the United States.

You think in your mind, oh, this all happened so long ago, but it really wasn't all that long ago. So you'd find people that had to go underground, and do it very quietly amongst themselves. Even now, there's a hesitancy, because I remember in the '70s, still, it was really scary. I mean, that was a time where some of you may remember that American Indian movement got started.

There isn't this, "oh, gee, I just want to be out there telling stories without risk," you know? Because it's been threatening to people to know that the cultural ways are still being carried on.

NINA MOINI: So when you are carrying on your cultural ways, and you do share these stories with people, what is their reaction? And what does it feel like for you to be able to share that?

HOPE FLANAGAN: Oh, I get so happy to hear and see the young ones or the adults. And it's like getting things restarted-- rebooted, I guess you might say-- and hearing young ones that will be the next ones to carry on the stories. Because these stories, some of them you know are thousands and thousands of years old.

NINA MOINI: Yeah.

HOPE FLANAGAN: They're stories that talk about the hairy elephants, you know? So it's like, oh, OK. So people were around then, or stories when the winter would not go away. Winter stayed and stayed and stayed and stayed. So those are stories that you'll hear in those [NON-ENGLISH].

NINA MOINI: Before I let you go, Hope, I want you to share with us, if you would, what do you think people can all do, whether they're a part of your community or others, to make sure that the practice of telling these stories and sharing the stories continues on?

HOPE FLANAGAN: Oh, make sure that you show gratitude and respect for all living beings. That's one of the hardest things. Don't turn beings or life or water or Mother Earth into money, because once it gets turned into money, it's gone. So you have to look at these as powerful living beings who are our elders. All the beings were here before us. We're the very last ones.

So there's important legends that talk about this, like we're the last ones. And all the elders that come before us, like the trees and the insects and the birds, and everybody was here before us, and they looked at us like, oh, those humans, they're so pitiful. They don't know how to live on this Earth. They don't know how to show respect. They're all about themselves. And they want what they want, and they want it right now.

NINA MOINI: Hmm.

HOPE FLANAGAN: So they'll say crying babies. And each one of the living beings, the plants and the animals, they all line up and say, oh, we'll offer gifts to our pitiful younger sibling here that's crying around. We'll offer our bodies.

Like the trees will say, here, you can use my body, my wood to make your home. You can use my roots for medicine to heal yourself. You can take breath because I have breath in my leaves. So you can take my inner bark to make tea and keep yourself healthy and strong.

So each one of the plants, every single one stands in line and says, here you go. Here's my gift. Every single animal, every single insect says, here's my gift. And they offer it up. Sometimes we don't know what the gifts are yet, but that's on us. That's not on them. They know their gifts.

Some people will call this the original instructions. And when you go back to tribal thinking all over the whole world, like in Australia with the Sámi people, all over the world, these original instructions are the same, that interconnectedness, that honor to life, life in all of its forms. Not just human life, all of its forms. So even when we eat, every time we eat, we're eating a living being. We say [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]. We exchange life for life.

NINA MOINI: We are all connected. Hope, thank you so much for sharing with us today and for your work.

HOPE FLANAGAN: Sure.

NINA MOINI: That was Hope Flanagan, an elder who works with the Minneapolis Native American community organization, Dream of Wild Health.