Winter is the Time for Native Storytelling—Video from the Smith Rock North Point Amphitheater
January 30, 2022
Normally the Winter Solstice kicks off storytelling across the Northern Hemisphere for Native American tribes. Here at Smith Rock, the stories got kicked off earlier, thanks to an event sponsored by The Bend Environmental Center.
Priscilla Calleros, Events & Outreach Manager for the Bend Environmental Center
During last November’s Native American Heritage Month Celebration, indigenous neighbors were invited “to come and speak and share in storytelling,” as Priscilla Calleros, the Events & Outreach Manager for the Bend Environmental Center put it.
From a creation story from the Citizen Potawatomi Nation to a more local legend about Mount Hood and Mount Adams fighting overs Mount St. Helens for her affection, visitors to Smith Rock’s North Point Amphitheater were treated to a rare event for non-Natives.
We have distilled the 2 hours to just 18 minutes of some of the highlights, including an exercise in tribal dialogue that the audience was able to participate in.
Wilson Wewa, Spiritual Leader of Northern Paiute explains why the Metolius River just bubbles out of the ground
Geneva Mayall of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation holds the beginning of Earth in her hand in the Turtle Island Creation story
Louie Pitt, Jr., Director of Govt. Affairs, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs moves the audience with his personal story of how he was “forever changed by gifts from the Creator”
Jolene Estimo Pitt Grant & County and Community Developer, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs shares a laugh with the participants during “An Exercise in Tribal Dialogue”