Anansi Stories, are they for everyone to tell?

[Daniel Bishop, the Storyteller]

(Just a little venting)
I just had a comment sent to me that made me mad. The comment: "You can't tell Anansi Stories, you're not black."
What!!! I was unaware that you needed to be black to tell stories from Africa or the West Indies. If that is so, then you need to be Chinese to tell Chinese stories, or you need to be Native American to tell Native American Stories, Or you need to be German to tell The Grimm Brother's Fairytales Or you need to be Dead to tell Ghost Stories. That is not Right.
As a Storyteller it is my responsibility to keep Oral Traditions alive, All Of Them, if I can. If the story is a sacred story, I use caution, I don't wish to offend those who hold it sacred. And when I tell Anansi Stories, I try to stay true to Anansi. As Anansi told many stories of how he felt persecuted for being himself, I think he would like to hear anyone tell his stories.
(I just had to get that out)
Thanks
Daniel Bishop, the Storyteller

[Daniel Bishop, the Storyteller]

Wow. To put it bluntly. When I posted this I was angry that anyone would be so... well... dumb to think that way. I can see that in the storytelling community that I'm safe to tell what makes me happy, as long as Copyright and niceness are also satisfied.
Thanks for the inspiring example
Daniel Bishop, the Storyteller

[Lois Sprengnether Keel (LoiS)]

A small bit of caution here, Daniel. I have learned that when sending a story sample to a panel it can help to know if there are people not as inclusive. In checking into some things that have happened in our state's touring directory, telling Native American tales outside of your own "Tradition Bearer" category has eliminated storytellers. Apparently no amount of work learning within that tradition counts. To be honest, I can understand the sensitivity of some people that this is both "cultural imperialism" & there will always be things missed when telling outside of your home culture.

Still those stories can be lost forever &/or be missed by the very people who need to hear them. I like an idea I heard once that we should explain some stories may come from our home area, some from areas where we "visit" as tourists do, some from areas where we lived for a while, & some from areas where we would like to go. We ought to be able to look at & tell our stories as Residents, Tourists, Resident Aliens or Long-term Visitors, or Armchair Travellers. If we can clarify that status & are respectful, this should help. If there are Resident Storytellers available to tell in a culture where you aren't a Resident, then they are the ones to recommend. The problem is that usually we have programs grouped around a theme which requires us to tell stories from a variety of cultures around the world.

[Daniel Bishop, the Storyteller]

Lois
I just looked on your page and you say you tell Folktales. Who’s? I know very few Michigan Librarian Folktales. I'm not being mean, I'm just making a point. The Storyteller is not the Traveller, but the Story is. We must respect the story and give honor to it, and the Culture will come though. Stories travel much faster than any other cultural aspect. By the time the culture has time to catch up, the story has made a home in the new culture, and is apart of it. Some times it marries a local story and they create an all new story with aspect of both. I can travel all over the world and to any time I want in a story. It is unlikely that I will be able to travel to many places I would like to go anymore in body. It is unlikely that I will be able to go to Kabul, Bagdad or even Jerusalem. As things go I probably will never enter the Forbidden City or St. Petersburg. But I do tell stories from all of those cities. I never claim to be from there, I never put on their clothe or (right now) never speak their language, but I tell the stories with respect. When I tell stories from the Ute or Bannock tribes, I never wear feathers or dye my face, I put on a wagon masters hat, and I have been thanked for my work to help spread the culture.
I do take offence to the statements "cultural imperialism" and “there will always be things missed when telling outside of your home culture.” Like Scot said, you can come from a culture and still “kill it.” Sometimes I see Storytellers that are “outside of a culture,” take more care of the story. First look at Marc’s comment. Second, I know many folks who think that only they can understand “Their Burden.” I don’t have time or space to go into that faults statement, but leave it to say that if they would listen, they would be surprised to know that everybody can (and many already do). But if they want a Native American (or a African American, Chinese American or even a Chinese) to tell them stories, that is what they should get, I will not even try to tell to them. But if they want a Storyteller to tell them stories, I will be willing and able to be there. We as Storytellers run the risk of offending every time we open our mouths. I know I have offended someone (yes it was even a storyteller) when I told Ghost Stories. It is considered Bad Luck in her culture. But as she was the only one of her culture in attendance, I felt no remorse for telling the stories. All I could offer was a disclaimer for the next time.
I will always tell the stories of my heart, my “home” culture or not.
Thank you for your comment and keep telling stories.
Daniel Bishop, the Storyteller

Wow, do you think I have an opinion about this?

[Lois Sprengnether Keel (LoiS)]

Daniel,
You totally missed my intent. I, too, think the stories deserve to travel. My calling the storyteller Resident, Tourist, Long-term Visitor, or Armchair Traveller was a way of describing our own personal level of knowledge about the cultural background of stories we may tell so we don't mislead our audiences. We don't have to put it that way, but whomever 1st described it that way gave a succinct form of explanation. Many times we come upon a story & it speaks to us even though we have no 1st-hand knowledge of that culture. Obviously we are just presenting the story at that level of experience. Should we avoid telling those stories? I don't think so. There was something we learned from the story. For us & for our audiences that will be what Doug Lipman refers to as "the Most Important Thing" which is why we will tell it. Still, the person who grew up in that culture can bring much more to their telling the story.

I also did not say I agree with the term "cultural imperialism", just that " I can understand the sensitivity of some people that this is both 'cultural imperialism' & there will always be things missed when telling outside of your home culture." I have friends who are Native American storytellers & some feel so much has been taken from them & now even their culture is being taken. As to the "telling outside of your home culture", I ran into this the summer our state used Australia for the summer reading program. I spent 2 years working on that program. I worked with Aussie authors & storytellers & used settler material except where the material came directly from an aboriginal source. My reason for avoiding non-aboriginal tellings of aboriginal stories was because it was stated by some that you had to know the exact setting to get the story correctly. Since, at the time, I was telling in a Fair Use setting, I felt the published aboriginal material presented that setting as well as the aboriginal author could do it. When telling beyond that setting I contacted the one author whose stories I found especially needed to be shared, Sally Morgan, & her permission was given as she agreed that the lessons in the stories were what was important.

When I tell stories from Michigan's Anishinabe they come from research that includes work with elders & others who have been kind enough to help me. I still suggest the few Anishinabe tellers in our area be considered 1st. If that doesn't work for the client, then I do my best. I usually start the session with a greeting of "Ahneen!" If nobody responds, I go on to explain briefly how I came to the tales. I, too, have received reactions thanking me for my Anishinabe work (& in other programs representing specific cultures, too). I especially remember after a program a father & his daughter came to thank me. The mother is Anishinabe, but couldn't be there. When I asked why they didn't respond to the greeting, they only knew the less formal "Boozhoo!" I now use both. I would have been interested to meet the mother & learn how many of the stories she may have known. There was a period when a concerted effort was made to send children away to Indian Schools. Use of their home language & the telling of their stories was punished. It's only recently that there has begun to be an effort to teach what was almost lost. Like you, I feel no remorse for my efforts if I know I've represented myself properly & try to do my best by the story.

Look at the start of what I wrote, I was only urging caution because I've seen panels reject storytellers without allowing for whatever background the teller may bring to the tale. I know a storyteller who reenacts a Voyageur, he's both French & Seneca, but his brief video didn't include that part of his programs. He was eliminated. It's not the only time when that sort of judgement was made.
LoiS(tories are a way to understand other cultures, so we agree more than you realized)

[Astorymouse]

I do agree with you Daniel, the Oral tradition is what it is, just that, an oral tradition, made true by the art of the teller, without reference to skin colour, race or creed. I'm still on a long learning curve in storytelling, but this much I do know, that I cannot tell an African story as an African - I told "The flying Lion" early this year, and it contained Afrikaans words. I found that they tangled in my mouth, and maybe that was a lesson to me, that I can never be African, or tell in an african way - what I can do is tell in the way Steph does, as a white, british 55 year old!

hugs
steph

[David S. Sharp]

Hi Daniel

I'm reminded of a story some friends told me that played in a band with us they now live in New Zealand. Barry played Guitar for us and Marion was one of the best Tenor Recorder players I've ever met or heard play. She also played the Clarinet. Marion had a Doctorate in Biology and worked as a staff assistant at the University of Utah. One night after an important rehearsal she mentioned her mother had a masters degree in music in specifically early or Renaissance Music and had not been terribly successful, she would tell Marion that "your playing is blanking terrible!" Marion would be almost in tears and had asked her one day why she would say things like that, because Marion knew that her Mother actually loved her. Her Mother replied that "I didn't want you to be hurt like I was and I was only trying to spare you the pain." My LCSW friend that also played in our band said, "The Mother projected her own problems on her child." Much of what is said in criticism is often passed through a distorted lense. Marion's wet blanked Mommy had a problem and creative block of her own. "The Artists Way" by Julia Cameron is a great book to understand the dynamic of artist interaction. The Lawyer that made a comment to you to put you off the scent of your creative pursuits may have had creative dreams of his own and took out his frustration on you even if he isn't aware of it himself. The knowledge of what motivates people helped me feel sorry for them and lessen my anger about their comments. I notice about myself that whenever I think a critical thought about myself or others it immediatley stops whatever creative talent or thought or endeavor I have and after some time of not thinking or behaving in that fashion I am able to work again.

Thank God, the venue that you book is not decided by prejudice and preconcieved notions. Good people are valuable in every field and storytelling is no different. Keep up all your good works.

Dave and Carol Sharp
Glastonbury

[Csenge Zalka]

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
How dare you tell stories about me without MY permission! You shall pay the copyright to the last yam.
Anansi

Yeah. To me. Who do you think brought the stories public?
Aso

[Bill Matheson]

Let the individual or tale that is of pure, singular lineage cast the first stone, if they do, let it go, it is not likely to be the one that makes the best soup! We could be living in a field marked by various size circles, each created by folk chasing their own tales! Tales are a living entity that seldom reveal their own journey, within a culture, across cultures or through time. Be respectful of story and culture and the journey's they share, but that includes ensuring that story is alive and thriving. Words about words can get a bit dizzying, especially if you are chasing your own tale.

[Scot AnSgeulaiche]

"Tales are a living entity .." , said Bill Matheson
I so agree, from personal experience. That's the MOST important aspect of learning to carry a Tale: getting to know the Tale as a living spirit, communicating with it, walking the land while practicing it alound and having the land iform the Tale ("Tales are written in the trees, in the clouds...") and allowing the Tale to tell itself through you. I wish ALL the Tales I carry were the result of that rich process because then one's telling of that particular Tale is invincible to the type of criticism Daniel speaks of.