Stories, Storytelling, Creative Dramatics, and Puppetry
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Melissa, a third-grade teacher in New Mexico, wanted to develop a thematic unit on the Pueblo culture. She had been interested in this culture for many years but a new book that she found, Hoyt-Goldsmith's Pueblo Storyteller, sparked her enthusiasm to develop a unit for her class. This book included information about the creation of storyteller figurines. From the book she learned that the figurine depicted a Native-American storyteller who was surrounded by children listening intently to his story. As she prepared the materials for the unit she gained additional information from references, museums, and interviews with Native Americans in her area. During the process of collecting information, Melissa wondered what is so compelling about storytelling that a culture will symbolize this tradition by fashioning a figure to represent the experience? Can this oral tradition be used today to enrich the literature experiences of primary children? Can the children in my class room benefit from the addition of storytelling, creative dramatics, and puppetry? The Story of the Storyteller Doll Many years ago, in the Cochiti Pueblo in New Mexico, a little girl listened to her beloved grandfather, Santiago Quintana, tell stories. He was known as a gifted storyteller who told true stories about his life and traditions that he wanted preserved. To signal the beginning of a story he would say, "Come children, it's time [Babcock & Monthan, 1990, p. 96]." These storytelling events were cherished by his granddaughter, Helen Cordero. In 1964, at the age of forty-five, Helen created her first storyteller figure and revived a Cochiti tradition of figurative art. These first storyteller dolls have become collectors' items and have inspired many other potters in the New Mexico pueblos to expand their figurative creations. Helen's symbolic representation of her grandfather |
