My mom was one of the very first Head Start teachers on the reservation, and she always worked with three year olds. I would visit her in the classroom, and without warning, she'd walk out, leaving me with 15 preschoolers.
Out of desperation, I would tell them a legend and teach them the song and dance that went with it. It wasn't until much later I realized my mom was forcing me to use the Stories I had been taught.
Most recently I've worked with the National Science Foundation's Flagship Project, Synergy. I was asked to teach STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)professors at over a dozen colleges how to use Storytelling to more effectively communicate complex concepts about technology to a general audience.
I currently live in Arizona, where our local college (South Mountain Community College) has one of the only Storytelling Institutes in the United States, where one can be certified as a storyteller.
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Widow As Butterfly (Dealing with Grief and Loss) is an outgrowth of a keynote presentation for the International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam and over thirty years of working with bereaved families and children. It combines traditional Native American legends and ceremonies dealing with grief and bereavement, systemic family therapy approaches of healing, and a research project on the coping skills of those who lost loved ones to AIDS. The latter was done for the American Psychological Association and the APA’s Project HOPE. It has been shared nationally and internationally with mental health professionals and hospice programs. Widow As Butterfly also examines the unfortunate similarities of what is now happening with the Ebola Virus and the fear-crazed days of the early AIDS epidemic.
Trained as a traditional Native American Storyteller, Ty Nolan studied with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in working with the various aspects of Death and Dying. His book, Coyote Still Going: Native American Legends and Contemporary Stories, received the 2014 BP Readers Choice Award for Short Story Collections and Anthologies. He is a New York Times and USA Today Best Selling Author. He currently splits his time between Arizona and Washington State.
Excerpt
Origin of the Butterfly
Long and long ago, there were two caterpillar people who loved each other very much, but as with all living things, one of them died. The caterpillar woman mourned the loss of her husband. She didn’t want to talk to anyone, didn’t want to be around anyone. She wrapped her sorrow around her like it was a shawl and began walking. All the time she was walking, she was crying. For twelve moons (one year) she walked, and because the world is a circle, she returned to where she had started. The Creator took pity on her and told her, “You’ve suffered too long. Now’s the time to step into a new world of color — a new world of beauty.” The Creator clapped hands twice, and she burst forth as the butterfly. Just so, for many Native people, the butterfly is the symbol for everlasting life and renewal.
A traditional Sahaptin story retold by Ty Nolan
(From: Coyote Still Going: Native American Legends and Contemporary Stories)
Just as life repeats art, this legend sets a pattern the Sahaptin people use in accepting the loss of a loved one.
Título : Widow As Butterfly Dealing with Grief and Loss
EAN : 9781502230546
Editorial : Eagle Feather Press
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