Many thousands of years ago the only people here were Native Americans whose ancestors were thought to have migrated from Mongolia by walking across a land bridge from Siberia to Alaska, and down the old North Trail from Alaska to the Americas. They did not call themselves Indians. That was a name that Christopher Columbus gave them in 1492 because he mistakenly thought he was near India. Native Americans didn’t have any one name because they weren’t just one group of people. There were many groups, tribes or clans scattered across the North and South American continents.

The native people of North America speak of their relationship to the earth in terms of family. The earth is not something to be bought and sold, nor something to be used and mistreated. It is the source of life and our responsibility to care for it. Life was seen as a great circle; each life has a place on that circle and was related to everyone and everything. Joseph Bruchac in Native American Animal Stories said, “Native North Americans saw themselves as participants of the great natural order of life, related on some fundamental level to every living thing. They spoke of their relationship to the earth in terms of family. The earth is the source of all life – Mother, the sun – Father, and the animals were their – Brothers and Sisters.”

The Native American traditional use of stories was always twofold. The first was to entertain, and the second and most important was to teach. If a child misbehaved, that child would never be struck or humiliated: instead, a lesson story would be told. Striking a child breaks that child’s spirit, serves as a bad example and seldom teaches the right lesson. But a story goes into the child and remains there, thus stories were meant to entertain, instruct, and empower. The Native American Story Basket technique adds a multicultural dimension by putting a stuffed animal in the basket which extends physical development by having the children act out the story.

Infants: The Turtle Story – Sioux (Su) Eastern Plains / Persian Folk Tale

I. The birds were getting ready to fly south for the winter.
- Turtle said, “I want to go.” The Birds said, “But you can’t fly.”
II. The birds agreed when he promised he would hold on to a stick.
- After a while the turtle thought, “Are we there yet?”
III. He opened his mouth to ask, and fell to earth and cracked his shell.
- He crawled into a pond, swam to the bottom and dug into the mud to sleep.
So it is today that birds fly south and turtles sleep through the winter.
Moral: Keep your promises.

Toddlers: King of the Birds - Chippewa (Chip-ah-wa) Northern Great Lakes/Aesop Fable

I. Long ago birds fought. Mother Owl said, “We need a King.”
- Mother Owl said, “Differences don’t matter. Whoever flies highest and longest
shall be King.” Mother Owl said, “Ready, Set, Fly!”
II. Eagle thought he had won but the Wren had hitched a ride on the Eagle.
III. Eagle was angry but Mother Owl said, “He used his brains, and the one who
can do that deserves to rule.”
Moral: Use your brain to get want you want.

Preschoolers: Whale In The Sky – Pacific Northwest Tribe/Totem Pole Legend

I. Long ago Thunderbird watched over the sea and land to protect “the people.”
- A Whale chased Salmon into the river. Frog asked Raven to tell Eagle.
II. The Thunderbird (Eagle) quickly grabbed the Whale with his talons.
- Thunderbird dropped him on the highest snowy mountain next to the sea.
III. Whale shivered on the mountain. “I promise to stay out of the river forever.”
- Thunderbird clapped his great wings and Whale slid down the snowy mountain back to the sea.
Moral: Always take care of each other.

Listen to the stories all around you. Look to the stories of your own birthright, and try to understand the lessons they teach you about your own life and the world around you.

The Earth is our Mother: The Sun is our Father - Okanagan saying