The 3:00am Discovery: Opening Story Found!

Oh how glorious it is to feel like the whole program is in place for "Family Famine: Hunger for Love"!

I wrestled at night, for my mind was bothered that I did not have an opening story. With less than two months away, I was in panic mode.

I had actually found center and finale stories for other "Family Famine: Hunger for Love" programs beyond the premiere--but no opening stories.

Yesterday I talked with Don Doyle on the telephone for some advice. I did not talk long as he was in the hospice to be at the bedside of his wife. If I had known before I placed the call, I would not have called.

Nevertheless, he brought up the Irish story The Changeling also known as The Brewery of Eggshells. My mind was shaken when he mentioned it as I had considered the story at one time for the "Family Famine: Hunger for Love" premiere. I had brushed the story aside as I thought that it was a tale too familiar with people. I tend to gravitate towards stories that few people know.

However, this may connect me with the audience faster as they hear something familiar yet shared with a Rachel twist.

So as this story tossed around in my head, I tossed about and could not sleep. Then at 3:05am I knew that The Changeling really was the story for this premiere and by 3:08am I sent an email to Elizabeth Ellis on my decision.

I had told this story for my St. Patrick's Day set in March 2008 and bookended this story with a personal moment being the oldest sister and my Mom showing off my little brother to everyone. This was similar to Mrs. Sullivan and her baby. She showed off her baby so much that the fairies exchanged her baby for one of their people.

The way I told it had humor as well as a kind of suspense found in a ghost story. I did a little research on fairies and changelings, though I could do more. This story could also address child abuse indirectly as Mrs. Sullivan asks her neighbors what to do. Some say to roast the child alive and other say to burn off its nose. I could emphasize this slightly and have Mrs. Sullivan wonder about her neighbor's children as a result of their answers.

Interestingly enough, this was my opening story in March 2008 and now it will be my opening story in February 2009!

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Former Co-Chair of Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance (2005-2008)

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

"Forsaken Brother" & Ojibwa Influences on the Boy

There are so many beautiful cultures in the world, and, as a storyteller, I do my best to honor them.

The same is for the Ojibwa people.

I shared what I learned with Julie Barnson, my story buddy for "Forsaken Brother", and we were also able to discover even more elements that could prove crucial to the telling of the tale.



Ojibwa Cultural Elements that may Shape Story:

• The boy will be at least seven-years-old as this is the age when children are expected to help with the chores. Perhaps I will place him at age eight about to turn nine as this could add to why the older sister feels she must abandon him.
• When boys reach age twelve, they go on a Vision Quest. Though the boy in "Forsaken Brother" will not yet be this age, he could reflect on this future ceremony. During a Vision Quest, there is fasting that is chosen of the boy's own free will. Whereas, in this story, he is forced to starve. A Vision Quest is often connected to sights or sounds for the boy only. Listening to the wolves howl and seeing them off in the distance could seem like a vision at first but then realizes that they are truly before him.
• The words for food and water in the language would add more culture to the story. For example, the word for "water" is "nibi" or pronounced "ne-be".
• At one point the boy finds shelter in a tree. Though the type is not shared in the original story, I may make it a maple tree. The Ojibwa would gather syrup as families. The boy could take his fingers and peel the bark away, attempting to make a hole, and then remember that it is wintertime and the syrup comes in spring. The tree that once gave him food could not at his time of greatest need.
• While huddled in the tree, he could reflect on a story or two about Nanabozho, a half spirit/half human being. Nanabozho is credited with the discovery of wild rice as well as hunting skills. He also drove Winter-Maker away so spring could come and food be present once more. Of all times, these skills are needed for the boy. This could be a little story within a story.
• The family may be part of the Nooke ("Tender", i.e. Bear) clan, which is known for healing and defense. These attributes are prominent in the story. The bear, lynx, and wolf are part of the Nooke totem/doodem. It is the largest totem.
• When someone is ill, it is thought to be of the spirit as well as for the physical body. I have added that the sister could see her father's eyes through the eyes of her younger brother. The eyes are often thought as the "window to the soul".
• Mourning for the dead--There is mourning for about a year and then you can join the community again. This could partly explain why the lodge was so far from the village at the beginning of the story. The sister may have been surprised when the older brother left the lodge so soon as the year of mourning was not complete for the passing of the father or of the mother.
  
• Ritual for the dead--The dead are placed in special clothing and have a spirit bundle that holds a lock of the dead person's hair. Then the dead are wrapped in a blanket and birchbark. The body is removed from the west side of the wigwam and food is placed with them. A close family member dances around the open grave. A barkhouse is made and reflects the symbol of the family's clan over the grave.
• The boy would know about the food buried with his father and mother, though the thought to get the food would never have crossed his mind.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Former Co-Chair of Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance (2005-2008)

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

Dough between the Fingers: A Story Considered

Have you ever kneaded dough or rolled up a bunch in your hands?

When the dough squishes through the fingers and you feel a little bit of flour that did not quite get mixed up with the rest of it? That sensation had new meaning when I read the story called "Two Sisters" from Latin American Folktales: stories from Hispanic and Indian traditions edited by John Bierhorst.

A poor sister worked in the kitchen for her rich sister. As the woman rolled the dough and made the many tasty morsels, she was careful not to wash the dough from her fingers before heading home to her thin and hungry children. Once the children were gathered about, she would wash the leftover dough into a bowl and that would be supper.

Ironically, this type of meal made her children round in the bellies while the rich sister wondered how this could be as her own children were skinny despite having plenty to eat.

I seriously considered this story as part of the "Family Famine: Hunger for Love" narrative production. The story, though beautiful, was too short for me to develop. Then again, I have known storytellers like David Novak who have taken a few lines of a nursery tale or song and created 30-minute or more masterpieces from them. As for me, I wished that the "Two Sisters" story would have had more scenes so that I could feel more comfortable in transforming it into a more encompassing piece.

In the end, I have chosen not to tell this story for this program. I do enjoy the image of the dough washed from the mother's fingers and may incorporate that part into a different story told.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Former Co-Chair of Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance (2005-2008)

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

A Picture is worth 1,000 Stories

From left to right (8-year-old brother Nate, 10-year-old "big sister" Rachel, and 3-year-old sister Care).

I glanced at the bookshelf and my eyes rested on the brown Photo Album that held pictures from the first camera I owned.

Flipping through the pages brought back memories faster than reading through the journals and diaries I kept as a six-year-old, seven-year-old, and older. Perhaps reading what a six-year-old has to say is vague regardless of the topic.

Then surprise of all surprises--I took pictures out of the sleeves and discovered that each one had at least one or two handwritten lines on the back.

As a kid I was smart enough to do so, though I have not kept that habit as an adult. In fact, with all the digital pictures, rarely do I print out hard copies so notes could be kept on them.

I will be studying these pictures more over the next few days to see what stories come to mind that would work for "Family Famine: Hunger for Love".

As for the picture and my hand-written description, this is when my family picked me up after a week at Girl Scouts camp. Though part of my brother Nate's head got cut off, it is still one of my favorites. I may have been the oldest sister though they still could miss me when I was away. (And, of course, I missed them.)

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Co-Chair of Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller