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Stories share culture

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By Samantha Sommer, Staff Writer 4:26 PM Monday, November 9, 2009

SPRINGFIELD — Storytelling is a common denominator for people everywhere, from parents at a crib to lawmakers on the floor of Congress.

“It’s the absolute core of our culture,” said Ray Two Crows Wallen.

He and his wife, Alicia Pagan, make up Ga-Li, a Native American storytelling duo.

They will present Native American stories for the next installment of the Global Education and Peace Network’s Speaker Series at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, in room 105 of the Shouvlin Center at Wittenberg University.

The speaker series grew out of study circles following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. This year’s theme is “Sharing our Stories: Family and Cultural Traditions that Shape Us.”

Ga-Li was nominated for a Native American Music Award in 2005. It also received the Brother Raymond Fitz Award in Montgomery County in 2007.

The event on Nov. 12, “Indigenous Stories Teach that We All Have a Place in the Great Circle,” will include storytelling, poems and music.

One of the stories they will share is “How the Red Bird Came to Be.”

Storytelling is the most effective way of communicating, Wallen said, and to pass culture on from one generation to the next.

It also was profoundly important to American life, he said, stretching back to the days before TV, radio and widespread literacy.

“When people come together and tell their stories in a safe environment, they begin to understand something — that we are all related,” Wallen said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0363 or ssommer@coxohio.com.

If You Go

What: Global Education and Peace Network Speaker Series

Who: Ga-Li

When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12

Where: Room 105 of the Shouvlin Center, Wittenberg University