History proves that storytelling is an efficient method of preserving, transmitting, and disseminating language and culture. The older generations teach the young ones their native history, traditions, and rituals by telling myths and actual events of their nation’s past. According to Justice, “they give shape, substance, and purpose to our existence and help us understand how to uphold our responsibilities to one another and the rest of creation” (2). Poetry is one of the written forms of storytelling that can provide not only cultural continuity but also convey the very way of speaking and thinking of one’s ancestors. It is why poetry, especially those literary works written in their native languages, is so important to Native Americans nowadays. It helps them reclaim, preserve, and develop their culture and identity, as well as cleanse it of toxic post-colonial elements.
Surprisingly, an outside cultural perspective can also help Native Americans better understand and maintain their identity. Poems in colonial languages often tell the story of the first relationship between Indigenous peoples and colonists and show how Europeans perceived them. Reading them allows the first to analyze the society and culture in which they live, distinguish, and better understand the unique features of their identity. Moreover, it also teaches Native Americans to identify, emphasize, and remove colonial bias from indigenous poems rewritten in colonial languages. According to Smith, “imperialism frames the indigenous experience” (19). Both perspectives are relevant and crucial in cases where one culture is damaged by another. Today, the poems are history, language, and sometimes bitter medicine for Indigenous people and their unique identity.
Works Cited
Justice, Daniel Heath. Why Indigenous Literatures Matter. Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2018.
Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Bloomsbury Academic, 2012.