storymedicine-blog
storymedicine-blog
Story Medicine: Musings on Narrative in Action
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Native Theatre Director, interested in the power of story sharing for healing. A place to look at the intersections of story and society.
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storymedicine-blog · 10 years ago
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storymedicine-blog · 10 years ago
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Truth, Power, and Manipulation in Contemporary Theatre: How do we use story to build a better world?
Who owns story? And what does possession have to do with it?
Not all languages developed with terms for possession. This is the fundamental difference between a “being” and “having” cultured language. A “being” language refers to a language such as my tribe’s language-Mohegan, many indigenous languages of the americas or even celtic languages such as gaelic, in which an object is referred to as being in the vicinity of someone rather than belonging to them. These languages did not originally have terms for possession and therefore, the way story is handled is different. 
The goal of society was not to own things. 
So now, why does it matter who owns story?
English Language Definition: 
Own - To Have something as one’s own. To possess. 
Possession - The state of having, owning, or controlling something. 
These definitions themselves comprise fundamental differences in the way story can be understood in America. Those whose cultural norms embrace or eschew these words.
If your main purpose is not to have, own, or control things, how do you protect yourself from the people who do desire such things?
How do we protect our stories from being manipulated and yet still share the fundamental truths passed down in them, that can heal society. 
This is where the questions of the potency, power, and necessity of Story Medicine begin for me. What is the healing effect of telling one’s own story and of empowering the voices of the unheard. (And is frequent categorization of voices as unheard simply a condescension toward a liberation from mainstream norms)
How can we prove the damage done by the abuse and manipulation of narrative?
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storymedicine-blog · 10 years ago
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Story Medicine
“When we were young, it was our grandmother who gathered us around to tell us of many things; of how the world began, of where we came from; why we must respect all living things; of the wonders of the universe. . . The hypnotic quality of grandmother’s carefully selected words healed us. Cured us, strengthened and enriched our lives – which we committed to pass on.” 
– Trudie Ray Lamb (Schagticoke Elder)
There is a certain spiritual warfare at play when a human being stands in front of us and begins to paint a new world or share something deeply personal from their own. The air around us shifts. Power is exchanged. Equally palpable is the violence of acts of ridicule or removal from the narrative. For example, the experience of Native Americans who witnessed Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson on stage is continuously described as painful or scarring.
As children, we crave bedtime stories to keep the night terrors away. Story is and has always traditionally been used as medicine. From the tales passed down from grandmas and aunties to the modern need to binge on Netflix. Social change through story is not limited to urban political theatre. We never forget the small moments when we feel a story has included us, essentialized us, or left us out. Those triggers are part of a larger battle between forces that heal us or tear us apart as human beings.
Do stories change us? Alter our physical and mental state of being? Make us better or worse? A large part of traditional indigenous woodlands medicine is story. How do we tell them in a way that heals?
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storymedicine-blog · 10 years ago
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It's hard to hate someone you know a lot about.
Harold Tantaquidgeon (Mohegan), Founder - Tantaquidgeon Indian Museum
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