Someone complained that my stories about the Reverend Findaly were 'unholy and irreverent'. So, I thought it would be helpful for readers to know that my stories, while humorous, are crafted in the ways of the Oral Tradition of Native American Indian Peoples.

So I ask you to consider a few 'new ideas' about stories, story telling and Oral History. Oral History is a big part of most, if not all, Native American cultures, and in any culture, is much more than simply 'telling a story'.

This particular story draws attention to how a dominant culture forces it's ideas and beliefs onto another culture. In particular, my Native American culture, one that has been marginalized, oppressed, colonized and otherwise placed in a position of having little personal power and, too often, few civil rights. It also points out how often people, like my brother, are endlessly creative in finding their own (unique) coping mechanisms for dealing with the above processes.

For all our efforts to include our transracially adopted children in their own cultures of origin, our adopted children are in much the same position in society as the community that I grew up in. They will, I'm sure, develop many coping mechanisms that are a unique as the one by younger brother came up with, to show his disdain for someone who felt that they had more value and worth simply because they came from the dominant culture and we came from a marginalized one.

Native American culture, like many cultures, uses stories to teach many lessons. Humor is also a large part of how the lessons are transmitted, in ways that are not 'confrontative' or 'in your face'. Many parallels in this story can be drawn and compared to how the Black community deals with issues of domination, oppression, and racism. Simply look to the days of strolling minstrels, black comedy, and even to some extent, the evolution of black people in media.

The metaphors in this story are less obvious than in some of my others, but they are, none the less, there.

My stories are not told only to amuse. I seldom, if ever, tell a story, just to tell a story. Each story that I've posted to this list is crafted in the Oral Tradition. That means it has to do several things. These things are, a) to contain lessons about life, b) to present ideas in ways that might allow for that shift negative core beliefs to more positive ones, c) contain humor to lighten one's soul, and d) the ability to raise emotions in those who listen or read.

When I was making my living helping people find their hot spots, if I didn't get at least one strong response to one of my stories, I wasn't doing what they paid me to do.

respectfully

Deedee