Storytelling Around the Fire
February 23, 2023
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It Happened @Randolph School:
After spending time in lean-tos and small groups with children leading their families in familiar and generative storytelling curricular experiences, we gathered in the amphitheater as one community to share some of the oldest stories and newest maple music ever to emerge from this land. We acknowledged the earliest chapters in the real story of humans in this place, and recommitted ourselves to seeking opportunities for reconciliation and building community with Lenape and all indigenous peoples.
Michael told us the story of how listening closely to three spiles dripping into different buckets on the same tree one morning taught him a rhythm, which he then taught all of us, and together we tapped out the beats on our legs, recreating this singular song of spring in concert with the sugar maples. Our celebration of telling stories together outside on the eve of true spring culminated with two of the first tales ever told for the purpose of connecting humans to their participation in a cycle of seasons that stretches back beyond memory and on into the future. The Anishinabe tales “Manabohzo and the Maple Trees” and Seneca rendition of “Spring Defeats Winter” are familiar and beloved at our school not only because they have been told and enjoyed many times, but also because their humor and wisdom resonate so deeply with our lived experiences. We’re all so grateful that you joined us so we could share these stories with you, and we hope that you feel linked to our way of living and learning together as a community.
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