Cuthand: Storytelling important in Sask. Indigenous teachings

Article content

February is Indigenous Storytelling Month. Traditionally, the long winter nights were spent with the elders educating the children with stories to broaden their outlook, celebrate their history and learn about the traditions of their people.

Article content

Article content

A principal character in many stories was Wisahkecahk, the emissary who came to earth on behalf of the Creator to help the people. His stories can only be told in the winter when there is snow on the ground.

Article content

The spring, summer and fall months are set aside for food gathering, ceremonies and preserving food for the winter. Only after the winter camp is prepared, the food all preserved and stored away, and the first snows have fallen is it time to tell the stories of Wisahkecahk.

If one is so disrespectful as to tell the stories in the summer, the storyteller’s lodge will be overrun with snakes, vermin and insects. So, the penalty is severe.

Wisahkecahk was the individual who possessed magic powers given to him from the Creator. His job was to create a world for all animals and people. When he came to the earth there was no land, only a vast ocean. He was on a raft with an otter, a beaver and a muskrat. He told them to dive down and bring up some dirt.

They all tried, but came up empty. The little muskrat refused to give up, so he dove once more. He had gone for a long time and when he finally broke the surface, he had some dirt in his paws, but he was more dead than alive. Wisahkecahk revived the brave little muskrat and took the dirt from his paws.

Wisahkecahk took the dirt and blew on it and it grew and grew until finally it became a vast island, and it kept on growing to become the continents. Now it was up to Wisahkecahk to create the animals that would live on this beautiful land.

Article content

Article content

Many of the stories of Wisahkecahk are about his creation of the world. He created the world through a series of hit and missed events. There is a lot of humour in the stories and the animals take on a character of their own.

His creation happened so all the animals could live together, and everyone would take on an important place in the world.

My father used to speak to young people and one of his favourite stories was the story of how Wisahkecahk created the moose. The story goes:

After Wisahkecahk had created the animals, he had a pile of spare parts left over. He searched through the pile to see what he could come up with. He found a large dark hairy coat, a set of large flat antlers, four long legs and a large bulbous nose.

He put them together and breathed life into it and stood back to admire his work.

The large animal stood proudly on its long legs and walked around, obviously very proud of himself. He was the world’s first moose, and he was a beautiful animal. He walked down to the lake and admired his reflection in the water.

But his good looks were not appreciated by everyone. The other animals laughed at him and pointed at his large flat antlers, large nose and loose-fitting coat. They called him hurtful names and laughed at him. The poor moose was devastated. He wasn’t expecting such a reaction.

Article content

When the humiliation became too much, he told the other animals that he was going to leave them and live alone. So he did and today you will find moose living alone in dark, swampy places deep in the forest.

This story is told as a lesson to respect other people and accept what makes them different. Teasing and name calling have consequences and can alter a person’s life. This is one of many stories.

Now the tradition continues. Our son Shawn has been named the University of Saskatchewan’s storyteller in residence for 2025. His residency started Feb. 3 and will last for 12 weeks.

As Princess Margaret once stated, “One tends to do what one’s family does.”

Doug Cuthand is the Indigenous affairs columnist for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and the Regina Leader-Post. He is a member of the Little Pine First Nation.

Our websites are your destination for up-to-the-minute Saskatchewan news, so make sure to bookmark thestarphoenix.com and leaderpost.com. For Regina Leader-Post newsletters click here; for Saskatoon StarPhoenix newsletters click here

Article content