Estes Park Trail Gazette (Estes Park, CO) , December 11, 2009
Summary:
“Storytelling is customary in the wintertime,” Red Feather Woman said. “There`s more time. Imagine this is my teepee. You`ve come together as a community to hear stories and songs. We`re all connected, everything — places, animals, people.”
Rose Red Elk (Red Feather Woman) connects to a rich, long line of her people. Her father, a Lakota, was a storyteller/musician, and her mother, an Assinoboine, was a singer. Rose Red Elk started telling stories and learning about her culture at age 7. She is an enrolled member of the Sioux/Assiniboine tribes.
She regaled a delighted crowd in Estes Park with her spirited stories, songs and humor. Remarking that people have said she doesn`t sound like an Indian, she said she grew up in East Texas. As a plains Indian, she traveled from Texas to Montana. She has a degree in business and sociology from Texas A and M and wanted to get a law degree, but she became sidetracked in storytelling. She left the corporate world to become Red Feather Woman.
“I never dreamed it would take me to this realm,” she said.
Subjects Covered: diversity, education