Rapid City Journal (Rapid City, SD), July 23, 2007
Summary:
A Lakota/Dakota storytelling competition has been added to the 31st annual Lakota Nation Invitational scheduled at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center on Dec. 19-22.
“Holding the event during the LNI in December is particularly appropriate because among Indian tribes throughout America, winter is storytelling time,” said Mary Arnold, head of the journalism department at South Dakota State University.
But young people are encouraged to start preparing for the storytelling competition now, Arnold said. “Sponsoring this program is an important part of our department’s outreach to Native American high school students.”
For the competition, students will tell stories in three categories: traditional stories told in a Native language or in English, contemporary stories that blend today’s experiences into the traditional storytelling framework, and issue-based stories on important topics in Indian Country.
“The academic portion of LNI demonstrates to students that there is more to school than sports,” LNI coordinator Bryan Brewer said. “We are adding this competition to the lineup of events because storytelling is an important part of the Lakota/Dakota culture that is dying out. This competition is a step in the right direction toward reviving it.”
Subjects Covered: diversity training, education