Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley is a Yupiaq man from Alaska. He has written a great deal about the world view of the Yupiaq people and has been very influential in helping to reclaim what education means to Alaska native people. Here is what he has to say about the importance of storytelling as a teaching tool:
Mythology is an invaluable pedagogical tool which transcends time. As the storyteller talks, the Yupiaq listeners are thrust into the world of imagination. As the story unfolds, it becomes part of their present. As you imagine and visualise in the minds eye, how could you not become a part of it and it a part of you? There is no separation. The story and words contain the epistemological webbing…..to the outsider attempting to understand the meaning of the experience, it may appear to be merely a story, but to the insider it becomes reality leading to a spiritual orientation in accord with nature. This is quality knowledge whose end is happiness and long life.
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