Storyteller Short Story

Leslie Marmon Silko, a contemporary writer and Laguna person, uses Storyteller as a new way to express and connect oral tradition and writing. Utilizing personal memories and narratives, she recalls traditional Laguna stories that emphasize the way Native Americans have experienced the world. Through these stories, we see the Native American struggle to maintain identity and independence as white culture encroaches and attempts to destroy tribal identity. It becomes clear that the Laguna people reject the danger of uniformity and thus use stories to maintain legacy, seek out identity, and as a powerful weapon against assimilation and colonialism. Silko uses literature to express numerous Native American narratives that will preserve the culture’s

These stories help Native people know who they are and form their identities as a tribal person. The title story, “Storyteller”, is an identity-seeking journey for all of the characters. At first, the girl is ignorant of who she is and because of this has no story she can tell. She finds it hard to navigate her place in society. When she goes to school, the girl comes into conflict with the “Gussucks” as they attempt to destroy her tribal identity with their white lifestyle and language. Her grandmother recognizes the girls inner struggle and explains the story of her parents. From this moment on, the girl decides that she will create her own story. Once her grandmother dies, the girl moves in with the old man, who is the village storyteller. The girl listens intently to the old man’s story and picks up his passion for storytelling to use in her own. Through these stories, the girl recognizes herself as a daughter, a granddaughter, a creator, and most importantly, a Laguna. For the Laguna people, identity lies in the ability to tell stories. Because these stories come from people within their own community who share the same values and perspectives, their identities are affirmed. Overall, the Laguna community is bonded together by