This could not be further from the truth. Western discourse has come to prioritize the written word as the dominant form of record keeping and until recently, Westerners have generally considered oral societies to be peoples without history. Oral traditions form the foundation of Aboriginal societies, connecting speaker and listener in communal experience and uniting past and present in memory.” 2 According to scholars Renée Hulan and Renate Eigenbrod, oral traditions are “the means by which knowledge is reproduced, preserved and conveyed from generation to generation. Throughout history, Aboriginal societies in North America have relied on the oral transmission of stories, histories, lessons and other knowledge to maintain a historical record and sustain their cultures and identities. Hereditary Chief and Keptin of the Mi’kmaq Grand Council 1 In the end the Elders left with a knowledge that was built by the collectivity.” Stephen J. These teachings were shared in the circle and these constituted a reconnaissance of collective memory and knowledge. They had to reach back to the teachings of their parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents. This is the part which is exciting because when each Elder arrived they brought with them a piece of the knowledge puzzle. They did joke with each other and they told stories, some true and some a bit exaggerated but in the end the result was a collective memory. When each Elder spoke they were conscious that other Elders would serve as ‘peer reviewer’ they did not delve into subject matter that would be questionable. They will be speaking individually uninterrupted in a circle one after another. “The Elders would serve as mnemonic pegs to each other.
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