“SCARIEST.

STORY. EVER.”
BY RICHARD
VAN CAMP
SALT RIVER FIRST
NATION, NWT
• HEADQUARTERED IN THE TOWN OF
FORT SMITH, WHERE OUR STORY TAKES
PLACE.
• SALT RIVER FIRST NATION IS LOCATED
IN THE NORTHERN MOST PART OF
ALBERTA AND THE SOUTHERN MOST
PART OF THE NORTHWEST
TERRITORIES. THEY ARE A MIX OF CREE
AND CHIPEWYAN (DENE) PEOPLE.
• TREATY 8 WAS SIGNED ON JUNE 21, 1899
DUE TO PROSPECTORS AND SETTLERS
INSPIRED BY THE KLONDIKE GOLD
RUSH MOVING TO THE AREA.
• WHAT ARE SOME SIMILARITIES
BETWEEN TREATY 8 AND TREATY 7?
FIRST NATIONS STORIES
• ☉ STORIES CAN VARY FROM THE SACRED TO
THE HISTORICAL.
☉ SOME FOCUS ON SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND
CULTURAL WAYS.
☉ SOME ARE ENTERTAINING, EVEN HUMOROUS.
☉ SOME TELL OF PERSONAL, FAMILY,
COMMUNITY OR AN ENTIRE NATION’S
EXPERIENCES.
☉ SOME ARE “OWNED” BY CERTAIN CLANS OR
FAMILIES AND CAN ONLY BE TOLD BY A MEMBER
OF THAT GROUP.
☉ OTHERS CAN BE TOLD BY ANYONE WHO
KNOWS THEM AND CARES FOR THEM.
☉ STORIES REFLECT THE PERCEPTIONS,
RELATIONSHIPS, BELIEFS AND ATTITUDES OF A
PARTICULAR PEOPLE.
THE TRICKSTER ARCHETYPE
• TRICKSTER STORIES ARE OFTEN HUMOROUS. MOST
TRICKSTERS ARE ESSENTIALLY GOOD CHARACTERS
WHO HAVE VERY HUMAN FOIBLES, INCLUDING
GLUTTONY AND SELFISHNESS. THEY SERVE AS THE
CREATOR’S INTERMEDIARIES TO HUMANS, AND THEIR
ADVENTURES EXPLAIN THE WORKINGS OF THE
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT.
• WISAKAYCHAK (CREE) TRICKING PEOPLE AND
ANIMALS TO GET HIS OWN WAY AND THEN BEING
BEATEN “BY HIS OWN MAKING.
• LI JIYAAB (METIS) CAN TRICK PEOPLE TO STEAL
SOULS OR HE CAN PLAY SIMPLE TRICKS SUCH AS
SPOILING MILK. THIS INTERPRETATION OF THE DEVIL
IS A MIX OF CATHOLIC DOCTRINE AND FOLK
CATHOLICISM THAT SEES THE DEVIL AS A BAD-
MANNERED TRICKSTER.
• DOES THE TRICKSTER ARCHETYPE APPEAR IN OUR
SHORT STORY?
VOICE AND EXPRESSIONS
• FIRST NATIONS STORYTELLING INVOLVES EXPERT
USE OF THE VOICE, VOCAL AND BODY EXPRESSION,
INTONATION, THE USE OF VERBAL IMAGERY,
FACIAL ANIMATION, NATURAL PACING OF THE
TELLING, AND CAREFUL AUTHENTIC RECALL OF
THE STORY.
• RICHARD VAN CAMP SAYS, “I NEED ORAL
STORYTELLING IN MY LIFE AS A LISTENER
BECAUSE I'M ALWAYS FILTERING THE PAUSES, THE
SLANG, THE ROCKABILLY OF PACING, THE
DELIVERY. WHEN I LISTEN TO A MASTER
STORYTELLER OR SOMEONE JUST SHARING A
STORY, I'M STUDYING HOW THEY'RE TALKING AND
HOW THEY'RE STANDING, AND WHAT THE PITCH IS
IN THEIR VOICE. I CAN SOMETIMES TAKE THEIR
TECHNIQUES AND PUT THEM INTO A STORY.”
• HOW ARE THE TECHNIQUES OF ORAL
STORYTELLING CONVEYED IN OUR SHORT STORY?
HUMOR
• BEING ABLE TO LAUGH IS A WAY TO COPE
THAT PROMOTES HEALING AND UNITY.
INDIAN HUMOR IS ROOTED IN LIFE LESSONS.
IT MEANS LAUGHING AT THE DIFFICULTIES
OF LIFE SINCE COLONIZATION. KEEPING AND
MAINTAINING THAT SENSE OF HUMOUR HAS
PROVIDED INDIGENOUS PEOPLE WITH A
HEALTHY ESCAPE.
• MORAL LESSONS AND SOCIAL ORDER ARE
EMBEDDED IN STORYTELLING, ESPECIALLY
IN TRICKSTER STORIES.
• TEASING SOMEONE IS A WAY TO POINT OUT
THAT THEY MIGHT NOT BE IN STEP WITH
TRIBAL OPINION OR CULTURAL NORMS.
• HOW IS HUMOUR USED IN OUR SHORT STORY?
OTHER INDIGENOUS HORROR BOOKS
AND FILMS