For Indigenous communities storytelling is used to teach, to entertain, and to remember.
Every February, Library Services for Saskatchewan Aboriginal Peoples organize Indigenous Storytelling Month. Storytelling events are held by libraries and cultural partners in communities throughout Saskatchewan. This year, the Humboldt & District Gallery and the Reid Thompson Public Library are partnering to bring an amazing Storyteller to the Humboldt Gallery on Tuesday, February 4, at 7pm.
Joseph Naytowhow is an award winning Plains/Woodland Cree (nehiyaw) singer/songwriter, storyteller, and voice, stage and film actor from the pakitahwâkan-sâkahikan Sturgeon Lake First Nation Band in Saskatchewan. As a child, Joseph was influenced by his grandfather’s traditional and ceremonial chants as well as the sounds of the fiddle and guitar. Today he is renowned for his unique style of Cree/English storytelling, combined with original contemporary music and traditional First Nations drum and rattle songs. Due to his passion for collaborating with artists, sharing stories, and cultural knowledge his schedule continues to be robust. He also presently serves as cultural advisor/knowledge keeper with the U of S in the College of Law three days per week.