At a small museum tucked away in the woods of Washington, Connecticut, a group of third graders sit huddled around a carpet.
Their eyes are locked on a woman sitting at the front of the room with a rabbit fur bag in her lap. She pulls a small turtle hand puppet out from the bag, and with an animated voice, she begins to tell them a story.
It’s not just any story, but one that has been passed down orally by Native American storytellers for generations.
Native American storytellers are chosen by their tribe to preserve and protect traditional knowledge. Tribes say these stories share valuable lessons on how to treat the earth and each other.
Darlene Kascak is one traditional storyteller who said she never expected the honor but always dreamt of it. Kascak is from the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation in northwestern Connecticut. Her mission is to pass these lessons on to future generations.
“You don’t just say you want to be a storyteller,” Kascak said. “You’re chosen. It’s an honor. You are preserving, protecting and passing down those stories.”
Kascak grew up listening to the stories told by her late aunt, Trudie Lamb-Richmond. Richmond was a renowned storyteller and activist in the community.
When the community noticed Kascak shares her aunt’s unique ability to enthrall an audience using only her voice, she said they chose her for the honor too.
“I always always wished that I could grow up to be just like her,” she said. “I never imagined in a million years I would be in this position today, following in her footsteps.”
Kascak trained with her aunt and other storytellers to memorize over 250 stories, ranging from children's fables to historical accounts from the tribe. But she said their purpose remains the same — to teach a valuable lesson.
Kascak said these lessons can be about how to behave, how to hunt or harvest or how to treat the natural world.
“Instead of punishing our children with sending them to their room or a beating, we tell them a story that teaches a lesson about the bad behavior that they're exhibiting and it sticks with them,” she said.
Kascak said some stories tell the history of how the land and water formed over time. They also teach about native agriculture and sustainability.
One story Kascak tells is about three beautiful sisters. The three sisters represent corn, bean and squash — and when planted together, they nourish each other like a family.
She said this Indigenous farming practice has been passed down by storytellers for centuries.
“We've been here 12,000 years. So think about that being passed down each generation,” she said. “So who better knows this land?”
She said these lessons are needed now more than ever.
“They’re supposed to be shared. They're supposed to help us groom the next generation on how to be good human beings and interact with this world in a good way.”
One way Kascak preserves this oral tradition is as education director at The Institute for American Indian Studies, the same position her aunt held 40 years ago. There at the museum, she tells stories to non-Native children.
Kascak said many of the children expect her to be dressed in animal hide with feathers in her hair. As Kascak sits before a group of wide-eyed children wearing jeans and sneakers, she explains to them these common misconceptions she has experienced in the past.
“Well, that's not how we dress today. Native American people today are just like you,” she said. “We drive cars. We live in regular houses. I have cable TV. My son plays too many hours of video games.”
Then, Kascak tells them a story of a turtle who wanted to be a bird one day. She uses animated hand puppets with the younger children to hold their attention. After the story, she talks to them about what they learned.
“So in this story, it’s teaching children to be who they are,” she said. “Each and every one of you is different and unique, and that’s a beautiful thing.”
Kascak started at the museum a decade ago. Now, it hosts more than 8,000 children a year. She hopes to extend this experience to inner city schools that can not afford to travel by bus. But the buses to get to the museum are more expensive than the programs alone.
“These kids are our future,” she said. “If we can show them a different perspective, maybe they will interact with the world a little bit differently.”
Kascak now travels to schools, churches, libraries, colleges — and even tells stories virtually around the world online.
“People will come back ten years later, and say, 'Oh, I remember that story that you told me, and I'm telling it to my children.’”
Through her storytelling, she hopes to rewrite the false narratives passed down in history books. She said that with written documentation, meaning can easily change and be interpreted differently over time.
“That's the importance of keeping these oral traditions alive and passing them down in the way that we do — it maintains its authenticity,” she said.
Kascak is not alone in carrying on this tradition. She’s one of three storytellers for her tribe, and she’s currently training another storyteller from Mohawk descent. She also invites non-Native people to embrace the tradition and share Indigenous lessons in their own communities.
“See who the Native American people are today so that you can inform the next generation of who we are,” she said.
