Why Stories

Thinking back, it all started when I heard a story about the Great Sioux warrior Crazy Horse. In this story, the Shoshone had captured his brother and were transporting him through a place called Sweet Water. Crazy Horse jumped from a boulder and knocked his brother from his horse quickly cutting his bind so they both could escape into the darkness, all before the Shoshone war party had time to react.

Sweetwater is approximately 40 miles south of my family's allotted land on the Wind River Indian Reservation. I heard this story at the local community college, and it planted the seed of storytelling deep inside my soul, it gave me a sense of the Arab world's place in the historical narrative of indigenous people. For me as a research scientist, stories are the gold standard for narrative inquiry. I choose storytelling because of indigenous oral traditions, and I hope to use digital storytelling with a rapport youth, so they will not have to wait like I did, to learn their history. I want us to pick from the trees of knowledge that still exist so we can make sense of our place in the world.

I recently read in his dying words, the Arapaho chief sharp notes said, watch out for our children and yourselves. Stay together

as the arapho has always been, as in the beginning,

and be aware of the stranger and his strange ways. His last words made me think of four stories that have impacted me on my life's journey. The first was about chief Washakie pointing into the distance, but his shadow was pointing at the children standing in front of the teepee, hearing chief sharp knows his words made me think about the Arapaho and Shoshone leaders working together to ensure that future generations would survive.

The second story was about chief black coal. When Chief Black Cole arrived at the Wind River Indian Reservation, he did not feel at home until chief sharpen those arrived. When I heard this story, it made me think of the importance of staying together as a people.

And the third story is about how we were all created on the back of a turtle, and how we must remain as such.

And lastly is my own story and my dealings with Europeans and how I have to go full circle to revive storytelling for the Arapaho and Shoshone people on the win River Indian Reservation.

Today, I'm an associate research scientist for the University of Wyoming, completing my 12th year of food sovereignty work for the Arapaho people, and I know the power of our stories. I endured 14 years of higher education to learn the history of my own people. I give the results of all my work and research about Arapaho history back to my people.

Together, we planted the seeds to grow food, and together, we will nurture our stories to grow resilient. We will build our historical narratives on the voice of our ancestors