A River of Stories:
Stories Create A Link to the Past & A Brighter Future
By
Brian “Fox” Ellis ©
Let us continue this
journey through time.
Who has lived along the
shores of your river in the past several hundred or thousands of years? Stories
allow us to travel through time and meet the folks of not so long ago, not so
far away! What are the stories of your homeland? How can these stories help you
feel a deeper sense of place? How can these stories of how things once were
help us imagine how they might be yet again?
On the Illinois and
Mississippi Rivers, where I work each summer as the Riverlorian, or resident
historian, on the Spirit of Peoria riverboat:
- We have 10,000 years of American Indian history.
- Three hundred years ago we saw the first French
Explorers.
- The British chased out the French about 200 years ago.
- And then the American Colonists flooded over the
mountains to clear-cut the forests and plow up the prairies.
- Industry grew, as did some of the largest cities in
America from Chicago to St. Louis, Minneapolis to New Orleans.
Take a moment and make a
quick sketch of your local river. Turn this map into a time line and make note
of the various layers of history, note both geological and human landmarks
still visible today.
Several years ago I was
commissioned by a local environmental education organization, The Sun
Foundation, to create a stage show, that later became a fake-documentary. We
used stories to not only help folks connect to the history of the river, but
more importantly, we looked at the history of environmental problems in a way
that inspired the audience to be proactive, to make a difference within their
ecological community.
Because of my work for
the Spirit of Peoria riverboat, I had already interviewed dozens of people who
depend on the river for their livelihood, from tug boat captains to commercial
fishermen, duck hunters to bird watchers. I turned these oral histories into
comedy and then hired three storytellers to portray several characters each,
adding another element of humor. In a fast-paced, TV newscast format, geared
towards teens, each character told their story of their relationship to the
river. They ended with concrete suggestions of things anyone could do to make a
difference. Because one of my life-goals is to give voice to the wild world, I
also included a poem about a whooping crane and a song from the point of view
of a catfish!
The video later won awards
and a grant that allowed me to give a free copy, with lesson plans, to every
school in the Illinois River Valley.
I share this short story
as an example of the power of storytelling to not only help folks feel more
connected to a deeper sense of place, but also as an invitation for you to use
storytelling to imagine a healthier future.
I invite you to:
- Interview the folks who work and live along your local
river;
- Translate these stories into literature, performance
material, poetry and song;
- Share these stories in print, on-line, in video, or
live performances;
- And within these stories create an invitation for
listeners to make a difference.
Because of this work
with The Sun Foundation, students are not only planting trees, restoring
prairies, and picking up trash, but a handful of more ambitious students are
now raising endangered alligator snapping turtles in the classroom to release
them into the wild. They have initiated a recycling program, P2D2, that
collects prescription medicines, then incinerates them to create electricity, keeping
the drugs out of our waterways. And other students are testing hundreds of
tributaries each spring for Atrazine, a very harmful pesticide. Many of these
students have shared their stories in a way that has motivated student groups
around the country and around the world to replicate their efforts.
It all begins with a
story.
As folks are immersed in
the stories of their local history and ecology, the powerful sense of
connection is palpable. Stories make the abstract ideas of science and history personal
and intimate. Stories, like a river, can invite listeners to travel through
time and help them imagine a better future.
VIDEOS
Over view of the video Voices for the River
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDvLByUGJM8Over view of the video Voices for the River
River Stories
Sun Foundation
https://p2d2program.wordpress.com/about/history/
Operation Endangered Species
http://operationendangeredspecies.com
Operation Endangered Species
http://operationendangeredspecies.com
Brian "Fox" Ellis is an internationally acclaimed author, storyteller, historian,
and naturalist. He has worked with The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and
Museum, The Field Museum and dozens of other museums across the country. Fox
has been a featured speaker at regional and international conferences including
the International Wetlands Conservation Conference, National Science Teachers
Association Conference and the North American Prairie Conservation Conference,
et al.
Beyond the world of folklore, Fox also portrays more than a dozen historical characters ranging from Charles Darwin to Walt Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe to John James Audubon. Fox is the Artistic Director for Prairie Folklore Theatre, a unique theatre company that celebrates ecology and history through original musical theatre productions. He presents hundreds of school and library programs each year, but he especially enjoys teacher training workshops and family literacy nights in his ongoing efforts to encourage the next generation of storytellers. He is the author of 16 books including the critically acclaimed Learning From the Land: Teaching Ecology Through Stories and Activities, (Libraries Unlimited, 2011), the award winning children’s picture book The Web at Dragonfly Pond, (DAWN Publications, 2006) and Content Area Reading, Writing and Storytelling (Teacher Ideas Press 2010). Many of his stories are also available on one of 12 CDs. He and his wife manage a bed and breakfast in Bishop Hill, Illinois, The Twinflower Inn. For more information visit http://www.foxtalesint.com
Beyond the world of folklore, Fox also portrays more than a dozen historical characters ranging from Charles Darwin to Walt Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe to John James Audubon. Fox is the Artistic Director for Prairie Folklore Theatre, a unique theatre company that celebrates ecology and history through original musical theatre productions. He presents hundreds of school and library programs each year, but he especially enjoys teacher training workshops and family literacy nights in his ongoing efforts to encourage the next generation of storytellers. He is the author of 16 books including the critically acclaimed Learning From the Land: Teaching Ecology Through Stories and Activities, (Libraries Unlimited, 2011), the award winning children’s picture book The Web at Dragonfly Pond, (DAWN Publications, 2006) and Content Area Reading, Writing and Storytelling (Teacher Ideas Press 2010). Many of his stories are also available on one of 12 CDs. He and his wife manage a bed and breakfast in Bishop Hill, Illinois, The Twinflower Inn. For more information visit http://www.foxtalesint.com
© For a free copy of his
video “Voices for the River” send $8 for shipping and handling to Fox Tales,
P.O. Box 209, Bishop Hill, IL 61417
All photos belong to Brian "Fox" Ellis.
Brian ‘Fox’ Ellis is a guest blogger for Karen Chace and Catch the Storybug blog. All rights to this article belong to Brian. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without his expressed, written permission. Of course, if you wish to link to the article via Facebook or Twitter, please feel free to do so.
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