By: Dwana Pinchock

All children are storytellers, but there comes a time when they are told that they’re not good enough at it or that they need to think about what they will do to make a living. If you see a child playing with their dolls or action figures and creating little dramas, they’re telling stories from their own imaginations and what they see around them. At some point, some of us bury that gift, while others may have seen storytelling as something to hold onto — a way to self-soothe or entertain oneself.

Award-wining Native American storyteller Dovie Thomason understands the power of stories and how they shape us and help us to be seen.

“You can read a book alone, but you can’t tell a story alone,” she said. “Every time we tell a story, all you need is one story, one teller, one listener. And usually, the ones who are the tellers began life by being listeners, and then they remember, and then they became the tellers. Now I’m ‘telling’ some younger people.”

Thomason is passionate about honoring the traditions of storytelling, or as she playfully calls it, “storying,” across all cultures. A woman of mixed Lakota, Apache, and Scottish ancestry, she has a deep love and appreciation of storytelling. She understands that storytelling is foundational in every culture.

“Children don’t learn to speak by reading. No. They learn to speak by listening if they’re blessed with being able to hear. We learn to speak by listening, and every time we speak, we remember we need each other. Storying keeps culture alive, which is part of what I’m doing.

“Stories share wisdom. They have lessons. They have values, and they have unforgettable characters. They give us a relationship with nature that we wouldn’t have otherwise because most of the teachers in the traditional stories are animals. You know, [the animals] have been here longer than us. They know more than we do, and it makes us humble.”

As a child, Thomason had many opportunities to learn from her grandmother the power of animal fables to change behavior.

“I had a big brother and a little brother,” she explained. “I didn’t dare be mean to my big brother, but my little brother was fair game. My grandmother told me a story about a fox who was mean to all the other animals. He had no idea how he was supposed to act. If she had told me a story about a bad little girl who was mean to her brother, I wouldn’t have listened.”

Thomason is a lover of metaphors and poetry as a way to teach important messages in a nonconfrontational way. When she speaks, she plays with words like a jazz musician plays with notes.

“When we phrase something artfully and engage it entertainingly, we can say serious things in a fun way.”

She has managed to turn her lifelong love of language and “storying” into a career where she can engage and inspire others.

“It’s really… subversive that degrees in English and education have made it possible for me to be a spoken word keeper. Cool. You know? It’s extraordinary, but it did open doors. It made it possible for me to have these conversations.”

Thomason is The Library’s special guest for programs celebrating Native American Heritage Month.