Anishinaabe storyteller shares knowledge with the next generation
By Rick Garrick
THUNDER BAY — Serpent River First Nation’s Isaac Murdoch shared some of his stories about the little people during a storytelling session on the evening of Oct. 3 at Confederation College in Thunder Bay.
“Tonight, I did an evening of storytelling on little people because for Anishinabek people, little people are, of course, a beautiful power that lives inside the rocks and the trees and we’ve always [gone] to them during times of help and need, and I think that’s something we have to do again,” Murdoch says. “So I think we have to return to that great power, that Earth power and all its helpers and try to find a way through what we’re going through as Anishinabek people and as human beings.”
Murdoch says the Anishinabek’s old stories of the past are really stories of how to live.
“They’re actual architecture blueprints on how to live right now,” Murdoch says. “The more and more that our young people are exposed to these stories and their histories of who they are and how they are connected to the land, that path will be strong and it’s not going to lead them on other paths like drugs and alcohol and fentanyl and all these drugs that are out there. So these stories are medicinal in nature and can really help people, and they save lives.”
Murdoch says the audience loved his stories during the storytelling session.
“They’re just so happy to be able to hear them, and they feel it was good for the kids to hear these stories as well,” Murdoch says. “They just had a good time, it was good for them. I sang a couple of songs, I try to mix it up a little bit. I try to put some songs in there, stories, of course. I have my art here, books. I’m very creative as a person so I like to use my creativity as a way to try to help things along.”
Murdoch says he is ready to release an animation in Anishinaabemowin.
“So stay tuned for that,” Murdoch says.
Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler enjoyed the opportunity to hear Murdoch’s stories.
“It’s so important that all of us carry these stories in some form or another, it’s so important that we pass these on to the next generation, so I was really happy to see our youth and children here to listen and learn,” says Grand Chief Fiddler. “He is just a really gifted storyteller and an artist and maybe we should make more of an effort to have him up here on a regular basis, not just with the college and other education institutions; here in the city, whether it’s Matawa (Education and Care Centre) or DFC (Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School) or even some of the other First Nations organizations that work around Thunder Bay, just to have him come up and work with the staff, because we need to be grounded and [know more about] these stories and legends and ceremonies that Isaac has to offer.”
Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug’s Tesa Fiddler says Murdoch’s storytelling was remarkable.
“This evening, he shared messages about the importance of uniting and being kind to one another,” Tesa says. “The teaching he was sharing was that instead of constantly fighting each other and fighting the system, we need to start building our own beautiful things, building our culture back, building our language, building our lodges, and that is where the power for our people will come from.”
Information about Murdoch’s storytelling, songs, art, and books is posted on his website.