A storyteller shared traditional Native American folktales during a luncheon at St. Edward Catholic Church on Friday, May 16.

Alan Town, a Keizer resident and former teacher of Whiteaker Middle School, learned the art of oral storytelling while attending Black Hills State University in South Dakota.

“There was a professor there who did his dissertation on Native American storytelling,” Town said. “We dissected the stories and learned how to use emotions and engage the audience.”

Town shared three stories with the crowd.

The first was “Salmon Boy,” from the Salish peoples of the Pacific Northwest.

The second was about a porcupine who hunts a buffalo, told by the Lakota peoples of the Great Plains.

The third was “Three Sisters” from the Iroquois peoples of the East Coast. 

Town told the stories in a colloquial tone. Often, the stories required audience participation, such as hand gestures or repetitive phrases that the crowd would say aloud. 

A few stories ended with a punchline that drew laughter and applause from the audience. 

Town explained that tribal stories are somewhat malleable, and often vary between storytellers.

“You have to hit the core parts of the story. How you tie those together is what makes you unique,” he explained. 

Originally from Mississippi, Town hails from two separate tribes. His mother was from the Yakama tribe, located in eastern Washington. His father came from the Choctaw Nation, located in Oklahoma. 

Because of his father’s job with the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, Town’s family lived in several  tribal communities across the Northwest. His childhood was marked by an immersion in the Native cultures across the West.

Susan Martsfield, the Pastor Council chair of the parish, invited Town to share his stories at the luncheon. The event takes place once a month at St. Edward after mass, from September to May. 

“We are always looking for entertainment,” Martsfield said. She was thrilled to hear about Town’s storytelling abilities. A volunteer for the parish, Town immediately went from the stage to the dish pit, while his audience was still chuckling over the ancient yet humorous stories.

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