Issue date: 11/17/09 Section: A&E

Media Credit: Sean Roberts/Alestle Gerard Rancourt Tsonakwa, a storyteller from the Abenaki tribe from Ontario, told stories about why wolves howl, among other things, Saturday in Dunham Hall.

Gerard Rancourt Tsonakwa stood in Katherine Dunham Hall Theater with his hands on his head, pointed up like ears.

Tsonakwa was imitating a coyote with Algonquin sign language to tell an American Indian story about how the stars were initially placed in the sky.

Tsonakwa told several of these stories Saturday, as part of "Supernatural Stories of the Abenaki Indians," to people gathered in the theater, including why coyotes howl in the night and why dogs sniff each other's tails. Tsonakwa said the American Indian stories have been passed down through generations and are told to children at a young age.

"The earliest memories I have of the stories were to put me to sleep, which is a common use for stories," Tsonakwa said. "My mother and father both had very soothing voices. I remember sitting on their lap and asking for my favorite story."

Tsonakwa said the stories are so well told and memorized, they have been used in court cases as evidence.

"The stories are told in the longhouse are a very strict oral tradition," Tsonakwa said. "They are so strict, they have held up in court, even though they were never put down in writing."

Professor of theater and dance Diane Sol said she wanted to have Tsonakwa at SIUE so students and those in the area could explore a culture often forgotten.

"I brought him here to bring the culture alive," Sol said. "We often forgot about the Native American culture."

Tsonakwa said as he grew up, the stories took on a different meaning. While they are amusing to children, he said the stories have a deeper meaning to those who are further in their journey of life.

"The stories that really change their meanings are like the creation story. On one level, it's entertaining to children, but for someone my age it becomes very spiritual," Tsonakwa said. "The story tells us the story is finite, our life is finite. It is a very stern realization."

The sign language used in the stories helps better convey them, Tsonakwa said, and keeps the storytelling as pure as possible to keep with the tradition.

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