Oral Tradition In Canadian Aboriginal Society

Research Question: How does Oral Tradition continue to be an important part of modern Canadian Aboriginal Society in a world where print media is used predominantly?

Cherubini, Lorenzo. "The Metamorphosis of an Oral Tradition: Dissonance in the Digital Stories of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada." Oral Tradition 23.2 (2008): 297-314. Print.

This article mainly focuses on the elders in Canadian Aboriginal communities, namely on what role they play in preserving culture and oral tradition. It also discusses how digital storytelling (explained by the author as being any “short narrative told in the first person and enhanced by visual text and symbolic imagery”) affects the practise of oral storytelling. This article will support the argument that

“‘They tell a story and there’s meaning behind that story’: Indigenous knowledge and young indigenous children’s literacy learning.” Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 12.4 (2011): 389-414. Print. This author has conducted research on young Aboriginal children’s literacy learning, and how indigenous knowledge impacts them. The findings of her study were that being taught oral tradition and other Aboriginal practices in their education improves the way the Aboriginal children learn literacy. “Oral narrative skills have been found to be predictors of literacy skills that include… increased vocabulary and comprehension” (Hare, 405-406). By being able to provide the positive effect of oral tradition, the argument that it continues to be necessary will be supported.

Ray, Arthur J. "Traditional Knowledge and Social Science on Trial: Battles over Evidence in Indigenous Rights Litigation in Canada and Australia." The International Indigenous Policy Journal 6.2 (2015) : Article 5.

The author presents the ongoing struggle to have oral tradition regarded as substantial evidence. The case examples presented in this article will be used to support the argument about the legitimacy of oral tradition, in favour of oral tradition being accepted as evidence.

Slotta, James. "Phatic Rituals of the Liberal Democratic Polity: Hearing Voices in the Hearings of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples." Comparative Studies in Society and History 57.1 (2015) : 130-160. Print.

This article also discusses how oral tradition and testimonies are received from a legal perspective. Slotta argues that the Aboriginal People’s oral tradition and oral histories should be accepted as legitimate evidence. He argues that oral histories should be listened to because of their political and cultural backgrounds. This article will serve as further support for the answer to the research question, in that oral tradition contains not just simply tradition, but carries history and