Once upon a time in a little town called Natchez, some storytellers gathered to tell wonderful stories about the Native Americans who once lived here.

As a matter of fact, that was just 30 years ago at the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, and we are getting ready to do it again.

From 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31, we shall once again celebrate the Eleventh Moon Storytelling in the museum auditorium. The Grand Village is located at 400 Jefferson Davis Blvd., just past Natchez Community Hospital.

We recommend the event for children ages 7 to 99. We will serve light refreshments of cookies and lemonade, and most importantly, the admission is free.

The tales are as diverse as the books in our local libraries. There will be tales of heroes, tales of love, some may make you cry, and some will make you laugh. We even have stories about hunters so dads you may hear a few you have never heard before. Most importantly, they will make you take the time to be still, to listen and to think.

In a time and society completely immersed in technology from television, telephones, computers, iPads, iPods, Nooks and Kindles, sometimes it is good to unplug, unwind and appreciate the simple things in life.

When the Natchez lived here hundreds of years ago, they did not have all of the technological gizmos we have today.

They had no electricity and no written language.

Things that we take for granted, they had no knowledge of. And in a sense, they were very lucky.

They truly had the basics, family, religion, work, play and storytelling.

Traditionally, the Natchez Indians would tell their tales during harsh winter months when they had more spare time. They learned everything about their history, science and religion from their storytellers. When they encountered people of other tribes and later other cultures, they exchanged stories and adapted them to make them their own. It became such a common practice that today there are so many stories that are universal that everyone claims them as originating in their country or culture.

Many of these stories shared between Africans and Native Americans are considered universal with only the adaptation of creature names.

Both cultures claim they belong to them and it has taken years of research to find which tales came first.

This year features some of our favorite regional storytellers such as Sam Jones, Marianne Raley, Joan McLemore, Susan Bonette, Kay McNeil, Morgan Mizell, Dwight Williams, Derek Braswell, Layne Taylor and David Higgs, as well as students from the Copiah-Lincoln Community College and Natchez Little Theatre.

This year we are also proud to host the Morgantown Middle School mask exhibit. So, bring your family or bring a friend, everyone is welcome to come and enjoy these stories of long ago.

If you would like more information on this event, please call the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians at 601-446-6502.

 

Becky Martin Anderson is a historian at the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians.