HOM Students Learn History And

Culture Through Stories

By Jeff White

With Native American music playing in the background, storyteller Lu McInturff took center stage at Head O’ Meadow Elementary School Wednesday, October 13, to regale fifth-graders with Indian artifacts and folklore.

“I was taught storytelling by my grandparents,” Ms McInturff, 46, recalled, as bands of students processed into the school’s library. Part Seminole, the Danbury resident has a special place in her storytelling repertoire for Native American legends.

The audience of young students lent an authentic air to the exchange between tale-teller and listener. “Native American tales are the stories that are taught to the children as they grow up. The children learn these stories and apply them to their lives as they grow up,” Ms McInturff explained.

Showing off pelted quivers, moccasins, beaded chokers, Indian trade beads and traditional hand-woven shawls, Ms McInturff began the hour-long presentation with a lesson on how storytelling came into being.

The students learned about the first stories, told by prehistoric humans who favored grunts and other intonations as their spoken language. It was during these primitive times that the concept of the traveling storyteller came into existence, Ms McInturff explained to the students.

Utilizing an intimate sense of history, Ms McInturff spun Indian yarns rich with comments on societal issues and morals: the strength of the family, the importance of honesty, the need to work together and the value of knowing one’s culture and heritage.

Concerning her use of the past to invoke a sense of the present, Ms McInturff said, “[History] is an important aspect of any true storytelling.”

“A good storyteller supports the morals of the community and supports those persons in the community that provide good morals to families,” she added. “I reinforce what the teachers have to teach the children.”

Besides providing powerful moral lessons, Ms McInturff’s stories opened a doorway into a culture that many do not have the opportunity to explore. Students learned the importance of the powwow in tribal affairs, how ritualistic dances were used, and the inextricable bond Native Americans have with the Earth.

“I liked the way she told stories like it really happened,” said Chris Gindraux after the presentation.

“I enjoyed the legends she told,” added Alan Korth.

Ms McInturff’s visit was part of a fifth-grade unit studying the history of Native Americans and white settlers. At the completion of each story, she paused long enough to point out where in HOM’s library they could find the tale, as a means of encouraging students to read Native American folklore on their own time.

Ms McInturff, who writes her own short stories in her spare time, presented original tales to individual classes after the assembly.

Students had favorable things to say as their day drew to a close. “I liked the way she used different voices [in telling her stories],” concluded Chip Malmborg. “She made me more aware of culture.”

Michael Frattaroli said his favorite part was the story about the rock monster, a tale used to emphasize the importance of staying close to home and respecting one’s family. Zack Schwartz added his favorite part, when Ms McInturff passed around animal pelts.

Although relatively new to Connecticut, Ms McInturff has been involved with literacy campaigns in school districts throughout West Virginia and Florida. She will admit to a notable decline in the utilization of storytellers in the classroom. “I think that it is an art that for many people has become forgotten. They don’t realize that there are artisans out there that provide this kind of artwork. It’s a needed art,” she explained.

Stories are not just for children, they are for everyone, young and old, Ms McInturff will maintain. All those present at HOM that afternoon would attest to this; both teachers and students went on a journey with Ms McInturff across time and culture.

“I like the whole thing, because it does not happen to often,” Christie Iwonaki said.

Editor’s Note: Head O’ Meadow fifth-graders Briana Berg and Jessica Dugan contributed to this story.