American Indian Culture and Research Journal

Among the American Indians of western Washington State and northwest Oregon stories have served as educational tools by presenting lessons concerning the traditional culture. Several types of instruction have been noted in the oral literature of these Indians of the Southern Northwest Coast. June Collins, for example, describes several rules of ethics (caring for the aged and handicapped, limiting potential marriage partners after the death of a spouse, and treating step-children humanely) in stories of the Skagit Indians. William Shelton (1868–1938), a Snohomish Indian, affirms that such stories impart principled messages to the audience: “My parents, uncles, and great-uncles told me, in days gone by, stories which would create in me the desire to become brave, and good, and strong, to become a good speaker, a good leader; they taught me to honor old people and always do all in my power to help them.” There is, however, another set of messages beyond ethics, good citizenship, and bravery. A subset of the oral literature, either whole stories or parts of them, provides its audience with information about human health concerns. These stories attempt to teach listeners how to prevent certain illnesses, avoid bodily harm, and relieve minor afflictions. They also deal with mental health issues, sexual instruction, spirit-power contact, and coping with old age. Today these stories present another type of insight. They allow us access into the cosmology of the Southern Northwest Coast populations and provide us with a look into their methods for analyzing nature. Through these stories we are able to judge the validity of claims that the indigenous understanding of contagious disease very often parallels Western concepts of germ theory.