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The Story Teller

In the early days, the Creeks maintained and developed the highly skilled story telling technique for recording their history because they had no written language. The storyteller was one of the most important men in the village. He was so highly respected for his knowledge that he was very seldom allowed to go into battle for fear of his death would mean the loss of a village historian. Each generation in every village had a youth selected to become the future storyteller. He was usually chosen from the young men who had the best memory and who liked to tell of the things which had happened to them. He was trained by the old storyteller and he would memorize the history of his people so that he could instruct the young people in the village. When he grew old, he would train another youth and so on. In this manner, the history of the people was never forgotten. The storyteller also served as the village entertainer on many occasions. If he was very good, he could keep the village amused with the colorful tales and the many legends which existed about the animals of the forest. In many ways, this was how the young men and women learned of the marvels of the earth and its bounty.