Telling Our Stories: A Discussion with Dawn Dove, Marta Martinez, and Valerie Tutson

Kuttootomwehteaonk Nutunnehtongquatunaunash. Contando Nuestras Historias. Telling Our Stories.

What do the stories that people pass down tell us about our cultures and communities, about the past and even the future? What role does storytelling play in preserving local histories? What possibilities do multilingual storytelling hold for exploring histories and identities?

In this conversation, three local storytelling visionaries will discuss storytelling as an art form and a method for archiving history, as well as preserving culture:

• Dawn Dove, Narragansett/Niantic elder and author/editor, Through Our Eyes: An Indigenous View of Mashapaug Pond. A cultural educator and traditional knowledge keeper, Dove is dedicated to the continuation of the culture, language and traditions of her people.
• Marta Martinez, founder of Rhode Island Latino Arts and the Latino Oral History Project of RI. Winner of the Public Humanities Award from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (RICH).
• Valerie Tutson ’87, MA’90, director of Rhode Island Black Storytellers and founder of Funda Festival: A Celebration of Black Storytelling. Winner of the International Heritage Gallery Individual Artist Award and the Metcalf Award for Media Excellence.