Eldrena Douma
Native American Storyteller
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| Brazos Valley Festival, College Station, Texas |
Storytelling was a way of life in my upbringing. I grew up in New Mexico and Arizona among the Pueblo tribes of the Laguna, Tewa & Hopi. Activities with family and friends often included listening to Pueblo songs and sharing Pueblo stories and family history including the humorous and serious personal stories that life would bring. Reflecting back, I realized that listening to the stories stimulated and strengthen my imagination and creativity. The tradition of oral storytelling helped me at an early age to develop the use of vocabulary, pronunciation, and sentence structure while also teaching core values. The traditional songs gave me an appreciation of all music and songwriting. Today as a professional storyteller and educator, I offer captivating stories and a variety of recorded music and historical accounts from American Indians tribes across the country.
In the story presentation, "The People, Their Stories," I will give examples through story of how American Indian history,
folktales, and life stories remain strong among tribes and their
families, and how some of these stories have made their way into books
for preservation purposes. Audience members will also get to experience
personal, historical, and animal stories I have created for the
written and oral telling.
Another story presentation titled, "Bison, Bison" gives insight into the history of the Bison in North
America. A workshop titled "Creative Spirit" focuses on
imagination, listening, and story crafting using quick creative thinking to
develop a story. A lecture titled "Nampeyo Her
Legacy." Nampeyo is known in the art and history world for the revival
of Hopi pottery and is my great grandmother.
To name a few of my appearances....
Schools & Libraries
Denver City Middle School, Denver City, TX * Tahoka Elementary, Tahoka, TX
* Petersburg Elementary, Petersburg, TX * Patton Springs Elementary, Patton Springs, TX
* Nelson County Middle School, Lovingston, VA, * Tye River Elementary, Arrington, VA
* Rockfish Elementary School, Afton,VA * Sundown ISD, TX * New Home ISD, TX
* Pueblo of Laguna Library, Old Laguna, NM * Hopi Day School, Kykotsmovi, AZ
* Native American Community Academy, Albuquerque, NM
* Thomas C. Donnelly Library, New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas, NM
Festivals & Conferences
National Storytelling Conference, Kansas City, KS * Brazos Valley Worldfest, Bryan, TX
* Dynamic Chickasaw Women's Conference, Sulphur, OK * Texas Storytelling Festival, Denton, TX
* West Texas A & M University Storytelling Festival, Canyon, TX
* Four Corners Storytelling Festival, Farmington, NM
* Territory Tellers Storytelling Festival, OKC, OK
Speaker & Lecturer
* University of Texas Tech, Lubbock, TX * Amarillo Rotary Club, Amarillo, TX
* Bison Days, Lubbock Lake Landmark, Lubbock, TX * XIT Museum, Dalhart, TX
* Taos Society Exhibit, Forsyth Museum TAMU, College Station, TX
* CommUnity, Department of Multiculture, TAMU College Station, TX
* Spurlock Museum, Urbana, IL
