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First Nations/Indigenous stories about Coyote the Trickster often place her/him in a journeying mode, learning lessons the “hard” way. Trickster gets into trouble when she/he becomes disconnected from cultural traditional teachings. The Trickster stories remind us about the good power of interconnections within family, community, nation, culture, and lands. If we become disconnected, we lose the ability to make meaning from Indigenous stories. I took a long journey with Coyote the Trickster to learn about the “core” of Indigenous stories from Elders, to find a respectful place for stories and storytelling in education, especially in curricula. I also learned how to do story research with Elders. I worked intensively with three Coast Salish Elders and thirteen Stó:lōElders, who either were storytellers or were versed in the oral traditions. They shared both traditional stories and personal life-experience stories about ways to become a storyteller, cultural ways to use stories with children and adults, and ways to help people think, feel, and “be” through the power of stories. The Elders taught me about seven principles related to using First Nations stories and storytelling for educational purposes, what I term storywork: respect, responsibility, reciprocity, reverence, holism, interrelatedness, and synergy . Experiential stories reinforce the need for storywork principles in order for one to use First Nations stories effectively. These seven principles form a Stó:lōand Coast Salish theoretical framework for making meaning from stories and for using them in educational contexts. I learned that stories can “take on their own life” and “become the teacher” if these principles are used. 197 jo-ann archibald (q’um q’um xiiem) Excerpt from Indigenous Storywork: Educating the Heart, Mind, Body, and Spirit During the journey Coyote and I learned that these storywork principles are like strands of a cedar basket. They have distinct shape in themselves, but when they are combined to create story meaning, they are transformed into new designs and also create the background, which shows the beauty of the design. […] The storybasket that I, and maybe Coyote, have learned to make comes from living stories and making meaning from them based on interactions with others, particularly with Elders. My first storybasket, which started from my dream, is not perfect. There are flaws. The next one may be better because I have learned some storywork principles and methods that I didn’t know when I started this one. I need to keep coming back to the Elders to learn more and to have them check my storywork weaving process in order to see whether I am doing it in the “right” way. In Stó:lōtradition, a basket maker gives her first basket away to someone who may find it useful. I give this storywork basket to you. 198 coyote and nanabush ...

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