Foreword to Skunny Wundy: Seneca Indian Tales

There are few more significant intercultural gifts an individual can make than to publish the stories and worldview they learned as a young child. This is the gift made in this book by early twentieth century anthropologist of Onödowá’ga: or Seneca descent, Arthur Parker, who grew up on the Cattaraugus Territory in western New York. Parker’s stories are superbly readable and entertaining, but in a real sense are not his words at all. They are a version of the collective wisdom of the ‘old folk’ he knew as his people, the Seneca of what is now New York State. They reflect Parker’s burning desire that Seneca cultural power not be lost, even if this meant his repackaging aspects of Seneca oral tradition as ‘children’s stories’ for a largely non-Seneca audience. Thus, in a gentle, humorous and didactic way, he published these twenty-eight stories. Each one encourages young adults towards self-reflection and growth, whilst building empathy, understanding, and a sense of reciprocal interdependence with the non-human world. Once experienced, Parker’s stories are difficult to forget. This is because they make each sighting thereafter of a North American animal a mnemonic for the wisdom they contain. In this way, these stories fuse personal growth and living environments, fostering awareness that we exist in kinship with all animals, people, beings, and forces on Earth.