The Intersection of Karuk Storytelling and Education

Abstract of Thesis
The Intersection of Karuk Storytelling and Education
by
Waylon Lenk
Master of Fine Arts
in
Dramaturgy
Stony Brook University
2012
The Karuk Tribe is located in northwest California along the mid-stretch of the
Klamath River. An understanding of Karuk dramaturgy cannot be complete without
understanding traditional Karuk storytelling. And an understanding of Karuk storytelling
cannot be complete without understanding its interaction with forms of education. The
stories told by the Karuk people and the way in which they are told are intimately tied to
the tumultuous changes that have occurred in pedagogical goals and structures over the
past 160 years. To approach a better understanding of Karuk dramaturgy, this thesis
shows that the intersection between storytelling and education exists in three different,
but interrelated and overlapping realms. The first is classic Karuk education and the role
of storytelling to support the goals of personal and communal empowerment. This thesis
looks at the fundamental goals of this classic education, as well as three core institutions
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