Posted: January 9, 2009
Winter Tales 2009
Choctaw Teller Tim Tingle
Date: Saturday, February 7, 2009
Location: Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL
Time: 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Cost: $5.00
For many North American Indians, winter is the traditional time for telling tales. Between the first and last frosts, the nights are long and the animals featured in many of the stories are hibernating or have migrated to warmer lands. The Museum celebrates this tradition with its annual Winter Tales event.
This year’s performer is Tim Tingle, an award-winning author, nationally renowned storyteller, and an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. His early interest in writing and storytelling was fueled by the memories passed down from his great-great grandfather, John Carnes, who walked the Trail of Tears in 1835. Tingle now performs his lively Rabbit trickster tales and compelling historical stories throughout the United States and Canada. He often accompanies his storytelling with the Native American flute plus an assortment of rattles and drums, adding a haunting musical dimension to a concert.
From 2002 to the present, Tim has performed a traditional Choctaw story before Chief Gregory Pyle’s Annual State of the Nation Address at the tribal gathering in Tushkahoma, Oklahoma, a Choctaw reunion that attracts over thirty thousand people. He has been a featured storyteller at the National Storytelling Festival, and in 2004 he founded the Choctaw Storytelling Festival.
The author of six books, Tim received the prestigious Notable Book Award from the American Library Association for Crossing Bok Chitto. His short story “The Lady Who Changed” was selected as “2007 Best Short Story for Adults” by Storytelling World. Tingle’s newest release is the colorful children’s picture book, When Turtle Grew Feathers (August House), a new twist on the tale of the tortoise and the hare that has been passed down for generations of Choctaw People.
The 2009 Winter Tales will be a two-part event. From 9 AM to noon, Tim will present the workshop “Native American Storytelling for the Non-Native Teller.” The workshop fee is $30. Pre-registration is required. At 2 PM he will perform a concert of American Indian tales. Admission is $5. For more information, contact Kim Sheahan at 217-244-3355 or ksheahan@illinois.edu E-mail link.
These events are funded in part by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.