![]() | ||
![]() | ![]() | Akwesasne ~ Alexandria Bay ~ Cape Vincent ~ Clayton Massena ~ Morristown ~ Ogdensburg ~ Waddington |
Before the days of television and the internet, people told stories as a way of sharing their experiences with others. For people who live along the St. Lawrence River, life has always been a challenge. Surviving the harsh North Country climate, making a living where there's chronic economic depression, and living on an international border have provided plenty of experiences worth retelling. A local folklore of reminiscences, tall tales and legends involving stories of hunting and trapping, guides and game wardens, outlaws, boatbuilders, bootleggers and storms has made a lively oral narrative tradition that needs to be recorded and preserved. For 'The River' Project, folklorists from Traditional Arts in Upstate New York [TAUNY] have interviewed and recorded over 40 individuals--from Cape Vincent and the 1000 Islands to the St. Lawrence Seaway and Akwesasne-who have been identified in their communities as "good storytellers." This site contains a selection of these storytellers, the edited text of stories and audio field recordings of stories from the TAUNY Archives. | ||
![]() | ![]() ఱ Traditional Arts in Upstate New York | |