COMPARING STORIES: EMBRACING ARING STORIES: EMBRACING

Resume Abstract / Resume Abstract / Resume Abstract / Resume Abstract / Resume This paper examines two oral traditions: the Anishnaabe and the Irish Celtic, and the roles that their languages and stories play in their re- spective spiritual traditions. In order to appreciate these spiritual tradi- tions, one needs to see that mythos is more basic than logos. Mythos may be seen as a more effective medium for interpreting and experienc- ing spirituality encoded in what is commonly referred to as the "oral tradition." What we intend to demonstrate in this paper is that the sa- cred is inherent in the stories themselves. The stories today, having been transformed into literature, continue to act as a conveyor of the sacred- ness within language and within the story itself. Literacy merely makes accessible the oral stories for Indigenous peoples whose languages have been decimated.